'A Night of Self-Indulgent, Gratuitous Musical Theatre'

Luckily for my exam-frazzled brain, outgoing CUMTS president Pippa Dinnage basically reviewed the show for me, as she introduced Broadway Baby!, the society’s end of year gala, with this entirely apt phrase. Meanwhile the atmosphere in the theatre gave me the distinct impression that this ensemble of musical theatre numbers wasn't really intended for me. It seemed to be mainly for, well, the CUMTS (and friends of).

This sounds like a criticism, and it isn't. For one thing the audience, CUMTS and friends or otherwise, were loving it. When the show really picked up about a quarter of the way through with a powerful rendition of Cell Block Tango by the female cast members, the audience were hanging on to every line. As the show went on they cheered, they sang, they clapped along; one older woman spontaneously stood up and started dancing, and had to be physically restrained by her neighbour. Twice.

But, a little sober island in a sea of West End enthusiasts, I have to admit that me and Musical Theatre don't always see eye to eye. Obviously the idea of spontaneously bursting into song whenever the mood takes you is incredibly exciting and I'm unsure as to why it hasn't been a bigger feature of my life so far, but there are really only so many long emotional solos I can take before I  feel the urge to turn to the strong liquor.

'Being Alive' from Company was a bit more than I personally could stomach, but on the whole, Musical Director Alex Beetschen presented a programme which was fun and engaging, and actually quite insightful. He bravely introduced two songs with which the audience and I were unfamiliar: 'You Can Always Count on Me' from a little known 90s musical, City of Angels, sung by Victoria Rigby, was great fun, and and the hilarious 'Sensitive Song' sung by the MD himself, by the writer of Legally Blonde The Musical Laurence O'Keefe, is also well worth checking out if you get the chance. And in fact, although the introduction of a set of 'stunning solos' nearly had me heading straight for the bar, Guy Woolf's rendition of 'Gethsemane' by Andrew Lloyd Webber redeemed it for me, and was a definite highlight of the show. And who can complain when the cast is backed up by a well directed live band?

But like I said, the show wasn't for me. It was a celebration of CUMTS, and so the fact that it was a little unpolished, with a few tuning issues and some standard mic failures didn't matter so much; they're obviously a strong company with a passion for what they're doing. The gusto with which the cast pulled it off carried everyone through to the finale, and despite being personally a little overwhelmed by the end, one musical theatre lover I went with bounced out of the theatre having thoroughly enjoyed it, and actually, so had I.