"A Summer Soiree - Musicals Through The Years" by 4th Wall Theatrics

Bonington Theatre, Arnold.

4^th Wall Theatrics are a fairly new group but made up of many well known faces from the Nottinghamshire area.... as you'll soon see. This is the second showcase by the group that I have had the pleasure of being entertained by.

The Summer showcase consists of thirty-four pieces of musical theatre loveliness and variety working its' musical journey from Biblical times with the opening song from "Joseph and The Amazing technicolour Dreamcoat", through the years, right up to "Dear Evan Hansen", all in a magical musical time warp (yes, that's also included in the fun finale). the pieces are performed by performers from toddler age (who are mega cute) right the way up to the most senior member of the group.

So, let me tell you who was responsible for showcasing the entertainment on Saturday night.

The cast consists of Barry Hobbs, Hannah Enderby, Sophie Benner, Amy Rogers-Gee, Pippa Ward, Emme Gunn, Isobel Munden, Paul Mapplethorpe, Kev Jones, Bertie Black, Barbara Benner, Saurav Modak, Lindsey Jaycock, Tallulah Enderby, Maisie Winfield, Alison Watkins, Roy Smith and Christine Boothe. Some of the aforementioned names I have not seen on, or offstage for a good few years.

Every song chosen for this showcase was completely diverse and spot on for entertainment value, covering all reaches of musical theatre and all ages.

I'll be here until tomorrow night if I mention all of the pieces, so here are just a few that I particularly loved, for various reasons.

It was so good seeing Barry open the show with "Any Dream Will Do", a piece that I've seen Barry sing on stage a few years ago, This song perfectly suits his voice and laid back style, especially with a chorus of ensemble members.

"Six The Musical" was featured with six stunning queens, Hannah, Sophie, Amy, Pippa, Emme and Isobel in a history lesson concerning the "Ex Wives". Not even a sound failure with the backing track put them off and I noted the lovely comic touch with the introduction to this piece, the second time around. 

Now, I have been banging on about a musical called "Something Rotten" for about a decade and it's only this year that it traversed from America over to the UK. The soundtrack is brilliant and one of my favourite tracks from the score, "Hard To Be The Bard" was performed by Paul Mapplethorpe. Paul is a brilliant entertainer and never just sings the songs, he performs them every time; even if he is just providing back up vocals, he is performing. I caught him after the show to say how much I enjoyed the show and to ask about a particularly shiny jacket and trousers he wore in one particular number, "Tonight Belongs To You" from the musical "The Prom". I am now on the lookout for a similar suit in my size!

Pippa Ward has a beautiful voice and gave us a gorgeous rendition of "As Long As He Needs Me" from "Oliver".

And then came the "aaah" factor with the two youngest members of this showcase, Tallulah Enderby and Maisie Winfield as they sang "Food Glorious Food", also from "Oliver".

"Les Miserables" has always been one of my favourite musicals, and the song that brings light relief in the show is "Master Of The House", performed with great humour by Bertie Black and Alison Watkins. This is a real character filled song and Bertie and Alison replicated this character and humour brilliantly.

One song that I didn't know was one called "Astonishing" from the musical "Little Women". Sung by Emme Gunn, it's a song that I'll be looking for the next time I'm scouting for songs for my Wednesday night musicals show on the radio.

The bangers just keep on coming and another lady with an incredible voice is Lindsey Jaycock who gave us a pitch perfect version of "Think Of Me" from "Phantom Of The Opera". You can see where Jonathan gets his musical talents from.

Next up, yet another gorgeous voice, provided by Sophie Benner, singing "Journey To The Past" from "Anastacia". I have been lucky enough to have seen Sophie's journey in theatre from quite a few years back. The woman you see on stage is the culmination of lots of hard work in local theatre, and her voice has never sounded so pure.

The dreamy "Hushabye Mountain" was performed by Kev Jones and Hannah Enderby, followed by a classy rendition of "I Could Have Danced All Night" by Isobel and Lindsey.

Paul was back with another wonderful piece from "Chicago" in "Mr Cellophane", along with the ensemble.

I have a bit of a soft spot for sea shanties and Kev, Amy, Hannah, Pippa, Barbara, Saurav, Bertie and Paul gave us "Sail On Boys" from "Operation Mincemeat".

And that's just the edited highlights from the first act!

Act Two started back in the late 1950's with a monochrome inspired version of "Jailhouse Rock" involving Kev, Bertie and Saurav along with the Company.

Emme and Paul gave us a sublime version of "Suddenly Seymour" from "Little Shop Of Horrors", all bathed in green light.

It was then back to the 1970's glam with "Hold Me Close", a song featured in the jukebox musical "All The Fun Of the Fair", sung by Roy Smith and his backing vocalists Lindsey, Barbara, Pippa and Isobel.

Bertie really got into performance mode with his rendition of "Science Fiction, Double Feature" from "The Rocky Horror Picture Show" backed by Emme and Paul dressed in white doctor's jackets!

A raunchy version of "Candy Store" from "Heathers" was next by Emme, Amy and Sophie.

Christine then got her time in the spotlight with a piece called "What Age Expects" from the musical version of "Calendar Girls". So pleased to have been able to catch up with Christine before, as well as after the show.

One of the big hits in theatre over the last few years is "Come From Away", and the song "Welcome To The Rock" was performed by the company.

Hannah returned to the stage for a solo of "There's A Fine, Fine Line" from "Avenue Q". By the end you could have heard a pin drop. That's not the only time that happened because Alison returned singing one of my favourite power ballads from a musical. "He's My Boy" from "Everybody's Talking About Jamie". I love that song and Alison's rendition sent the shivers up my spine; so packed with emotion.

"Apex Predator" is a song from the musical "Mean Girls" and performed this evening by Emme and Isobel. Three quarters through the song, the backing track disappeared, but Emme and Isobel finished the song acapella style, which was really appreciated by the audience.

The full company then performed "Waving Through A Window" from "Dear Evan Hansen".

Finishing off with "The Timewarp" was the perfect way to end this party.

I said that I'd only mention some of my favourites and have practically mentioned everything. The pieces I missed out on were just as entertaining, so even if I haven't mentioned them all, as I stated earlier there wasn't one piece that I would have considered leaving out; I just had an absolute blast and I hope that my highlights have included at least one by all the performers individually.

The evening was not short of technical issues, but I have always said that it's the way you recover from them that is more important, and while the sound system, on a couple of occasions failed, the professionalism of the performers did not, and the problems were swiftly sorted out.

So, let's get to the people responsible for everything else off stage....

Company Directors are Amy Rogers-Gee and Marie Rogers.

Musical Directors are Amy Rogers-Gee and Emme Gunn.

The show was choreographed by Amy Rogers-Gee and Pippa Ward.

Produced by Amy Rogers-Gee, Emme Gunn and Michael Coles.

The brilliant costumes, and there were different costumes for each piece, were by Amy Rogers-Gee, Emme Gunn, Pippa Ward and Alison Watkins.

And now a few areas that Amy wasn't involved directly in.

Lighting Designer is Nick Elliott.

Sound design is by Bob Betts.

Stage managed by Matt Allcock with Stage Crew Chris Gillibrand and Eli Gayton.

In all seriousness though, I know Amy's work ethic, especially when it comes to the theatre, and I know just how much work Amy puts into things like this, and what a fantastic night it was.

Congratulations to everybody involved, I had an absolute ball.

Thank you Amy for inviting me along and thanks to all on stage for an evening of fabulous musical theatre talent.