Spot Light. A West End Review

There was much to enjoy in this West End review. The programme had been selected from a range of shows from the West End and gave the audience a taster of each show. I appreciated the fact that it wasn’t always the obvious song that was chosen and there was a great mix of styles. The stage was quite small for such a large cast, but the Director and Choreographers had managed to fit everyone in with good planning and a thoughtful use of space, to give maximum effect. The upper level gave a useful second entrance and provided some nice variation to the chorus numbers.

The chorus opened the evening with an excellent rendition of ‘Welcome to the Rock’ from Come from Away. They were in fine voice, with lovely harmonies and strong choreography. The close of Act one was equally strong with a firm favourite, ‘At the End of the Day’ from Les Miserable and again the vocal quality of the chorus was excellent. ‘Revolting Children’ from Matilda was great fun and enjoyed by both the chorus and audience alike and I also enjoyed the quirky ‘Hello’ from Book of Mormons. The Act two ‘Queen finale’ had the audience clapping along and rounded off the evening beautifully.

Mixed in with chorus numbers were a great selection of solos, duets and small ensembles. ‘That’ll be the Day’ from The Buddy Holly Story was well sung and provided an opportunity for some upbeat dancing. I especially liked the cross phrased section in the dance, with the dancers providing a good energy and a well-rehearsed performance. This was followed by ‘Chim Chim Cher-ee’ from Mary Poppins, which also had some strong choreography. The opening of Act two ‘What’s inside/Opening Up’ from Waitress saw the whole chorus joining in with some inventive moves with plates. ‘Oh, What a Night’ from Jersey Boys was superbly sung, as was ‘Starlight Express’ by the same vocalist. ‘Heaven on their Minds’ from Jesus Chris Superstar was outstanding. This is an incredibly hard song to sing due to the vocal range required, but was spot on. I also loved ‘You Must Love Me’ from Evita, which was beautiful. Another highlight was ‘Six’, with a strong performance from the six sassy singers.

Lighting and sound were good and the costumes, as always, were excellent. I especially liked the Queen finale costumes with the bold silver bolt of lightning on everyone’s tops and the silver fringing; very effective.

The small band of seven musicians, who were tucked into the side of the stage, produced a great sound and kept the show moving along at a good pace. The whole evening was well rehearsed and planned to make use of the limited space available. There was a lovely mix of songs to introduce the audience to some of the newer musicals and good quality singing and dancing. The whole performance was hugely enjoyable; very well done.

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