Confession time – I am ashamed to admit that until this year I had not been to see Beyond the West End, which is an established feature of Shanklin Theatre’s summer season. In fact, it took the challenge of entertaining our mainland house guests to prompt me to book tickets – but I’m so glad I did! What a treat!
The theme of this year’s show is love through life, so we started with a medley of songs from 1 of my favourite shows – Matilda. The cast of 10 managed to convince us that 10 was their actual age as they rampaged around the stage, mingling humour, superb choreography and fabulous vocal harmonies.
Through the medium of songs taken from 60 years of West End shows, we experienced teenage Puppy Love, 1st love (including a hilarious skit involving a disastrous dinner date), broken hearts, holiday romance, proposal, wedding, family life and mature love. Apart from the theme itself, the constants were the brilliant standard of the singing and dancing, and the sheer energy of the performances, all supported by a live band on stage.
There was plenty to laugh at, some amazing dance routines and some beautifully tender moments – notably the solo performance of Slipping Through My Fingers, accompanied by a video of a little girl growing up, which spoke to all of us mums in the audience. The heartfelt rendition of Time After Time was also a highlight.
Despite the inclusion of some lovely ballads, the pace of the show never dropped – there must have been some extremely quick costume changes, as we moved seamlessly from 1 high-energy song and dance routine into the next.
1 of my favourites was a medley of Madness songs including Our House, as the family gathered to watch TV – prompting a tuneful reminder of some great old adverts. Beans Means Heinz anyone? Ah yes, to quote another highlight of the show, I Remember It Well.
Each performer had his or her moment in the ‘spotlight’ – which after all is the company behind the show – but the strength of this production lies in the teamwork of excellent singers, dancers and actors who clearly love working together and are thoroughly enjoying themselves on the stage, ensuring the audience are having a great time too.
Talking of Spotlight, while I do not usually review professional shows, I am making an exception for this 1 not just because it is such a fantastic show, but also because it supports a wonderful Island company which provides the chance for young performers to learn stage skills and to contribute to our thriving theatre community.
The show is well titled Beyond the West End – I think you’d struggle to see anything as amazingly entertaining in the West End itself. So whether you know a youngster who is part of, or may join, Spotlight IOW or whether you just enjoy a brilliant evening out, I’d encourage you to get your tickets now – in fact I’m about to book tickets to see it again, it’s that good!
Beyond The West End is at Shanklin Theatre every Thursday evening until October – so choose your week and get booking online.
Maureen Sullivan is a regular contributor to Island Echo’s coverage of the Arts on the Isle of Wight. Maureen has been actively involved in the Island’s amateur dramatics scene for several years, appearing in many different roles and guises with several theatre companies. In her free time, Maureen also writes and reviews at iwtheatre.org.
Catch Maureen’s column each month for the latest theatre and art happenings...
Both of our daughters has been members of spotlight since the age of 6 through till 16. In that time they learned a lot and gave it their best shot,and performed in there professional Christmas pantos most years , spotlight are a great bunch of professional tutors who teach the younger ones they way forward in the industry, they both enjoyed every second of their time at spotlight and shanklin theatre was their second home