The Best of Broadway

To paraphrase a line from the Disney Section of this fine concert – how can so many treasures be contained in one show? The answer is simple – by cherry-picking the best. The theatre in Paisley Arts Centre is a compact, cosy place and the playing area simply merges with the auditorium so that audience and cast have close eye contact with each other – no proscenium, orchestra pit, apron and the like to break the spell once the show starts. So the players have to be on their toes and alert throughout and no one in the audience dares to nod off! Not that they would have done so with the splendid programme the company presented.
Arranged in two Acts, the show featured a “New York” opening with such numbers as "Lullaby of Broadway" and, of course, “New York, New York”. Next, there were selections from Gershwin, Rodgers & Hart, Cole Porter, Jerome Kern and Irving Berlin. Numbers from “Show Boat” and “Disney on Broadway” (“Beauty and the Beast”, “The Little Mermaid”, “The Lion King” and “Mary Poppins”) completed Act One. Act Two gave us the music of Sondheim with such numbers as “Not While I’m Around” (Sweeney Todd) and “Send in The Clowns” (A Little Night Music). There followed individual songs from “Sweet Charity”, “Guys and Dolls”, “A Chorus Line”, “Hairspray”, “The Producers” “Spamalot” and many others. This was a well thought out programme which thoroughly entertained the audience.

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