Curtain Up

What a great idea Burgess Hill Players had for a first production after the sad closure of all the theatre groups. It was good to see all those eager performers back on stage singing, dancing and acting with so much enthusiasm. The result was a good variation of poems and prose mainly set to music and some well known numbers from the shows. As one would expect some were more appealing to the bulk of the audience, causing much mirth, whilst others were very well known delighting perhaps the older generation. Some of you must have been slightly daunted at the thought of turning out on a wet Sunday afternoon to sit in a village hall and listen to a concert put on by a village society but those regular supporters of BHMT's would have known what a good reputation these performers have of old.

The afternoon's entertainment commenced with the entire cast performing ‘Something about the Night’, from Finding Neverland, lead by Paul who also sang ‘Stars’ from Les Miserables and joined forces with Michelle performing ‘Elephant Love Duet’ from Moulin Rouge. Michelle also lead the chorus in the closing number of the first half, ‘Everybody Out’, from Made in Dagenham. Among the many duets, trios and small group performances in the first half, all very different and interesting, the entire cast performed ‘Freak Flag’ from Shrek all delightfully costumed with highly elaborate head gear. The costumes and make-up throughout were well chosen and appropriate.

After a short interval the second half commenced with another chorus number followed by various other pieces, some humorous and some quite moving, including ‘Mr Bojangles’ sung by Paul in the company of Jen and Debbie. Jen had already given us an excellent solo, in the first half, from Avenue Q and Debbie sang ‘She Used to be Mine’, from Waitress, with great feeling. Two other soloists must be mentioned, one number from ‘Hamilton’ and the other from ‘Memphis’, the first being Bill and the other Danielle.  To complete the second half the chorus performed ‘Tonight’ from West Side Story and finished in style with a brilliant rendition of ‘You’ll Never Walk Alone’ From Carousel.  Well done everyone. A wonderful afternoon’s entertainment.

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