As an occasional amateur performer, I love the whole concept of West End Recast. A performer can sing any song they want and not be restricted by their age, gender, skin tone or even vocal range. They get to sing musical numbers they would never get to sing normally. For this show we had a female Phantom, a white man singing 'Big Black Man' from The Full Monty, a male Norma Desmond and a grown up Matilda drinking wine, to name but a few!
As all the cast are, or have performed on the West End stages, I shall not focus fully on the singing as they were all amazing, but rather I shall focus on the performances and audience reactions.
The show opened with Sabrina Aloueche as the Phantom and Michael Matus as Christine singing the title number from Phantom of the Opera. This number certainly got the evening started on a high note. Loud, courageous (especially by Michael at the end of the number) and performed with style.
Oliver Hembrough was incredibly sexual as he performed 'Big Black Man', gyrating around and getting pulses racing.
Rebecca Brewer played the role of Orin Scrivello, the dentist from Little Shop of Horrors, with great relish, as did Jon Robyns when he sang 'Out Tonight' from RENT, I could just imagine Jon in the Cat-Scratch Club!
Far and away the best number in the first act, due to the enormity of this lady's talent, was 'Memphis Lives in Me' from the newly opened West End musical, Memphis performed by Cynthia Erivo. She had the theatre applauding and cheering with this number, louder than they had for any song up to that point.
The second act took a while to get going, in my opinion, until the arrival of David Bedella on stage as Norma Desmond. His rendition of 'With One Look' was flawless, as one would expect.
This was followed by a naughty number by Julie Atherton, 'Naughty' from Matilda, which was performed in a very tongue in cheek way, introducing innuendo where none really exists, to the delight of the audience.
The second duet of the evening was extremely good, possibly because of the performers, possibly because of the song. Daniel Boys and Jon Robyns performed 'I Still Believe' from Miss Saigon, their voices blending well and yet staying distinct enough as they sang together.
Following this, and leading on from a 'set up' from Julie Atherton's song where some wine was spilled on the stage. Annette McLaughlin, dressed as a stage hand, cleaned up the spillage before singing 'Castle on a Cloud' from Les Miserables, stripping off the overcoat half way through to reveal a very glittery number, which matched her provocative version of the song.
Daniel Boys finished off the show with what is slowly becoming a modern Disney classic and every little girl's favourite: 'Let it Go' from Frozen in true Disney flamboyant style.
The producer certainly knows how to leave an audience smiling, finishing as they did with an encore number performed by Cynthia Erivo, 'Being Alive' which had the majority of the audience on their feet for the final bows.
West End Recast 2 was an amazing evening's entertainment which covered 23 different musicals, and 1 musical film, each in an interesting and innovative way. An evening of superb singing, some serious, some humorous. Some songs slightly adapted, others true to the originals.
I do hope there is a West End Recast 3, and that this type of concept show is one that takes off on a larger scale in the future.
Well done to each and every performer, and to the whole team who put the show together.
As all the cast are, or have performed on the West End stages, I shall not focus fully on the singing as they were all amazing, but rather I shall focus on the performances and audience reactions.
The show opened with Sabrina Aloueche as the Phantom and Michael Matus as Christine singing the title number from Phantom of the Opera. This number certainly got the evening started on a high note. Loud, courageous (especially by Michael at the end of the number) and performed with style.
Oliver Hembrough was incredibly sexual as he performed 'Big Black Man', gyrating around and getting pulses racing.
Rebecca Brewer played the role of Orin Scrivello, the dentist from Little Shop of Horrors, with great relish, as did Jon Robyns when he sang 'Out Tonight' from RENT, I could just imagine Jon in the Cat-Scratch Club!
Far and away the best number in the first act, due to the enormity of this lady's talent, was 'Memphis Lives in Me' from the newly opened West End musical, Memphis performed by Cynthia Erivo. She had the theatre applauding and cheering with this number, louder than they had for any song up to that point.
The second act took a while to get going, in my opinion, until the arrival of David Bedella on stage as Norma Desmond. His rendition of 'With One Look' was flawless, as one would expect.
This was followed by a naughty number by Julie Atherton, 'Naughty' from Matilda, which was performed in a very tongue in cheek way, introducing innuendo where none really exists, to the delight of the audience.
The second duet of the evening was extremely good, possibly because of the performers, possibly because of the song. Daniel Boys and Jon Robyns performed 'I Still Believe' from Miss Saigon, their voices blending well and yet staying distinct enough as they sang together.
Following this, and leading on from a 'set up' from Julie Atherton's song where some wine was spilled on the stage. Annette McLaughlin, dressed as a stage hand, cleaned up the spillage before singing 'Castle on a Cloud' from Les Miserables, stripping off the overcoat half way through to reveal a very glittery number, which matched her provocative version of the song.
Daniel Boys finished off the show with what is slowly becoming a modern Disney classic and every little girl's favourite: 'Let it Go' from Frozen in true Disney flamboyant style.
The producer certainly knows how to leave an audience smiling, finishing as they did with an encore number performed by Cynthia Erivo, 'Being Alive' which had the majority of the audience on their feet for the final bows.
West End Recast 2 was an amazing evening's entertainment which covered 23 different musicals, and 1 musical film, each in an interesting and innovative way. An evening of superb singing, some serious, some humorous. Some songs slightly adapted, others true to the originals.
I do hope there is a West End Recast 3, and that this type of concept show is one that takes off on a larger scale in the future.
Well done to each and every performer, and to the whole team who put the show together.