One Night in the Spotlight

As you entered the auditorium, some of the cast were already on stage involved in various activities concerning the first part of the show entitled ‘An Ordinary Street’. The first number of the seventeen in this section, was the Adult Company splendidly performing ‘Our House’ and was followed by items involving small groups, soloists, dancers and the full company. All were superbly performed and extremely impressive in their interpretation and were linked together with creative flair. It seems very unfair to pick out specific items as they were all so good, but I must just mention some of my personal highlights of this section. ‘A Policeman’s Lot’ was hilariously delivered by the Men’s Chorus, Amy Bradford’s lovely singing of ‘Taylor the Latte Boy’, the absolutely delightful, Junior Chorus and Dancers especially in ‘Hard Knock Life’ and the brilliant portrayal of Victoria Wood’s ‘Barry and Freda’ by Carol Thornton and Ray Elliott. Act 2 was entitled ‘Glamour and Glitz’ and it certainly lived up to this with dazzling, sparkling outfits and performances to match. From a Bond Medley, arranged by Ron Newsham, stylistically executed by Julie Black, Michelle Bradford, Carol Thornton and Chris Martin, we were again captivated by some great numbers. I loved ‘It’s a Fine, Fine, Line’ sung by Kaitlin Johnson and Ellie Thornewill, Harriet Basile and the Junior Dancers exquisitely tapped their way through ‘Thoroughly Modern Millie’ also Josephine Walker was perfect as the Diva in ‘Diva’s Lament’. The final section, ‘To the Stars and Beyond’, was again full of memorable performances including ‘Defying Gravity’ beautifully sung by Amy Bradford and Kaitlin Johnson, ‘Starlight Express’ stunningly implemented by the Full Company and Cameron McDonald and Jordon Honeywell leading everyone in ‘Great Balls of Fire’, a terrific finale to a truly fabulous show. Effective sets and lighting, good props, stunning costumes (all made in-house), excellent choreography and direction together with a great cast made this a polished and wonderfully entertaining show. Everyone involved should be exceedingly proud of their efforts. Superb!

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