The one off performance of ‘A Night At The Musicals’ provided a superb display of vocal and dancing talents from Swansea University’s performing arts societies.
Rex Liddlard (left) and Lawrence Porter (right)
They performed at the Taliesin theatre to an almost sell-out crowd, with sections of the audience rising for standing ovations at the close.
The show began with the Queen classic ‘We Will Rock You’.
Arguably one of the strongest performances of the night followed the opener, with the Gospel society taking to the stage to sing ‘He Lives in You’ from the Lion King series.
Gospel singing 'He Lives In You'
The coordination of its members, combined with their powerful vocal talents really lured the audience in from the get go.
After a nicely worked medley of the ‘Phantom of the Opera’ by the Choral society, the members of the Glee society took to the stage to perform a hit from ‘Hairspray’.
Amy Humphreys’ strong vocals projected magnificently throughout the theatre, making more than one spectator take note for sure.
Next up was a collaboration from the Glee and Gospel societies, with lead vocals from Kaye Brown.
Her voice carried plenty of power yet was mellow to the ear which was impressive, the band threatened to overpower her but she held her own well.
After being overshadowed in the earlier number from ‘Hairspray’, Becca Burrage rose to the occasion during the ‘Rocky Horror Show’ classic ‘The Time Warp’. Her impressive vocals shone through and drew attention to her impressive talents.
A well polished ‘Chicago’ dance routine followed before the final performance of the opening half, which was ‘Somebody to Love’ from the musical ‘We Will Rock You’.
All three of the lead vocalists (Sarah Edlund, Craig Evans and Imogen Hughes) thoroughly impressed, but it was Imogen’s talent that came to the fore.
Imogen Hughes
Her sheer vocal power and elegance captivated the audience every time she took to the microphone.
The musicians’ society kicked off the second half, with a nicely played medley from ‘Les Misérables’, which was followed by a well-choreographed piece from ‘Moulin Rouge’ by the Dance society.
The underlying plot to the musical was the story of a young boy played by Lawrence Porter seeking to live his own life. He is helped by his guardian angel played by Rex Liddlard, who shows him what his future really is.
The show builds up to Lawrence’s performance of the song ’Beggin’ which was very good on the whole, but the backing chorus took the attention away from him, due to the sheer number of singers in the chorus.
Lawrence Porter singing Beggin'
The performance of Rex needs a special mention; his flamboyant approach to the part was truly inspiring and really entertained the audience every time he went on stage.
Another mention should go to the wizards played by Jimmy Ward and Liam Mayle, who also added to the comedic buzz of the show, including a special reference to Doctor Who’s explanation of time and space.
The Mystical Wizards
The show was drawing to a close but it still had time to share with the audience the talents of the next generation.
A workshop designed to give something back to the community allowed a group of 8-12 year olds the chance to take part in one of the final numbers of the show.
They all appeared comfortable on the stage as they danced and sang along to the ‘Grease’ song ‘We Go Together’.
All in all a tremendous show that is worth seeing if they bring it to the stage again.
The societies that took part were: Choral, Dance, Glee, Gospel, Musicians, Comedy and Shoreline Theatre.
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