Category: Family

The Simon & Garfunkel Story

The Simon & Garfunkel Story
Sutton Coldfield Town Hall
Sunday 15th February 2024  By Nigel Gambles
Photography – Nigel Gambles

This touring show of the West End hit is as authentic and exciting as you can get. You could really close your eyes and listen and convince yourself it was the real Simon & Garfunkel on stage in front of you.

Playing to a packed Town Hall the show started with the unforgettable notes of Sounds Of Silence coming from the speakers. The song one of my favourites was performed beautifully.

The show is as it says a story with both Simon and Garfunkel telling their story from humble beginnings in Queens New York to global stardom. As well as I knew the music there were parts of their I had not heard before, such as when they first started they called themselves Tom & Jerry and made one record “Hey, Schoolgirl” in 1957, played here to much applause.

They played the songs in a type of chronological order from the album release dates the first half of the show covering the albums Wednesday Morning 3AM, Sounds Of Silence and Parsley, Sage, Rosemary and Thyme. The second half covering their 2 most successful albums Bookends and Bridge Over Troubled Water.

This is a terrific show for anybody who is a fan of the duo or just likes good music. The show ended with a standing ovation unsurprisingly, and this fan went home very happily remembering days gone by.

Go Your Own Way – Fleetwood Mac Tribute

Go Your Own Way – Fleetwood Mac Tribute
Sutton Coldfield Town Hall
Friday 6th September 2024 By Lee Williams
Photography – Lee Williams Photography for Whats On In Sutton Coldfield

Go Your Own Way – Such an immersive and atmospheric show with the lead singer (as Stevie Nicks) deep in character.  Makes you realise just how many hits Fleetwood Mac had, and how many you know!  From foot tapping, guitars and bright lights to long sequence almost ‘prog-rock’ songs with a touch of folk, they sure did Fleetwood Mac proud.  The lighting and acoustics at the Town Hall really got the place alive and all who attended went away with smiles of their faces and songs playing in their heads!

Calamity Jane – Tudor Musical Comedy Society ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Calamity Jane – Tudor Musical Comedy 

Sutton Coldfield Town Hall

Monday 24th June 2024 – Dress Rehearsal

By Nigel Gambles

Photography – Studio 55 Photography

My memories of Calamity Jane will be pretty much the same as most peoples, Doris Day in the movie of the same name. So I sat there and waited in anticipation. Saloon singers entered the stage and began with some well know numbers “She’ll Be Coming Round The Mountain” and “Home on the Range” to set the scene.

Calamity Jane, is rich and tuneful and contains many hits: The Deadwood Stage (Whip Crack Away), The Black Hills of Dakota, Just Blew In From The Windy City, A Woman’s Touch, My Love Is Higher Than A Hawk, and, of course, the Oscar winner, Secret Love. Its a wonderful score and I challenge you not to be singing along and tapping your feet after the first 10 minutes.

Full appreciation must be given to Suzanne Harris whose costumes are clever and present the types to be expected in the concept of America’s Wild West.

Ben Foulds is wry, laconic and incredibly laid back as Wild Bill Hickok. It is a performance of pure joy. He sings superbly throughout but his “My Love Is Higher Than A Hawk” is a genuine highlight and sets Act Two off beautifully. His rapport with Jonathan Blake’s Danny and Paula O’Hare’s Calamity is finely judged and ensures that the humour and the romance gets across. Jonathan is pitch perfect as Danny: the good looking Army man who knows he is good looking and expects the ladies to agree. Smart and smarmy, Jonathan’s Danny is the perfect foil for Wild Bill and the perfect objet of affection for Calamity. Alex Nash is equally perfect as Frances Fryer, and he brings a real sense of mischief, fun and subversiveness to his performance. He is incredibly musical and this shines through everything he does in remarkable and very satisfactory ways. He has a strong, true voice and every moment he is on stage is joyful.

Vanessa Blake is a delight as Katie Brown, the girl who would be a star. Her transition from scared wannabe to accomplished Deadwood diva is skilfully achieved. Her vocals in A Woman’s Touch are absolutely delicious. She has a gorgeous voice and real star appeal.

There is excellent work throughout the show from Maurice Buxton (Rattlesnake), Elizabeth Kirk (Joe), Alex Tuckwell (Hank). All provide colour, texture and interesting character work.

In the title role, Paula is well cast (although surprisingly not a blonde), and gives her all. Calamity is a part for a pretty woman who can successfully convince as a possible man; a true tomboy who can turn Princess. Paula has an easy, broad comic style, and she can punctuate jokes with aplomb, either with a deft double-take or a hard look or a nicely delivered line. Vocally, she is in good form. Her voice is as clear as a bell, especially in the number where she introduces the townsfolk: The Deadwood Stage. Her vocals in her duets with Bill and Katie were great, and those two songs were real treats.

She sings “Just Blew In From The Windy City” with vivacious determination and leads the cast in a great romp of a number which is the true highpoint of the production. Secret Love is not the peak musical moment it could be, but that is not to say Paula does not do it justice. She does.

This is a theatrical treat: a good, old fashioned musical done in a new fangled way. It’s great to hear such good songs so well sung by a cast that are truly enjoying performing. Their shear enthusiasm shines through

The band were very competent under the direction of Andrew Timmins and delivered a rousing score. Full credit to Choreographer Jenny Ashhurst and dance captain Beth Davies who delivered some fabulous dance scenes. Last but not least Director Elliot Beech  whose directorial debut this was and he certainly delivered.

For tickets click the link 👉 https://tudormcs.uk/box-office/

Shrek -Trinity Players ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Shrek – Trinity Players

Sutton Coldfield Town Hall

Tuesday 4th June 2024 – Dress Rehearsal

By Nigel Gambles

Photography – Lee Williams Photography

The musical is based on the film, Shrek, with music and lyrics written by David Lindsay-Abaire and Jeanine Tesori.  Shrek the ogre finds himself on a life changing journey, accompanied by a wisecracking Donkey, to rescue the feisty Princess Fiona from her tower.  All the characters are here, including Gingy, Pinocchio, the three blind mice, Dragon and of course that ‘short’ tempered baddie, Lord Farquaad.

In true tradition, the show starts at the very beginning with us seeing the 7 year olds, Young Shrek and Princess Fiona being abandoned by their parents – bit cruel – but never fear, as in all fairytales we know there’s going to be a happy ending, right?

Young Shrek is nicely played by Lexi Roberts and Young Fiona is beautifully played by Eliza Bullock who has terrific vocals (Nicole Bradbury also plays this role in other performances). Also, little shout out to Erin Freeman & Isobel Clinton as Teen Fiona (in different performances) who prove that there’s no such thing as a small part.

The Trinity Players ensemble really comes into its own with the portrayal of fabulous fairytale characters with Pinocchio, Gingy, the Three Little Pigs and the Three Blind Mice (Charlotte Askew, Robyn Klein-Cristoffels, Rachel Tucker, James Thomas,Tina Romano, Leigh-Ann James, Amy Homer, Deanne Brown) all making their mark and huge credit must go to the Make Up Artists who have done such great work here. The set looks great and costumes all look spellbindingly wonderful. Story of My Life is a great number for all the characters to shine with some lovely choreography. Freak Flag is another great ensemble number with plenty of laughs.

Shrek, of course, is the larger than life star of the show and Tom Wells completely owns this part. His sidekick, Donkey, is probably best known from the film version of Shrek for the voice talents of Eddie Murphy and Ravin Thakrar gives as good as he gets from his portrayal of the annoyingly hyper-active, pain-in-the-butt travel companion. Rebecca Perry grabs the role of the feisty Princess Fiona with gusto and really shows off her comedic talents, not least in the scene with Shrek where they have a burp/fart off competition.  I mean, who doesn’t love a fart gag?  Her Morning Person number also gave us lots of laughs.

There are some great stand out performances from the rest of the cast, and Sammi Kelly-Griggs was a super sassy, sexy and soulful sensation as Dragon, however, scene stealer of the night has to go to Dan McCloskey who completely embodies the part of vain and arrogant, Lord Farquaad.  In a brilliant display of character acting, Dan takes on this role with absolute glee and with all the complications that must entail with playing such a physical role, really nailed it. The What’s Up Duloc number is just an hilarious delight.

Finally full credit must be giving to the production team (Director Richard McNally-Reilly, Producer Lewis Wescott, Choreographer Leigh-Ann James and Musical Director Peter Bushby) who have definitely worked their magic to make this such a professional and enjoyable show.

Elvis – The Ultimate Experience

Elvis – The Ultimate Experience
Sutton Coldfield Town Hall
Friday 16th February 2024 By Nigel Gambles
Photography – Lee Williams Photography for Whats On In Sutton Coldfield

Multi Award winning Elvis tribute artiste Ben Thompson returned to Sutton Coldfield Town Hall for another sell out show, with some new costumes and even more songs from Elvis back catalogue we knew we were in for a fantastic night.

Accompanied by a full live band Ben started with Elvis early days  arriving on stage in a resplendent pink jacket and dived straight into a selection of the old classics “All Shook Up” , “Don’t Be Cruel” and more we were then treated to Elvis in uniform “GI Blues” style

After the break we hit the Las Vegas days with Ben in a couple of amazing outfits made for him in America bringing us classics like “CC Rider” “You Don’t Have To Say You Love Me” and Can’t Help Falling In Love”

You can certainly see why he is one of the best tribute acts in the country at the moment. If you love Elvis and get the chance to see this show then don’t miss out because you will be “Moody Blue”

Sinbad – Mint Theatre Society ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Sinbad – Mint Theatre Society

Aldridge Community Centre / Stonnall and Shenstone Village Halls

Friday 5thJanuary 2024

By Nigel Gambles

Photography ©Nigel Gambles Photography

This is the story of Sinbad- Ellie Ball who has big dreams of going to sea an exploring the world, but as luck would have it or script writers pen he has to help out in his sisters Beyonce’s bakery played superbly by Alex Howell with all you would expect from a pantomime dame

Sinbads dream comes true when he is press ganged by the evil Blackbeard’s David Daly- scurvy crew – Charlotte Ball and Dave Stonehouse and Blackbeards ruthless daughter Polly – Julie Guiver Wells.

After much fun and frolics, searing for treasure and falling in love the story ends with happiness abounding.

This is a terrace pantomime penned by Liz Daley who also plays a “Prawn” in the show, it captures all that should be included in a traditional family friendly pantomime which I promise you will beat those post Christmas blues.

Tudor Musical Comedy Society – Chitty Chitty Bang Bang ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Chitty Chitty Bang Bang– Tudor Musical Comedy Society

Sutton Coldfield Town hall

Monday 9th October 2023 – Dress Rehearsal

By Nigel Gambles

Photography – Nigel Gambles Photography

The most phantasmagorical stage musical has flown into Sutton Town Hall

We have never seen this show so were very excited to be able to see this production by Tudor Musical Comedy Society

A quick recap of the story, originally written by Ian Fleming (Of James Bond Fame) follows the adventures of Caractacus Potts, his wonderful children and their eccentric Grandpa Potts. They meet up with the beautiful Truly Scrumptious who joins them on their adventures, including a trip to Vulgaria a few lucky escapes and of course a very impressive automobile.

‘Team work makes the dream work’ is a recurring phrase within this musical and never has a truer word been spoken than with the company of Tudor Musical Comedy.  Choosing such a technically advanced production, filled with prestigious musical numbers, was always going to be an enormous challenge to undertake. However it was met and overcome with great gusto and enthusiasm.

The show has numerous fantastic characters, and I feel I must highlight the two comedic duos who stole the stage every time they appeared. Firstly the dimwitted Vulgarian Spies Boris (Alex Nash) and Goran (James Fisher) certainly in the running for double-act of the year their timing was perfect and their rendition of “Act English” is a highlight.

Vulgaria must be the centre for producing fantastic comedians as the Baron and Baroness performed by Mark Skett and Karrise Willetts were just that. They especially shone during “The Bombi Samba” playing the audience brilliantly.

Moving on to the stars of the show, Natasha Cartwright as the lovely Truly Scrumptious really does have the most delicious vocals and her chemistry with Caractacus (Ben Foulds) was wonderful to watch. Anyone who has seen the movie musical will remember the iconic music-box scene and Natasha was superb in this  – she is a natural leading lady.

Lets not forget the children Jemima (Myleigh Davis alternating with Rachel Kirk) and Jeremy (Jack Brayley-Boddington alternating with Peter Barker) who were wonderfully entertaining.

Credit must also go to Director Richard Poynton who has managed to make every character shine individually but also come together as a strong and united ensemble. He is supported by musical director Andrew Timmins who’s direction ensured the musical numbers were performed perfectly from the title song to “Me Ol’ Bamboo” and “Toot Sweets” all this accompanied by Jenny Morris’s excellent choreography makes for a not to miss spectacle.

One last mention must go to all the tech teams and back of house teams whom without them the show just would not be.

Script Youth Theatre – School Of Rock 5 ⭐

School Of Rock – Script Youth Musical Theatre Company

Highbury Theatre

Monday 3rd July 2023 – Dress Rehearsal

By Nigel Gambles

Photography – Nigel Gambles Photography

I was lucky enough to be invited to Script Youths dress rehearsal of School of Rock and I have to say the kids are more than all right and definitely “Sticking It To the Man”

The show is based on the hit movie starring Jack Black and focuses on Dewey Finn, a slacker wannabe rocker who has been dumped by his band and winds up masquerading as a supply teacher at a snooty prep school. He proceeds to introduce his pre teens class the joys of rock and gets them ready to compete in “The Battle Of the Bands” Along the way Dewey finds romance, self-worth, a proper job, and, most importantly he teaches the children and their parents the beauty of rock!

Harry Robbins is a joy to watch as Dewey delivering an explosive performance full of energy. He comes across as the scruffy free loader possessed with rock, and performs knockout versions of “You’re in the Band” and “Stick it to the man” He is  complemented by the wonderful Evie Rice who plays Rosalie the uptight headmistress, she sings a fantastic rendition of “Where did the rock go?”

I had thought that all the singing might be a little high pitched and the instrument playing not that good- boy was I wrong! The singing was varied and interesting, the kids played their instruments live, but you could also hear the house band playing holding it all together.

The performances  were universally knock-out – from Ruby Edmonds as the face-melting guitar genius Zack to Gracie Reynolds as Tomika who emerges from her shell with a shockingly good “Amazing Grace”; from Kadeena Glendon as Lawrence, the gluten-intolerant loner who becomes a cool dude on the keyboards, to Zachery Duke as the flamboyant, design-mad Billy. Full credit to Alex Brown who plays Freddie the drummer who learnt to play drums for the show. Top marks and gold stars to the remainder of the cast who were all tremendous.

St Giles Hospice Safari Solstice Walk

Saturday evening saw the much loved St Giles Hospice Solstice Walk take place this years theme was “Safari Solstice” and there were no shortages of walkers dressing up as various animals and characters. There were lots of activities to keep entrants occupied ranging from face painting photo opportunities with real animals and entertainment from the Got2Sing Choir. Before the walk started there was thank you from St Giles Hospice followed by a moment of reflection and a bubble release.
The 10k route took them from Lichfield Rugby Club into Lichfield, and a quick excursion in Beacon park before circumnavigating Stowe Pool and into Market Square before heading back to the rugby club for a finishers celebration with a Live DJ Saturday Night Party.

Royal Sutton Fun Run

Thousands of runners descended on Sutton Coldfield on June 4th for the 40th anniversary of the Royal Sutton Fun Run

It looked as if it would perfect running conditions cloudy and slightly cooler, but that all changed as the run started with the sun making an appearance and also making it tough for those involved especially those who donned fancy dress and the 60 plus four legged friends, many of whom i’m sure thought it was just their normal Sunday walk, and lets not forget the posties who decided to pull a Royal Mail van around the 8.5 miles

The run was started by Katie Smith, who was due to start the 2020 event before coronavirus intervened and who would later be running with a giant pink top hat, and Brian Latham whose idea it was to have a fun run through Sutton Coldfield. Brian thanked organiser Tracey Spare and his late father, Roy, for making his idea a reality

In 40 years the event has raised £4.92 million for good causes, with 2023’s 40th edition expected to break the £5 million barrier

 

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