For over 30 years Eastbourne Stagers have given hundreds of young people the opportunity to perform in musicals and this show is extra special as it pays tribute to their founder Dotty Briant who sadly passed away earlier this year. After she passed away, her husband Paul said, “She was there at the birth of Eastbourne Stagers. She led it through many exciting and challenging years and she worked hard to leave it in good hands. Her legacy is a continuing outlet for young people who are engaged by the theatre. A place where they can go to learn, to have fun, to be safe and to sing and dance and act. She loved her Young Stagers, and they in turn have loved her back.”
For this very special tribute the company are joined by past members who wanted to pay their respects to a lady who gave them the foundation to their careers including Natalie Roberts who now has her own performing arts company NRPA and Helen Ward-Jackson who performs worldwide with her brilliant Adele tribute.
A Night at the Musicals begins with probably the most topical, and appropriate, of numbers, The Greatest Show. The curtain raises just far enough for us to see the legs and feet of the huge company assembled on stage. As they begin to dance the effect is quite mesmerising and the choreography both slick and tight. Mcauley Parker appears as PT Barnum and handles the vocal introduction very well before the curtain raises completely and a full company song, dance and acrobatic performance really wows the audience.
There is no scenery, just a star-lit backdrop and a couple of platforms but, with a cast of 65 and almost 30 numbers to get through, there are about 700 different costumes on show! Singing and dancing is what this show is all about, and Eastbourne Stagers really know how to do both. After a second number from The Greatest Showman (A Million Dreams), we blast straight into a medley from Oliver, which features the brilliant Helen Ward-Jackson singing As Long As He Needs Me.
The original cast from The Stagers 2018 production of Little Shop Of Horrors reunite on stage for the next medley, which features the wonderful Maia Buckthorpe singing Somewhere That’s Green and then it’s off to Oz where the younger members of the company sing of the Merry Old Land of Oz. After the title song from Footloose, with yet more incredibly well rehearsed choreography, the stage clears and Natalie Roberts (in a stunning dress) delivers a faultless version of Losing My Mind from Follies.
Another quick change happens and Do Ya Wanna Dance from Summer Holiday is the next huge song and dance number to get the audience singing along before Mcauley Parker returns, with Roxy Cosham, with Friendship from Anything Goes. The act one finale is as sublime as it is stunning. The entire company, all dressed in white and carrying candles (Dotty did have a penchant for dim light and candles on stage!) deliver a showstopping version of Leonard Cohen’s Hallelujah.
Act two starts with a lesser known musical, Bring It On, which focuses on the competitive world of cheerleading. This allows the company to again show off their gymnastic and acrobatic prowess before Natalie Roberts returns with Unexpected Song from Andrew Lloyd Webber’s, Tell Me on a Sunday, the juniors perform We Go Together from Grease and the seniors take to the stage with Seasons of Love from Rent, featuring a simply stunning vocal solo from Helen Ward-Jackson.
Hard Knock Life from Annie, Ticket Out of Loserville from Loserville and We Will Rock You’s Somebody to Love all follow in frighteningly quick succession (Huge congratulations go to the wardrobe department for the amazingly quick changes) before Roxy Cosham leads the juniors in the title song from Children of Eden, and Lucy Worrall and Lauren Holmes give a very passionate performance of I Still Believe from Miss Saigon.
The Wildcats from High School Musical get the audience involved again with a very energetic version of We’re All In This Together before the tone is changed completely for a beautiful song called Home, which echoes the sentiments of everyone in the company as they remember Dotty, with the lyric, “You’ll always have a home inside of me”.
There was only ever going to be one way to close this tribute and that is with Dotty’s favourite musical, Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, and so the full company, led by Malachi Jones, take to the stage, in dazzling red costumes, to finish off with Any Dream Will Do.
With such a huge cast, aged from six to “ladies of a certain age”, Director/Choreographers Fiona Dean, Chloe Hurst and Dotty’s daughter Luisa Veitch together with additional Choreographer Beatrice Frias Del Rio have had to work tremendously hard but, as a result, the production is incredibly slick, the full company dance numbers are amazing and the whole show is wonderfully entertaining – a fantastic tribute to a very special lady.
***** Five Stars