Our 2023 Summer Concert:

Report: Once Upon A Musical 2022

Author: Matthew Heaton

CLOGS Musical Theatre and their youth section, ‘The Clogettes’ produced another terrific evening’s entertainment in St Peter’s Church, in front of an enthusiastic audience.

The theme was in principle a really strong one, using songs from musicals, based-upon books. Compilation shows, as well as being good fund-raisers are also a great way to demonstrate the depth of talent in the Society as it allows the showcasing of established, returning and new performers. Thus, it was great to see so many new cast members taking solos. Milly Hayward produced a really soulful ‘Summertime’, while Makenzie Bardsley created a powerful rendition of ‘Evermore’ from Disney’s Beauty and the Beast.  Curtis Teunon performed a fun version of Matilda’s ‘Telly’. We also saw Luke Hackett in a spirited version of ‘Agony’, with Hannah Wilson and Kate Perkins performing as Two of the Six ‘Ex-Wives’ of Henry VIII. Finally, Leigh Carter and Chloe Featherstone lead a really charismatic ‘A Cover is not the Book’ from Mary Poppins Returns to close the production. Really well done all!

We were also able to see some song and dance performances from the next generation of performers through the Clogettes, which added some good contrast to the production. With only a few weeks of rehearsal since their  most recent performance of ‘Annie Jr’, this wasn’t perhaps the Clogettes at their full capability, but it was great to see them take part nevertheless.

The show really took off with the great energy and story-telling ability in the Chorus Numbers. This included a fabulous rendition of ‘Story of My Life’ from Shrek with the whole cast as Fairy-tale creatures, a really powerful performance of ‘One Day More’ from Les Misérables to close Act 1, an energetic ‘America’ from West Side Story and a cleverly constructed ‘Viva Eastbourne!’ from 2023’s forthcoming production of ‘Made In Dagenham’. The same could be said for the Choreography, which was generally very precise and effective from across the whole performing team. Congratulations to Lead Choreographer Lucy Mayo, with support from Lottie Jeanes and Hannah Wilson. Memorable dances performances included ‘Live and Let Die’, ‘Ex-Wives’ and The Lion King’s ‘Shadowland’. At times, some of this may have been a push for some of the less-able dancers in the group (positioned well at the back!) but it is sometimes good to stretch people out of their comfort zones.

‘A Cover is Not the Book’ provided a fitting end to the whole production, combining all the key aspects of solo work, chorus singing, choreography and the book theme. To me, this theme did seem to get a little lost at times in the production with a bit of an eclectic choice of numbers used, but this is a relatively minor point in what was an excellent performance.

The venue and the heat of a particularly warm evening could have made this a difficult show to control technically for both sound and the lighting but this was very good. Lighting was basic - supporting LEDS as the evening drew in, which was sufficiently effective. Vocal amplification was through a number of standing microphones which picked up the voices really well and balanced this with the backing tracks successfully. Positioning the sound technician next to the MD at the front really made this possible.

This show had been over 2 years in the making, delayed in 2020 and 2021 due to COVID restrictions and you could see it was a real labour of love for the Creative Team. Creative Directors Sandra Mayo and Jennie Woloschuk and Musical Director Donna-Kate Hargreaves should be really pleased with what they have been able to achieve in ‘Once Upon A Musical’.

 Thank you again CLOGS for a terrific evening’s entertainment.