"Stand In The Spotlight" Senior Showcase 2023

The Space, Nottingham.

Part one of Spotlight Theatre's Showcases for 2023 featured the seniors and what a lot was crammed in to two hours; over forty separate pieces consisting of dance numbers, monologues and sketches from musicals and films, and how many costume changes for these twenty-six performers?

They kicked off with "Put On Your Sunday Clothes" from "Hello Dolly" as a full ensemble piece so that everyone could see the full twenty-six before we got to see them all in separate sections. Ironically Tilly Wishart's powerful rendition of "Don't Rain On My Parade" did not stop the rain from cascading down as the audience exited the theatre at the close of the show.

I can't possibly name every segment, the song titles, sketch names, the musicals and films they were taken from, so I'll give my highlights; no, that won't work either as I loved everything, Ok let's try and give you a flavour.

There were musical theatre classics like "Lullaby Of Broadway", "Too Darn Hot" and "Over the Rainbow" rubbing shoulder with more recent musical numbers from musicals as diverse as "Grease", "Pitch Perfect", "Dreamgirls", "The Greatest Showman" and "La La Land", showing the range of musical talent this lot have.

There were ballet sections and tap sections, full on Hollywood ensemble numbers, extracts from films such as "When Harry Met Sally", "Ferris Bueler's Day Off", "Dead Poets Society", "Monty Python", "The Hobbit", "The Lord Of The Rings", "Indiana Jones" and "Back To The Future" to highlight the drama and comedy side of Spotlight's students. I especially liked the "Bible Verse" and "Royale With Cheese" sections from the film "Pulp Fiction" delivered by Jason Thompson and George Young.

There was a "Quotes Sketch" which used all the cast, delivering famous lines and quotes from some of the biggest movies of all time; two from my favourite films were omitted, "I'm The King Of The World" from "Titanic" and "Ditto" from "Ghost" but they'd still be there now if any more were added to this clever sketch.

There were especially choreographed pieces for movie songs like "Don't Wanna Miss A Thing" from "Armageddon", "Another Way To Die" from "Quantum Of Solace", "Hot Lunch Jam" from "Fame" and "Twist And Shout" from "Ferris Bueller's Day Off". The choreography for "Jump In Line" from "Weekend At Bernie's was superbly performed; simple but with a lot of comedy tinges.

I love choreography that brings about an emotion from me, doesn't matter what emotion, but Hemi Lewis's ballet section to "Not About Angels" was truly mesmerising. Everything was spot on, even down to the way her hands were presented through the dance, through to the look on her face, it was stunning.

On the subject of choreography, I think the lads really held their own amongst all the ladies on stage. Some, you could see that dance was maybe not their forte but they still gave everything and from where I was sitting, they certainly looked like they were enjoying it. I will single out George Young again, as he appeared quite a bit in the choreographed sections, adept at the various dance styles showcased.

There's a lot of very good vocalists in Spotlight and these were well highlighted. Sophie Benner's beautiful and heart felt version of "Out Here On My Own" from "Fame" pushed all the right buttons, as did Caitlin Young's perfectly pitched "There Are Worse Things I Could Do" - which by the way is my favourite track from "Grease". There were some very nice Celtic touches in Act two and I really loved "Samwise" from "The Lord Of the Rings the Two Towers" performed by Preston Nash.

Another section I really enjoyed, and had not seen before was "Man Or Muppet" performed by Preston Nash, Finlay Tomlinson, Dan Duckworth and Tom Blakey. This sketch really showed off the power that these four have in their vocals as there were a couple of very long notes there which were handled excellently.

One thing that I love about going to see local theatre shows as often as I do, is that you get to see individuals' growth on stage. Some I see from their stage debut right the way through and you see the confidence in the person soar, their voices get stronger, their choreography gets tighter, their acting matures, and with several of these young actors I have witnessed how far they have come.

Two songs closed the show, and they could not have been chosen better. "This Is Me" from "The Greatest Showman" is one of my favourite modern musical theatre songs. It is such a strong, positive stomper which everyone gets to sing and there is no disputing that we know who they all are.

The final performance is another one of my favourite, feel good songs made into a massive hit by Justin Timberlake and from the film "Trolls". "Can't Stop The Feeling" got everyone clapping along, ending on another positive vibe, and there is no way anyone would want to stop the feeling that these performers created tonight.

All that is left for me to do is to mention the incredibly talented cast of "Stand In the Spotlight" 2023 Seniors.

Darcey Adams, Sophie Benner, Tom Blakey, Kaya Burgess, Scarlett Coleman-Smith, Hermione Cumbers, Dan Duckworth, Amy Flatman, Erin Hanby, Emily Holder, Lucy Horton, Alannah Kight, Mia-Jay Kostrzebski, Jack Lamb, Hemi Lewis, Ace Merkelt (ace name), Preston Nash, Madelyn Pritchard, Connie Tagerdine, Jason Thompson, Finlay Thompson, Megan Towers, Tilly Wishart, Charlotte Wright, Caitlyn Young and George Young.

Their tutors are Liam Petruccio-Hall, Bethany Wear, Sophie Petruccio-Hall, Maddie Pritchard, Tilly Wishart and Ray Mcleod.

Creative Director was Amanda Hall and Assistant Creative Director Liam Petruccio-Hall.

Technical Manager was Nigel Newton.

The excellent Lighting Design was by Tom Mowat.

The equally excellent Sound Design was by Rob Kettridge with SM and Sound 2 ( sorry that is too technical for me to understand but I don't care because the sound was indeed excellent) by Bronwen Webster.

An absolutely wonderful showcase, highlighting some of the best young talent - and tutors - in Nottingham, and to quote one of my favourite songs from the musical "Fame", Bring On Tomorrow, I can't wait for the Inters Showcase.