Last night saw me watching this year’s Stage Experience performance and to say I was wowed is an understatement.
For those not familiar with Stage Experience it is is an annual summer offering from The Alexandra Theatre. They put a call out for local West Midlands performers aged 9 to 24 to join a 2 week summer camp where they learn to be polished stars, performing on the stage of the Alexandra, exactly like the professionals do.
Alumni of this scheme and offering include Brum Legend Joe Lycett, Liam Doyle who I saw perform in Heathers (he was brilliant) and Sam Buttery and Grace Wylde who were both in the touring production of The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe earlier this year. It is evident that talent from this scheme, can go far and wide and after seeing last night’s performance, I know that we will be seeing many of the cast on stage last night, in touring shows, TV productions and Movies. The talent, well, it was stupendous.
How the cast managed to get this together in 2 weeks, to be as perfect as it was, is testament to their skills and dedication. The performance was professional, it was polished and above all, it was fun. Everyone gave it their all and the team work and team spirit was evident.
I loved that it was all accompanied with a live orchestra too. How magical.
It is a large cast and I want to say as I concentrate on a few stand out performances, that everyone was wonderful and should be incredibly proud of themselves. Writing a review for a theatre production with a large cast is hard as you can’t talk about everyone individually, but I want everyone reading this who performed in last night’s show, to know that you were all amazing. Each and everyone of you.
The star of the show for me was Laura Bryan who played Carmen Diaz, the famous wannabe who has the most incredible voice (her renditions of In L.A and Fame were breathtaking). Carmen has no patience and leaves the school to try to get famous quicker. Laura’s strong vocals were phenomenal to listen to. Her ability to run around the stage, dance, sing and act was brilliant and to know it took just 2 weeks to perfect her act, demonstrates what a gem Laura is.
Cree Henson who played the role of Schlomo was outstanding, at everything; playing instruments, singing, acting and performing. Along with Laura Bryan, I believe we will be seeing Cree in some large scale performances.
Freya Hancox who played Serena was also a stand out star. An enchanting voice that leaves you mesmerised. Her on screen romance with Nick (Mason Daw) is cute to watch. Both Freya and Mason performed brilliantly. To remember every line so perfectly, deserves a huge kudos.
Louis Goode (Joe) and Bradley Mutizwa (Tyrone) were believable jokers. Funny, able to perform the comedy to make the audience laugh. Bradley lost the chalkboard rubber at one point as it slipped out of his hands, but a slight shrug of his left arm, had this mistake easily taken on board and the audience laughed. Bradley was great at performing ‘Tyrone’s Rap’. Upbeat, energetic and he had the audience feeling the emotion.
A stand out dancer was the Dance Captain, Emily-Violet Haywood (in the green in the below picture) whose dancing and stage presence was superb. A real star who I believe will have an incredibly successful future as a dance teacher.
The energy in this show was magical. Super dancing, spirit, acting and performing.
And for a Stage Experience performance, it gets ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ from me.
If you would like to see these amazing, talented young West Midlands performers bring Fame to the stage, you can get your tickets here: Tickets from as little as £19.15 each
You can catch this show at The Alexandra until Saturday 27th August 2022, so you will have to be quick.