The Stage Experience has been in existence for over 20 years. It’s aim, to change the lives of young people through the medium of Musical Theatre. In the space of two weeks, participants put on a show from scratch with involvement in all areas of production. This is a fantastic opportunity which leads many to successful careers in theatre following them taking part.
Bring it On is loosely based on the 2000 film of the same name with the music of Tom Kitt and Lin-Manuel Miranda, lyrics by Amanda Green and Miranda, plus a book from Jeff Whitty. The plot revolves around cheerleader captain Campbell Davis who is forced to move schools and set up a new crew with streetwise kids to compete in the Nationals’ competition.
I will say from the off, my only negatives of the show were with the original template itself. I found the songs uninteresting, forgettable, and only redeemed by the fantastic performances of the cast. It was the same with the script. Although enjoyable in the main, I found some characters underused and only there to fill gaps with others having a huge amount of work to do. That said, the story was fast paced with some innovations I liked, including the cell phone conversations. Very realistic and contemporary.
What the fabulous Stage Experience does go to show, however, is that even with a non-perfect starter, an amazing cast and crew can send the audience home happy. And that was the case.
In the lead role, Laura Bryan was amazing as Campbell in vocals and acting. A top performance throughout. Equally so as Danielle, we had Brittany Jarman-Watson delivering added sass in addition to all the other aspects of musical theatre. I also enjoyed the portrayal of Eva by Bessy Hingley with a character transformation that easily duped you into thinking she was sweet, only to find out she was, in fact, the villain of the piece. I then loved Bridget, the outsider who keeps on trying which was made special by the outstanding performance of Eden Wedgbrow.
Supporting well, though were Molly Ann Bache (La Cienega), Demi Mitchell (Nautica), Kieran Powell (Randall), Aiden Cooney (Cameron), Freddie Holt (Steven), Alexia Mouzakitis (Skylar), Holly Boden (Kylar) and K’Vae Brown (Twig).
Although Bring it On is musical theatre, it’s heavily stacked towards dance and under the direction of Pollyanna Tanner, who also co-choreographed with Olivia Wicks, the results were stunning from everyone and led well by Emily-Violet Haywood (Dance Captain). The show was produced by Hannah Whitfield and Victoria Ellery-Jones with musical direction from Chris Newton.
So, although I am not a fan of hip-hop/rap, I still had a wonderful time because when the talent is there, nothing else matters.
Cheers.
Antony N Britt
* Photos taken from social media.
Antony N Britt - Author 