Happy Together

Two years on from its original plan, the Worcester Musical Theatre Company finally came together to perform their annual extravaganza and a most welcome return it was too. This time the WMTC was supporting The Royal British Legion as part of their centenary celebrations and the Perdiswell Young Peoples Leisure Club who provide numerous activities for the young and not so young.

“Boogie Wonderland” was a cracking opening section which set the high standard which was to follow throughout the concert. Brian Ellison provided the links between the sections with great humour and several opportunities were taken for Brian to show off his musical prowess singing “When you’re smiling” amongst other numbers whilst playing guitar. In Act 2 He certainly captured the audience with his ‘Musical Intros’ sequence providing a diminishing number of words for the audience to follow.

We were once again fortunate to witness the beauty of the Harlequin Stage School (Principal Paula Dymock). In Act 1 The ‘Speedy Flamingo Ballet’ and ‘Our Children Swans ‘were both mesmerizingly beautiful and well dressed. Both ‘Long Road Vivaldi Modern’ and ‘Ascot Parade Be Italian’ in Act 2 were superb in every way.

In the “West End” section the company were joined by 19 children from Claines CE Primary School and Wilden All Saints CE primary School with some show stopping songs including one signed number and others from ‘Hairspray’, ‘Six’ and ‘Matilda’. We even had an amusing moment with ‘Ms Trunchbull’ (Cath Skyrme).

The “Californian Wedding” sequence with music from the Beach Boys brought the tempo down nicely and the men were particularly smart in their white suits. “Young Voices” gave the children another opportunity to excel and the final section of the Act, “Remembrance” giving tribute to The Royal British Legion was both moving and poignant with atmospheric lighting.

Act 2 continued with an excellent selection of sections with tributes to Queen, “The Greatest Showman”, Motown and “The Best of Brits”. Across the production there were 8 section leaders led by Val Knight and ably supported by Bex Brown, Miriam Knight, Ellie Bugg, Carlene Goggin-Jones, Laura Skelton, Lucy Dudley and Russ Dudley. They utilised a large number of soloists but I particularly enjoyed Miriam Knight, Dave Alban, Carlene Goggin-Jones and Jacque Cook. Meanwhile, Cath Skyrme really got the audience moving with her rendition of “My Bonnie Lies over the Ocean”. Great fun.

The production was beautifully dressed and the movement and spatial awareness of the company was a lesson to any theatre group. The staging and lighting were effective and music led by Mat Dawson-Jones was just right. The audience lapped it up and when invited to receive one more number unhesitatingly agreed, although, and this is super critical, I would rather have left them wanting more. This was a production to be totally proud of and in my opinion one of the best and I thank the Trustees for their invitation and warm welcome to the NODA party.

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