Songs for Southport

Songs for Southport, a concert performed by Southport Dramatic Club Youth Theatre at Southport Little Theatre, Hoghton Street, Southport on Saturday, 24th August, 2024.

‘Songs for Southport’ was a concert born out of the heartbreaking tragedy and loss that devastated Southport on the 29th July this year, a tragedy that not only shocked the town, but the surrounding area and much further afield. Last week, Southport Dramatic Club Youth Theatre should have been staging their annual summer musical which they’d been rehearsing for many months, but following the tragedy, the young cast felt it inappropriate to stage and decided to postpone.  Having made that decision, they then decided that they wanted to stage something, no matter how small, that would provide the people of Southport with a glimmer of hope!  From that decision ‘Songs for Southport’ was born, but with just three weeks to rehearse, this wasn’t an easy task!  But, with the help of others, these amazingly talented and thoughtful young people ‘crafted’ something really special… something that spoke volumes about them, their concern for others, their tenacity, their obvious love for their community and those people who had been directly affected, which just confirms … we are ‘Stronger Together’!

Production Team ... I had the privilege to speak with both Deborah Bloom and Jonathon Plunkett (Directors) before and at the end of the concert... you could feel the pride emanating from them both as we spoke about the challenges these talented young theatre people had made to get this concert to stage in just three weeks. I think I’m right in suggesting that the majority, if not all the songs, had been chosen by the cast, influenced by their thoughts and feelings at that time. Both Deborah and Jonathon made special mention of Adam Dutch (Musical Director) who’d gone above and beyond assisting these young people with some seriously challenging pieces of music. Congrats to you all ... this was an emotional evening appreciated by all those present and highlighted by the applause that emanated throughout and ‘standing ovation’ that greeted the finale!   

The Performers... our cast … Dylan Bayliff, Emily Bloom, Helaina Bowling, Eleanor Burkert, Serafina Campolucci-Bordi, Dani Capie-Witterick, Alfie Christian, Matt Christiansen, Grace Cunningham, Lily Dexter, Maisie Francis, Andrew Dunnett-Edge, Carys Gauder, Sophie Goulding, Ewan Harris, Amelie Hayes, Alfie Jackson, Phoebe Lavery, Jazzmyn Lonsdale, Kiara Mawdsley, Dani Mills, Jack Smith, Cecilia Stewart, Logan Wells-Hall, Fleur Wigmore and Olivia Williams.

The Concert ... was staged in two Acts

Act 1 included the following:
i)   “As the Dawn Breaks” - from ‘Standing at the Sky’s Edge’ (arranged by Joe Bloom) and performed by Emily Bloom, Olivia Williams and the Ensemble.
ii)  “There Will Be Sun” - from ‘Groundhog Day’ ... performed by Ensemble
iii) “When Your Feet Don’t Touch the Ground” from ‘Finding Neverland’ performed by Jack Smith, Ewan Harris
iv) “You’ve Got a Friend” - from ‘Beautiful’ performed by Jazzmyn Lonsdale, Carys Gauder, Helaina Bowling, Dani Capie- Witterick, Sophie Goulding, Dylan Bayliff, Amelia Hayes, Grace Cunningham, Phoebe Lavery, Lily Dexter + Ellie Burkert
v)  “Expressing Yourself” from ‘Billy Elliot’ performed by Alfie Christian and Ewan Harris
vi) “A friend is still a Friend” from ‘Wind in the Willows’ by Andrew Dunnet-Edge, Cecelia Stewart, Lily Dexter
vii) “Moment in the Woods” from ‘Into the Woods’ sung by Emily Bloom
viii) “Sail on Boys” from ‘Operation Mincemeat’ performed by Matt Christiansen, Emily Bloom, Olivia Williams, Andrew Dunnett-Edge, Jack Smith, and Jazzmyn Lonsdale
ix)  “Tomorrow” from ‘Annie’ sung by the Ensemble
x)   “Somewhere That’s Green” from ‘Little Shop of Horrors’ sung by Olivia Williams
xi)  “Beautiful City” from ‘Godspell’ sung by Matt Christiansen
xii) “From Now On” from ‘The Greatest Showman’ sung by Matt Christiansen and the Ensemble

Act 2 included...
i)   “Our Time” from ‘Merrily We Roll Along’ sung/performed by the Ensemble
ii)  “It Takes Two” from ‘Into the Woods’ sung by Emily Bloom and Matt Christiansen
iii) “Believe” from ‘Finding Neverland’ sung/performed by the Ensemble
iv) “Where Do We Go From Here” from ‘Amelie’ sung by Olivia Williams and Jack Smith
v)  “A Million Dreams” from ‘The Greatest Showman’ sung by Alfie Christian, Ewan Harris + the Ensemble
vi) “Somewhere” from ‘West Side Story’ sung by Emily Bloom
vii) “You Will Be Found” from ‘Dear Evan Hansen’ sung by Jack Smith, Matt Christiansen and the Ensemble
viii) “Sunday” from ‘Sunday in the Park’ with George sung/performed by the Ensemble

By this time, the audience and I were truly lost in the emotion of the evening, but demanding more …I’m sure we had a reprise of ‘Tomorrow’ and I think one other... a fitting tribute to what had gone on before! We had a couple of ‘spoken testimonies’ from Emily and Matt which brought the evening to a fitting close!

Usually, at this point, I would start to select MY favourite performances/favourite songs ... but that doesn’t feel appropriate. What does feel appropriate is to bring to the fore these wonderful young theatre people who came together in support of Southport and its community, so on behalf of NODA and myself, I would just like to take this opportunity to congratulate them all… I feel blessed that we have such caring, thoughtful young people living in this area, I really do feel proud and privileged to know them and have them be part of our NODA District 6 family!   

Who helped make this happen ... I know there were many… the SDC Committee/Production Team who staged, supported and encouraged, Francesca Bate (Stage Manager), Neil Langridge, Alex McKillop and Scott Crawford (Lighting), Bernie Howat (Sound), our band members... Adam Dutch (MD), Chris Rimmer, Jess Holding, Cliff Ray, Sarah/Mark/Paul Dutch, David Seamans (PS… you don’t often see band members in tears after a performance, it truly was an emotional evening)... and finally the SDC Safeguarding Team for providing a safe and secure place for those young people to perform in, I congratulate you all… be ever so proud!

How to finish this review ... this was never going to be an easy finish, that was until I stumbled across a Facebook message from a cast member which I felt summed things up perfectly ... so having sought permission from the writer, here goes… “This has been the hardest and most beautiful thing I have ever been a part of and I could not be prouder of the cast and production team for setting aside something already so special and crafting something so different, with the same tenacity, thought and love, in only three weeks. I said at the time, I would be so proud to be a part of something, however small, that gives people the ability to find a glimmer of light in what seems like eternal darkness and I feel like, for what it’s worth, we have absolutely achieved this. At times like this, you have to find solace and hope in what you love and we have to push forward as a community, in solidarity, that fiercely sings out: our voices will not be silenced. Do not let actions full of hate stop actions full of love.  Sing louder, dance harder and shine brighter. I will cherish this week forever” ...  Thanks Emily for allowing me to use/share your thoughts and words x

In closing, can I say thanks to the SDC Youth Theatre for inviting my wife and I, my thoughts and prayers are still with the families who have suffered and lost, those others still suffering, and with Southport as a whole… RIP Bebe, Alice and Elsie … you will be forever in our hearts!

“Stronger Together”
Jim Briscoe
NODA NW
District 6 Rep

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