Lights, Camera, Action!

After a forced absence due to a pandemic, you came back in style with a super evening of entertainment.  There was an excellent selection of songs from both stage and film musicals; something for the whole family!

The opening company number was extremely well drilled and the cast produced a wonderful sound.  It was lovely to see the front row changing throughout, so everyone enjoyed the spotlight at the front of the stage.  This was followed by a solo ‘I can hear the bells’ performed with great confidence and zest by Sophia.  She had an excellent connection with the audience and was a good mover.

This strong opening was followed by other company numbers, solos and duets that were all well performed by the whole cast. Some lovely vocals by Cassidy singing ‘Somewhere over the Rainbow’ and Niamh in ‘Beauty and the Beast’. The whole cast marching though the audience for ‘76 Trombones’ provided a welcome change in tempo and presentation and the boys singing ‘Pure Imagination’ was delightful. There were some very good harmonies in ‘This is Me’ and the first Act was brought to a close with great energy in the showstopping ‘Let’s do the Time Warp’.

Act 2 opened with a memorable rendition of ‘Seasons of Love’ by the company, followed by another excellent performance from Niamh and Anthony in ‘Suddenly Seymour’.  ‘We’d like to thank you’ was a great choice of song to provide many of the cast with the opportunity for solos, which they all handled well. Caitlin then performed a poignant and heartfelt rendition of ‘Out here on my own’, with a stillness and confidence beyond her years. This was quickly followed by another outstanding performance by Emma singing the ABBA classic ‘Winner takes it all’.  Her fabulous vocals had the audience mesmerised.

‘Memory’ is one of musical theatre’s great power ballads and Abigail performed it with great conviction and control.

The final song, ‘I’m still standing’, was a brilliant choice of number to round off the evening and to remind everyone that this young company could handle a pop classic with ease. 

The whole show was held together with some excellent, clear narration between each song or two delivered by various members of the cast.  These provided some useful background information about each number.

The costumes were simply fabulous. It would have been very easy to put everyone in one costume but instead every number had a fresh look. I loved the black and white costumes in My Fair Lady, the beautiful red dress in Beauty and the Beast, the great headdresses for ‘Beauty School Dropout’ and the black and gold outfits, complete with Elton John glasses, for the final performance of ‘Rocketman’.

This was a well thought out and rehearsed production that gave every member of the cast a moment to shine; and shine they did. Some members of the company were very young and inexperienced, but you would not have known from the polished performances they gave. You all worked hard as a team to put on an excellent production.  

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