Musicality: CODYS' Choice

CODYS Productions were back on stage with their concert titled ‘Musicality: CODYS’ Choice’. The concert featured soloists, duos, trios and whole ensemble numbers, giving all members the opportunity to be in the spotlight. The cast were all confident in their performances, and the acting through song throughout was very good. It was clear that the cast had really thought about the songs that they were performing. There was a great variety of songs from both old and new musicals. The staging was good, with the small stage being used for individual performances, with some of the floor being used for the bigger numbers. The cast wore their CODYS branded t-shirts throughout, giving uniformity to the production and a sense of belonging.

The musical director was Emily Woodward. The cast performed well to backing tracks, with Emily conducting from the back of the hall. The whole ensemble numbers were great, and it was clear how hard the cast had worked with the vocals, especially with the harmonies. Vocally, the cast impressed throughout.

Laura Cupit provided choreography for some of the numbers. The cast performed the choreography well, with highlights including ‘Hot Honey Rag’ from ‘Chicago’ and the finale of ‘And You Don’t Even Know It’ from ‘Everybody’s Talking About Jamie’.

Technical elements were good throughout. The sound balance between the backing tracks and the microphones was good. The cast must be commended on their projection as well, especially when microphones were not used. Lighting had been thought about with colours used throughout. The pink and green during ‘Popular’ was a neat idea.

The whole cast opened the production with ‘Seasons of Love’ from ‘Rent’. This was a strong opening number, with some strong harmonies throughout. The three soloists deserve praise for their work in the number. ‘We’re All in this Together’ from ‘High School Musical’ was well performed and full of energy. The trio who performed ‘No-One But You (Only the Good Die Young)’ from ‘We Will Rock You’ were very good, with some great vocals – a goose bumps moment. The ‘Jersey Boys Medley’ was a fun Act One closer, and was well performed. It was great to see that the leading vocals were shared between the four performers, giving them the chance to shine.

Act Two was a stronger half of the production, opening with two numbers from ‘Into the Woods’: ‘I Know Things Now’ and ‘Children Will Listen’. Both numbers were performed well. As mentioned already, ‘Hot Honey Rag’ was performed well choreographically, and the vocals were very good as well. The simplicity of the staging for ‘Bring on Tomorrow’ from ‘Fame’ was great. It allowed the cast to sing, and they did! A very good number. The standout performance from the production was ‘Home’ from ‘Beetlejuice’. The vocals were strong, as was the acting through song. A great performance from a talented performer. ‘She Used to be Mine’ from ‘Waitress’ was performed as a duet, and was beautiful to listen to. It’s an emotional song, and both performers were able to get the emotion across through their performance. The concert ended with two songs from ‘Everybody’s Talking About Jamie’. This was a great ending to the concert and was performed well by the entire cast, who looked like they were enjoying every single second of performing.

Overall, this was a good production. The young cast looked like they were loving every second on stage, delivering good vocals and executing the choreography well.

A big thank you to everyone at CODYS Productions for their kind invite and their hospitality.

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