"Bring It On - The Musical" by Act One.

Iveshead Theatre, Shepshed.

I haven't seen this musical before, so what is "Bring It On" all about?

"Bring It On: The Musical" tells the story of Campbell Davis, a young cheerleader who dreams of leading her squad to victory at a National competition. The story focuses on the world of competitive cheerleading and the intense rivalries it creates. Campbell’s future is secure: handsome boyfriend, a killer squad, and the newly awarded title of Cheer Captain. Suddenly, however, she is mysteriously reassigned to another school: the inner-city Jackson High, where she knows hardly anyone and worse: they don’t have a cheerleading squad!

Despite the challenges of fitting in at a new school, Campbell befriends some tough girls on the dance crew and helps them become a powerhouse competitor for the National Cheerleading Championships. Featuring a sassy script and songs from Tony Award winners Lin-Manuel Miranda and Tom Kitt.

Think "Glee" but with more bite and you get the picture. What I particularly enjoyed about this production is that all the cast members excelled in different areas; it's like having the perfect stew with all the best ingredients.

Campbell is played by Alice Powell, who has a wonderful voice, and knows how to use it, and perform, especially the gorgeous ballads.

Steven is the only male cheerleader on the Buccaneers and Campbell's boyfriend. Toby Ashurst is great fun to watch and even the saccharine sweet rhyme about bunnies and puppies he and Campbell recite becomes less sickly and more in character with the love struck puppy that Steven is.

Eva is Campbell’s neighbor and the newest member of the Buccaneers cheerleaders and played by Evie Hancock. A very comical performance by Evie and I loved the turnaround in this character, and especially the chemistry with the other characters.

Bridget, played by Jessie Davies, is the mascot for the Buccaneers and another really fun character to watch.

Kylar is one of the Buccaneers cheerleaders as is Skylar, both being Campbell's best friends. Played by Grace Smith and Katie Sturla, they are loyal besties and one of several couplings that make this musical such a fun watch.

Danielle is the head of the Jackson dance crew. Caitlin Fitzpatrick, who plays this tough cookie, is a great little dancer and packs the role with personality and sass.

Nautica, played by Amy Tarrant, is one of the Jackson dance crew, and a young actor who has plenty of moves to bust.

The other main member of the Jackson dance crew is a character called La Cienega played by David Sturla who is a real triple threat. He can sing, he is a fantastic dancer and is a wonderful comedy actor. David had a lot of fans in the audience on Friday night if the reaction to his final bows are to be believed. And I believed that reaction 100%. For any astronomers out there, he is a star to watch!

Randall is Jackson's school very charming DJ and music producer, and he looks the part an played by Jonah Robinson.

Cameron, played by Ethan Smith, is one of the Jackson students, and another hip-hop artist.

Twig is another of the Jackson students and also a hip-hop artist who has a fine line in chat up. Arlen Panesar brings the swag to this party, never giving up on sweet talking Eva into a date, and that sweet chat up talent is also shown in some of the rap pieces in this musical.

These are the main characters but there's a large ensemble cast who sing, dance and perform throughout and also deserve mentions.

Eleanor Corbett, Lexie Collins, Freddie Scothern, Layla Adelakun, Freya Walshe, Isabel Limb, Elizabeth Cutts, Nellie Mclennan, Lola Turner, Eleanor Restell, Lorena Thorley, Heather Fitzpatrick, Beth Clark, Etta Brompton, Evie-Mai Cowdroy, Grace Clarke, Isla Corbett, Leo Gilbert, Lizzy Offiler-Russell, Mary Offiler-Russell, Megan Thom, Polyanna Field and Skye Cooke. Their energy in the dance numbers was off the scale.

Directed by Danni Starkey and Amy North, this is the perfect vehicle for a cast of this age. It's a fun, and very sharp musical, and that is magnified by the above actors.

Choreographed by Wendy Spencer and Helen Starkey. I imagine that this was no easy job for this talented couple, especially due to the size of the cast. What I particularly noticed with the choreography in this production was that, normally the girls outshine the lads, but here the lads were a match for any of the girl dancers, and especially the choreography for La Cienega. Wendy and Helen were assisted in this big task by Shelly White and Danni Starkey.

Musical Director is Adrian Dobson, who led the seven piece band to produce a fantastic sound, and various genres of music that make up this insanely catchy soundtrack. Adrian was assisted by Allie Sturla.

Sound is by James White. The mix was practically perfect with no missed mic cues whatsoever. I heard every word from that stage, which I was so pleased about because there are some very funny lines and one liners to be heard, and we heard them all. 

Lighting design is by James Cladingboel and operated by Ollie Whitehead. Both design and execution were exciting and modern.

Costumes were by Wendy Spencer, Helen Starkey, Lorna North and the cast. There was everything in here from a full traditional Leprechaun costume to a chicken costume and the two teams costumes and more. Another big job carried out to great effect as they looked brilliant on stage.

With a cast this big, the stage management has to be spot on, which it was, thanks to the stage crew Kevin Spencer, Paul Savage, Michael Armes, Pete Yeomans, Alan Jamieson and Victoria James.

Every time I see anything at Iveshead School, I know that the quality of the production is going to be high; this time around, with the production team and this exceptional cast, they have raised the bar even further, and my enjoyment levels. I'm not sure who had more fun, the audience or the cast, but I guarantee it would be a close run result.

"Bring It On" is at Iveshead Theatre, inside Iveshead School, Shepshed until Saturday 11 May.