Lionel Bart & Jukebox Musicals

‘Encore’, the older members of Wymsical provided a great range of numbers, 24 in total, from a wide selection of composers in addition to Lionel Bart, with great conviction throughout. 

A strong atmosphere was instantly created by the company in ‘Who Will Buy’ from “Oliver!”, followed by ‘A Proper Man’ well sung by Sylvie Symons and Clara Davies. There were some nice harmonies and a slick routine in ‘Voulez Vous’ written by Andersson & Ulvaeus and Morgan Wolseley-Charles and Ellie Morris gave a very pleasant rendition supported by the company with ‘It Must be Love’ by Labbi Siffre. ‘Far Away’ from “Blitz” by Lionel Bart, was sensitively sung by Jess Young.

Megan Cooper, Ruby Davies, Sam Nield and Will McCrea combined well to sing ‘You’ve Got a Friend’ by Carole King and Morgan headed the company in a rousing conclusion to Part 1 with ‘Rock Around the Clock’ written by Freedman and Myers.

Part 2 opened with a compelling version of ‘Oom Pah Pah’ from “Oliver!” led by Aimee Hall, Emily Kitkat, Ellie Morris and Megan Cooper, followed with ‘My Name’ sung with good presence by Will McCrea. Neave Lawson-Dallow led the chorus well in ‘Teenager in Love’ by Pomus and Shuman and I liked Darcie-Ella Eglesfield’s bright faced singing of Carole King’s ‘Rain Until September’.

Sam Nield provided a strong lead in the company number ‘Uptown Girl’ by Billy Joel and Emily Kitkat and Phoebe McIntosh combined well with Jim Steinman’s ‘Total Eclipse of the Heart’. Alice Barker sang ‘From Russia with Love’ well and Isaac McManus used the stage with expression and timing when ‘Reviewing the Situation’.

The concert was rounded off with three excellent final numbers; Izzy Davies singing ‘Its Yourself’ with great poise, Ellie Morris and the girls with Carole King’s ‘Natural Women’ and Katy Campbell-Ferguson and Ruby Davies’ ‘I’m Gonna Be’ by the Reid Brothers.

It’s always a pleasure to review Wymsical Theatre and discover what variety of music they bring to the stage, smartly dressed and well accompanied by Stephen Watkins on piano with Charlie Pollard on drums and occasional guitar played by the multi- talented Will McCrea.

Bruce Wyatt

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