Three years ago, I attended and reviewed Brendan Cole’s All Night Long spectacular at Birmingham Symphony Hall. Now, I always notify parties of my reviews and on that occasion, I was overjoyed to be appreciated by Brendan with his thanks via Twitter. I said, although not particularly a fan of Strictly Come Dancing (It’s more girlfriend, Michelle’s thing), I had thoroughly enjoyed it and would return and review next time. And here I am …

We began with The Greatest Showman and from the same movie – Come Alive. This was to be expected as the event itself was titled, Brendan Cole Show Man. What I didn’t anticipate was the immediate appearance of about thirty or so children singing backing (with moves) to several segments of the show, courtesy of Stagecoach Performing Arts Solihull. It’s no secret, I love the inclusion of kids as they are the future. And what a joy it was to see genuinely elated faces with this possibly being the most magical moment of their lives so far and encouraging them to be stars of the future. Well done, Stagecoach.

But back to Brendan …

After that rousing start, we saw the full spectrum of dance from a waltz with the music of Send in the Clowns to a salsa during Despacito. Other personal favourites of mine were Another Day of Sun (Quickstep) and Purple Rain (Contemporary Rumba). However, my top moment was the beautiful Cinderella which is a lovely story dedicated to Brendan’s daughter, Aurelia, and featuring a member of the Stagecoach choir in Violet. What a moment, indeed, for this young lady. Ending the night with a rousing jive was the always popular, Footloose, and not only were feet moving on stage, just about everyone’s in the audience were too.

Supporting Brendan immensely were his team of dancers including the ever-brilliant Crystal Main along with Kallyanne Brown, Alexandra Busheva, Andrea De Angelis, Antonio Careri, Giancarlo Catenacci and Francesco Sasanelli. Musical Director and pianist was Barry Robinson who deserves much credit for merging these art forms with his excellent band which also included violinist, Brigitta Bognar. Again, like my previous Brendan experience the male vocals were delivered in fine form by Iain Mackenzie and complemented superbly this time by Jenna Lee-James.

And it wasn’t just song and dance. Brendan always engages well with the audience and shows just how much his fans mean to him. Of course, there were also mentions of Strictly, a show where (my opinion) Brendan is much missed now. Plus, the obligatory friendly digs at Anton Du Beke. And Brendan’s mum was in the audience too, which was nice.

I will admit, I still don’t often watch Strictly (I prefer The Greatest Dancer), but I do love a great night’s entertainment and Brendan Cole Show Man was certainly that.

Cheers.

Antony N Britt