"A Virtual Christmas Concert"

Nottingham Arts Theatre Youth Group.

It has been almost a year to the day that I was last at the Nottingham Arts Theatre to see the Youth Group, and how I miss sitting in the Arts Theatre for a show.

This is a virtual production so you get to see the performers up close and personal so to speak. What doesn't change is the talent you discover from this showcase of songs, dance and readings.

You even get an interval to pop off and make yourself a quick drink!

This is jam packed with the first part showcasing musical theatre songs and readings from the stage with the second half bringing the Christmas cheer.

"Don't Stop Believing" started us off in a lively vein with a group performance and it was lovely to see that some of these children unable to keep still, even online.

Let's have a look at the stars of this online extravaganza.

Lucy Heatham-Lee, Phoebe Mossop, Eloise Reese, Chloe Chapman, Freya Bird, Jonah Williams, Charles Beckett, Rosie Morgan, Florence Eventi, Lucia Lockley, Jack Symington, George Young, Sarah Nicholls, Isobel Farr, Charlotte Fisher, Olivia Grace-Tiley, Zach Silcock, Leah Wrigglesworth, Megan Holder, Caitlin Young, Esme Smith-Cockayne, Sky Douglas, Hattie Campion, Kate Russell and Myla all gave everything, especially in some of the group performances.

I was really impressed with Chloe's rendition of "Burn" from the musical "Hamilton", and while the subject matter of the song may have been not quite right for a younger person to sing, I thought Chloe delivered the song with real emotion.

George Young performed one of my all time favourite pieces from "Jekyll & Hyde" with "This Is The Moment", showing he has the potential to be a wonderful musical theatre performer in the future.

Jonah Williams' version of the classic "White Christmas" shows a crooner in the making.

There were some nice choices for the readings as well including Lucia Lockley's reading of "All The World's A Stage" and Iris, Cleo and Rebecca's "Twas The Night Before Christmas" and the comedy piece called "I Want To Be Joseph" from Zach Silcock. Jack Symington's "Making A Difference" gives a hint at a budding classical actor in the making.

A couple of ballet pieces to vocal performances by Isobel and Charlotte and Hattie and Kate were so relaxing to hear and see.

I also loved the group pieces and especially "I'm A Believer" where the one boy dancer in this group really matched the girls with his moves.

A mention must go to

Stephen Greatorex

for the video editing. He made sure that, even though these pieces were filmed separately, they were all slotted together perfectly.

With less than a week to go before the big day, this show really satisfied my musical theatre yearnings as well as got me in the mood for the run up to Christmas.

Thanks also to

Jessica Royce

the Youth Group and Production co-ordinator for getting this all together, along with

Mike Pearson

and creating a Christmas Cracker of a show.

Let's hope next year we'll be able to see this Youth Group live on stage and not on Zoom!