Encore!

Congratulations WMCS Youth Company on a really amusing and different show to celebrate your 20 years of theatrical classes for young thespians. Everything about Encore was well planned with the short exerpts and songs from the majority of their annual productions, many of them bringing back happy memories having seen them over the years.

It seems wrong to name any of the 54 youngsters in the production as they were all so good so instead I am going to write about the great performances of the wonderful selection of musicals they chose for this fabulous evening’s entertainment.

The show opened with three numbers from Seussical, The Musical giving everyone a chance to show off their singing talent, wearing delightful costumes and making the most of their great facial expressions. The two levels of staging were put to good use with the Cat in the Hat being very commanding. Next came Jungle Book with the stage swarming with lively young monkeys finishing with ‘I wanna be like You’. This time it was the kings turn to shine. In total contrast, the youth members from the past came on stage and replayed their parts as the Von TRAPP FAMILY YOUNGSTERS which they had played in 2011. They all reappeared in the second half, all twelve of them, in a hilarious version of The Wizard of Oz and a great number from Wicked. The first half finished with exerts from Matilda and School of Rock getting the entire cast back on stage to finish this section with a flourish.

After a delightful and fun bit of dialogue the second half was launched with ‘Warts and All’ from Honk and ‘Consider Yourself’ from Oliver with excellent performances from Oliver and Dodger. Next came Aladdin followed by Bugsy Malone with four bad guys and five great dancers in black.

The costumes were excellent, the lighting clever and the sound in the hands of Oliver must have kept him very busy. Well done to the technical team and great orchestra who really supported the cast under the direction of Kim. The entertainment concluded with another chorus number ‘Seize the Day’ by Wayne Roberts who compered the show from start to finish. The whole was sheer joy. Well done Rachel. Here’s to the next 20 years.

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