Sing Out!

A Sunday afternoon excursion for a concert led by a talented youth performers aged from 5 to 14 years old where most got the chance to shine ‘in the spotlight’. With almost twenty performers and thirty musical numbers performed it would be difficult to mention everyone – however, everyone contributed to a fine concert over two hours,

The first act comprised of ‘Musical Theatre’ numbers ranging from the very well-known to the less so. One of the less well-known numbers that impressed me was Kate Woodward singing ‘Meadowlark’ – a song with beautiful lyrics and well sung – it had been almost thirty years since I'd seen it parent production (Bakers Wife).
Singing a medley of songs from Matilda we had Mia Fairley 'Quiet'; Isla Hamill ‘Smell of Rebellion’ (which she belted out with gusto); and the titular song ‘Matilda’ sung by Ava Yorke, Caitlyn-Louise Storey, Daisy Willis, Mia Fairley and Isabelle Foster who at 5 years old is a star in the making.

Although there were many outstanding performances the ever-expressive face and faultless singing of Eva Craig singing ‘Mother knows Best’ from Rapunzel; ‘What the Hell’ from Mrs Doubtfire was performed by Eva Craig, Rubin Morgan, and the oldest member of the ensemble, 14 year old Macie Sinclair who simply excelled in all she did – what a voice and what stage presence especially in her solo ‘Used to be Mine’ from Waitress.

Also, standing out was the beautifully sung and acted ‘Poor Unfortunate Souls’ by Gabrielle Crosby. The act ended on a cut down medley of songs from their recent production of ‘Frozen jr’.

Act two was a more eclectic mix of modern and pop songs that allowed the cast to excel. Starting with a ‘Beatles Medley’ (given their ages, I couldn’t help wondering how many of the cast knew who the ‘Fab Four’ were LOL.) Some great individual performances and ensemble singing from the cast which once again allowed the talents to shine forth – perhaps the highlight for me was ‘Shallow’ sang by Maxwell Riley (who had impressed earlier with his skill on the guitar) and Eleanor Donkin who had wow’d with other solos earlier such as ‘Speechless’. As she powered out ‘Shallow’ I closed my eyes momentarily and I was hearing Lady Gaga – every note was rich and faultless.

Well done to all the other soloist and group numbers such as ‘Six’ remix number – finally finishing the concert with a medley from the animated movie ‘Sing!’ - everyone contributed to a superb Sunday afternoon entertainment.

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