West End Magic

The title of Spotlights Musical Theatre latest show of West End Magic does not do justice to the Musical Director’s carefully selected songs mainly from well known successful films, not all of which have successfully made it to the West End. The collection provided a wonderful opportunity for the society to show off its strong choral singing in this concert style performance as well as be reminded of the sheer brilliance of so many of these film creations.

The simple staging of the chorus in two rows across the front of the stage beautifully highlights the different voices as they harmonise in many of the songs and allows the audience to really appreciate and enjoy the blend of voices in the arrangements more clearly than in a fully staged version of the songs. Together they create an excellent sound with the strong accompaniment of the piano.

The Musical Director helpfully introduced, with energy and passion, each selection filling in the background of the film source and highlighting the context of the songs which enhanced the enjoyment of each number, and she controlled the singers with discipline and precision throughout . The overall effect was to bring a smile to your face and leave you humming the tunes all the way home and reminded us both of the joy of live entertainment and the family escapism and simple messages of the stories.

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