The Phoenix World Cruise

Phoenix Productions have changed their venue but not their enthusiasm as the team boarded the ship at the Knack Club to perform to their passengers their concert “The Phoenix World Cruise”. Under the dedicated director Richenda Blakelock, decked out in a captains hat she introduced each country the ship visited with interesting facts and even throw in some jokes as the ship sailed around the world. Richenda certain has a talent for producing and directing, the programme was packed with interesting songs and dances which suited the cast and certainly entertained the audience and it was good to see her joining in with some of the numbers. The music was set to backing tracks; and  the sound was well delivered by Duncan Baxter with excellent clarity ensuring that every note could be heard. The set was basic with flags from each country the ship was visiting displayed on the wall; I also like the little touches at each side of the stage showcasing beach accessories, and I also like the way the cast used accessories and props to illustrate the countries they were visiting. Chorography was excellent creatively designed by Rebeka Hunt, each dance had unity and flow which ensured that there was continuity associated with each musical number it supported, and from the delivery and team work you could see that the cast had put a lot of work into each dance and it certainly added value to the performance.

As the ship set sail the first number from the whole cast was Beyoncé’s "Stepping to Run the World”, great chorography, this number set the bench mark for the rest of the show, first destination was Australia with “Stepping Back In Time” great formation and vocals and a very enthusiastic routine, sailing swiftly on the Pacific Ocean we reach Vanuatu where Lauren Willis and the cast delivered a lovely rendition from South Pacific “I'm Gonna Wash That Man Right Out Of My Hair” great vocals and well delivered, Thailand was the next destination as Rebeka Hunt delivered a lovely solo with some lovely interaction from the cast singing “Getting to Know Him” from The King and I, moving up into Vietnam Lauren Willis and Zoe Cook delivered a breath taking number from my all-time musical “ Movie in my Mind” from Miss Saigon vocals were amazing and the tension between the two singers was astonishing, next port of call was India, Beth Collins, Rebeka Hunt, Hayley O’Connor and Jess Smith adorned in sari scarves delivered a authentic dance routing to the Slumdog musical number “Jai Ho” sailing very quickly we arrived in Denmark to the tongue in cheek Danish Eurodance musical number “Saturday Night” performed by Emma Salmons and Jess Smith which included the cast and audience participation, Germany was the next port where we visited the kit Kat Klub where Beth Collins delivered a lovely rendition of “Maybe This Time” beautiful powerful vocals and well-choreographed, sailing swiftly towards Norway Lauren Willis and Hayley O’Connor delivered “Take On Me” from the famous pop group A-ha accompanied by dancers Beth Collins and Jess Smith good routine and nice vocals. Austria is famous for its many classical composers and Lederhosen’s but in this case we are taken to Salzburg where Emma Salmons and the cast deliver an iconic well-presented number from the Sound of Music “My Favourite Things”, on to Sweden and Hayley O’Connor song the 2015 Eurovision song Heroes beautiful sang lovely vocals and accompanies by the cast delivering a well-rehearsed lyrical dance. Back on home ground the cast delivered a beautiful rendition of the Olympic bid song “Proud” extremely moving and well delivered with Zoe Cooke delivering a solo dance, over to Ireland to conclude the last part of the cruise and you couldn’t visit Ireland without hearing one of Irelands most popular girl groups the Nolan Sisters to conclude the first act the cast delivered a well-rehearsed and entertaining “I'm in the Moods for Dancing” 

As the passengers re embark for the final part of their journey we travel to Africa as the group delivered a traditional dance to the 2010 FIFA world cup theme “Waka Waka” before sailing off to Israel to hear Lauren Willis deliver a beautiful and tender version of “I don’t Know Have to Love Him” from Jesus Christ Superstar which was beautifully sang. We danced all the way to Spain with the number “Bailamos” by Enrique Iglesias, the dancing continues into France with Jess Smith’s interpretation of Will Young’s “Beyond the Sea”, before heading off to Italy one of the highlights of the evening for me was Joe Cook and Hayley O’Connor singing a duet from Chess “I Know Him So Well” the harmonies were brilliant and the stand-off battle between these two artist was a privilege to see, we were then off  to Greece for another song and dance routine by the cast to “Does your Mama Know” another strong routine and well delivered, Iceland is the next port of call, and it was Beth Collins who delivered a vocal strong rendition of “Black Velvet” great performance, Iceland was the next country to visit here we were introduced to a very talented young lady, Zoe Crooke who gave an all action performance supported by the cast to the song “It’s All So Quite” very entertaining and energetic, Brazil is the next country to be visited were the group treat us to the high energy dance routine to “Lambada” before leaving port to journey to Argentine and you couldn’t go to this country without a musical number form Evita, and it here we listen to Zoe Cooke deliver a note perfect and heart rending song accompanied by the cast with their dance routine to “Another Suitcase in another Hall” great performance from this young lady, Puerto Rico is the next stop and the cast deliver a great sequenced routine to “Livin La Vida Loca” fantastic, off to Canada where we sample a little line dancing to “Any Man of Mine” which brings the voyage to an end but there no finale without a big number to bring any show to its conclusion and in this show we had two as the ship docks into the United States of America we are treated to the cast singing “Rule the World” but for me the most memorable song was the finale number and it left me and the audience on our feet as this group of twelve artist delivered the most fantastic finale to the song from the Greatest Showman “This is It” this was a fantastic ending to a beautiful and well-rehearsed concert I was proud of everyone one on stage. Congratulation also must go to the two young gentlemen Aiden and Ashdon Blakelock who supported the concert their involvement in both the songs and dancers did not go amiss and was well appreciated by the audience. Well done to everyone involved this was a fantastic evening and you should all be proud of your success.

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