Sounds From The Stage & Screen

Sale Nomads give us ‘Sounds From The Stage & Screen’ in their club house venue.
As this was a substitute for the full scale musical which is usually staged at this time of year, I had higher expectations for the quality of the shows content and its presentation. Because this show is not being performed at the Waterside does that mean we have to approach it with less proficiency?

The excitement of a revue show creates the stimulating prospect to get creative and present numbers from a broader spectrum of musical genres, the chance to compile a selection of songs from the shows and present them out of their original context to maybe create an original narrative with links between the chosen material; a “revuesical” if you like.
What we got was something less thought-provoked; a series of fifteen minute mini trailers of hit musicals which, I can’t deny, I do find somewhat uninspiring and stage school showcase-esque.  

The ensemble harmony work in the opening ‘Matilda’ medley was delivered to a high degree creating a really nice sound which was well appreciated in the intimate venue, this section (Matilda) also exposed some good individual vocalists taking the odd solo line resulting in this being the strongest section out of the bunch for vocal performance. I was later caught off guard with an unexpected influx of energy and merriment with ‘Expressing Yourself’ in the ‘Billy Elliot’ salute which demonstrated some nice choreography which was performed with vigour and excitement. The nod to ‘Cabaret’ started off well with the intense solo of ‘Tomorrow Belongs To Me’ which set a dramatic tone.

The Finale (Mamma Mia) was missing some vital ingredients, the foremost being ‘energy’, this is a great choice of show to finish on but the delivery of it let it down, not enough smiles or attack, it was all a bit too tame.

I appreciate that shows such as these offer a training ground opportunity for people to step up and take a shot at holding their own, though more of an even balance would have been a virtue for the production as a whole. People need to start somewhere and I offer 100% encouragement to anyone who wants to be given a chance, though, from a management perspective, we must remember that in many instances in our game that one show sells the next, and to take such a chance on so many inexperienced performers in one show can seriously jeopardise the standard and quality you’re presenting.

The ‘Disney Showcase’ had some sweet and twee moments though I did feel utmost sympathy for the few individuals who were given solo lines but were placed upstage with several rows of kiddies in front of them, we simply couldn’t hear them! The troupe of Tot’s offered energy in bucket loads and I have no doubt that it was this cast who were having the most fun of the evening on stage!

To pick a winner, for me, it’d have to be the ‘Billy Elliot’ section which came out on top. It was the most well-presented of the sections with good vocals, the best choreography of the evening in ‘Expressing Yourself’ and, of course, the drama of the theme communicated well. It was rather fitting to have the political theme given the week we were having, you couldn’t go anywhere without seeing or witnessing political debates, so – well done team ‘Billy Elliott’.

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