Nottingham Theatre Train at Sadler's Wells

On 19th June we went to Sadler's Wells in London to see the performance of Rhythm and Blues by amongst others the Nottingham Theatre Train group.

This is a performance by several Theatre Train groups together, where each group gets to sing, dance and act out, while the other groups support with chorus singing.

The performance was split in2. The first half was a celebration of Motown, with music such as Love Machine, What Becomes of the Broken Hearted and a medley of Supremes Classics to end the first half. This was all well rehearsed, and each group came and went on stage easily, as the music flowed from one piece to the next.

For the second half, it was a presentation of The Blues Brothers, picking out the music as the core, and acting out the story around it. This was a more engaging half, as the story helped keep the music together and give it a sense and purpose. Again, tha action flowed well from one group to another. Its difficult with large ensemble pieces to pick out stars, however the Minister singer from the Harlow group who sang The Old Landmark seemed to combine good singing with high energy performance.

As for Nottingham, they performed well, acting and singing 6345789 and Rubber Biscuit (set band pieces when the Blues Brothers finally perform at The Palace Hotel).

The whole event is brought together by Robert Hyman - Conductor and Arranger - who has boundless energy and a canny way of getting the kids to do what he wants them to.

A fun performance, lots of well known music and proud to be watching my daugther perform on stage in London with 350 other kids aged 6-18.

Robert Dixon
27th June 2010
 
Posted by: Robert Dixon on 27 June 2010