The Read Dance and Theatre Company were staging a production of The Best of the West End at the Arlington Arts Centre on Saturday 10 May and I was invited with Edwina Cooper to attend this single performance in the evening. We had met the Co-founders of the company, Jamie and Helen Read, at the Mayor of Thatcham’s final reception so we were looking forward to their production. They have a wonderful pedigree in the performing arts arena as they have appeared in many West End productions with stars such as Judi Dench and Maureen Lipman. They have set themselves up locally, providing theatre training and production and they also work with young people in schools and colleges.
We have been to a number of productions at the Arlington Arts Centre and have enjoyed it as it is an open theatre which is reasonably intimate. The production was in two parts; Act 1 incorporated songs and dancing from three shows, Wicked, Smokey Joe’s Café and Hairspray. The show got underway with five songs from Wicked which was confidently sung and danced by the youngsters who seemed very confident and well rehearsed. Their costumes were very colourful and someone worked very hard on these. The six songs from Smokey Joe’s Café was performed almost exclusively by three students from Reading Theatre College and their singing and dance routines was excellent, and in particular Teach Me How to Shimmy which was warmly applauded. The final four songs were performed by the youngsters which included I Can Hear the Bells and You can’t Stop the Beat, which I remembered from many years ago from Hairspray. We needed the interval to stretch our legs and get a drink as well as to reflect on the first Act.
The second Act started with songs from the show Snoopy which I had not seen or heard before and we certainly enjoyed these, particularly Peanut Butter Sandwich and Just one Person. This was followed by five songs from West End Tribute from the Reading Theatre College students, Ravarna Hunsdon, Kharmen Smith and Kathryn Halls. We both enjoyed the songs and their choreography which really went down well with the audience.
The final seven songs were from the show We will Rock You which Edwina had seen in London. This combined the two groups and the climax of the evening was the songs We are the Champions which some of the audience joined in and concluded with the Bohemian Rhapsody. There was a standing ovation from the audience and it was a fitting response to an excellent show.
We were invited backstage to meet Jamie and Helen Read and all the cast. It was a great pleasure to talk about the performance and everyone said how much they enjoyed singing and dancing and how enthusiastic they were. We both said that we would go to any future performance that they put on. We also thought that the three students from Reading would have great careers on the stage in the future.
This is the last item for my Blog before I hand over the reins to Phil Barnett at Mayor Making on 18 May, so I hope that he continues with the Blog to record what engagements he has attended. Goodbye from Edwina and I.
We have been to a number of productions at the Arlington Arts Centre and have enjoyed it as it is an open theatre which is reasonably intimate. The production was in two parts; Act 1 incorporated songs and dancing from three shows, Wicked, Smokey Joe’s Café and Hairspray. The show got underway with five songs from Wicked which was confidently sung and danced by the youngsters who seemed very confident and well rehearsed. Their costumes were very colourful and someone worked very hard on these. The six songs from Smokey Joe’s Café was performed almost exclusively by three students from Reading Theatre College and their singing and dance routines was excellent, and in particular Teach Me How to Shimmy which was warmly applauded. The final four songs were performed by the youngsters which included I Can Hear the Bells and You can’t Stop the Beat, which I remembered from many years ago from Hairspray. We needed the interval to stretch our legs and get a drink as well as to reflect on the first Act.
The second Act started with songs from the show Snoopy which I had not seen or heard before and we certainly enjoyed these, particularly Peanut Butter Sandwich and Just one Person. This was followed by five songs from West End Tribute from the Reading Theatre College students, Ravarna Hunsdon, Kharmen Smith and Kathryn Halls. We both enjoyed the songs and their choreography which really went down well with the audience.
The final seven songs were from the show We will Rock You which Edwina had seen in London. This combined the two groups and the climax of the evening was the songs We are the Champions which some of the audience joined in and concluded with the Bohemian Rhapsody. There was a standing ovation from the audience and it was a fitting response to an excellent show.
We were invited backstage to meet Jamie and Helen Read and all the cast. It was a great pleasure to talk about the performance and everyone said how much they enjoyed singing and dancing and how enthusiastic they were. We both said that we would go to any future performance that they put on. We also thought that the three students from Reading would have great careers on the stage in the future.
This is the last item for my Blog before I hand over the reins to Phil Barnett at Mayor Making on 18 May, so I hope that he continues with the Blog to record what engagements he has attended. Goodbye from Edwina and I.