Skip to main content

Review of Broadway Lights And West End Nights at Northampton College

I have followed the acting course at the University of Northampton for the last five years now, but this Saturday I experienced the Level 3 Musical Theatre group at Northampton College for the first time, as they presented a performance by their first and second-year students. The evidence from this first encounter suggests that there is some very good talent on its way through this course.

The evening presented a nicely varied selection of performances from six shows, Avenue Q, Rent, The Lion King, Cats, Mary Poppins and Sweet Charity, both providing some lovely singing routines and a few of pure dance, allowing the students to show many of their, very obvious, skills.

From the collection of 21 routines presented, there were a few standout moments, the best of which for myself was Mungojerrie & Rumpleteazer performed by Tom Kalek and Lily Cushway. This was a routine of such polish that I would happily have watched on any stage, never mind a student performance. Kaley and Cushway maintained an impressively solid vocal performance, in between some truly great physical sequences and their playful nature was perfectly judged for the characters as well. Simple put, a stunning piece.

Another really entertaining routine was Avenue Q's If You Were Gay performed by Tom Kalek again playing Nicky, and Rory Fraser as Rod, with Fraser especially strong in both singing and character in this one. The characters were also strong in the Mary Poppins sequence, especially Thalia Garth in the title role, combining brilliant singing and timing, along with the required stern controlling nature but the air of magical mystery of the character. During this piece also, Joby Blair put in a scene-stealing turn as Mrs Corry.

Perhaps the most controversial sequence of the evening from those I was with was the Rich Man's Frug from Sweet Charity. While not popular with many, I really loved the style and delivery of this sequence of both classic sixties dance, and more importantly the work of Mr Bob Fosse. The performers involved expertly got the sharp stalking and postured movement, and despite it not working for all, it really was one of my favourite pieces of the show.

Rich Man's Frug was perhaps seated within the strongest trio of pieces of the evening, as all three routines from Sweet Charity were especially strong, with a vibrant and bold version of the classic Big Spender from all the female company, and that vibrancy was taken up a further notch, culminating in perhaps the best song to end the evening, as Rory Fraser as Daddy led out a brilliant full company version of Rhythm of Life.

Technically it was a pretty impressive evening, in a great venue, which I have visited just once before. It was perhaps a little sad production wise that moving spotlights were not used, leaving the performers to just move from spot to spot. It did though have a wonderful look to the entire show, from the sharp black and white suits of Rich Man's Frug, the flower power garishness of Rhythm of Life and finally the striking catsuits of Cats.

No question though, this was an excellent couple of hours of entertainment with some brilliant individual performances, coupled with some excellently created ensemble pieces, and I look forward to my next encounter with these musical theatre students.

Performance viewed: Saturday 27th January 2018 at Northampton College, Booth Lane, Northampton
Broadway Lights and West End Nights continues until Wednesday 31st January 2018, with tickets available via https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/o/northampton-college-school-of-the-arts-13442073431




Popular posts from this blog

Review of Lord Of The Dance at Royal & Derngate (Derngate), Northampton

The stage show Lord of the Dance possibly needs little introduction to most people, as it has become a legend and now, in this touring version, subtitled rather immodestly, 25 Years of Standing Ovations, it reaches a landmark anniversary. Those that do not know of the show would probably well know its spiritual fathers Michael Flatley, and even more likely Riverdance , from which Lord of the Dance sprung with a proper spring in its step. During the interval of the 1994 Eurovision Song Contest, Riverdance hit the world by storm as Michael Flatley and his troop of dancers possibly presented the most famous part of Eurovision ever, certainly of the non-singing variety at least. Here, this touring show brings that same style Flatley created from traditional Irish dancing across the country once again and it is truly something special to see. The concept of the show is simply a battle between good and evil told through dance, and some captivating and stunning songs performed by Celyn Cartw...

Review of Rambert Dance in Peaky Blinders - The Redemption of Thomas Shelby at Royal & Derngate (Derngate), Northampton

The Rambert Dance Company is the oldest such company in Britain having first performed in 1926. However, despite this, this was my first encounter with the group in my ten years of theatre-going. Coupled with this, it was also my first encounter with Peaky Blinders , having never seen the show, and only knowing a few vague things about it. My companion for the evening however was very familiar with the show, allowing some background behind the show. It turns out though,  Rambert Dance in Peaky Blinders - The Redemption of Thomas Shelby needs a little more than a good bit of knowledge of the show, as despite this production having incredible style, there struggles to be a cohesive structure to the show and the storytelling. Much more than other dance shows as well. The first act does a whistle-stop tour of the first five seasons and while it is a feast on the eye, and on the ear, it gets extremely confusing at times. The second act is freestyle and drifts away from the stories tol...

Review of My Mother's Funeral: The Show at Royal & Derngate (Royal), Northampton

The title My Mother's Funeral: The Show is perhaps not the most attractive title for a theatre show, however, this show had great success at the Edinburgh Fringe and now arriving at Royal & Derngate, one of its co-producing theatres, so, let's look beyond the unusual title and see what lies beneath. Abigail is a theatre dramatist pursuing plays that the theatres no longer want. Her "gay bugs in space" saga falls foul of being fiction for a start, something a theatre director states audiences no longer want stating they want gritty, real experiences, theatre with painful truths. So, after Abigail devastatingly loses her mother and finds no money to pay the funeral fees, she pursues the creation of a very personal theatre show. My Mother's Funeral: The Show is gritty and sad, but, also in many ways very funny, if in a dark way. Writer Kelly Jones digs deep into the world of poverty in Dagenham and countless estates across the country. A world of people born in...