This is a song of praise as much as a review. Kylie Green, Jen Frith and their enormous group of creatives, casts and crew have, again, achieved wonders. The showcase of songs from eight diverse musicals was a superb example of Pelican Productions’ chosen genre. And I only saw one of the many large casts. The company’s previous excellent history and and the highly credentialled array of six vocal coaches and six choreographers, ensures that the standard of performance on opening night is guaranteed to be repeated by the other casts.

What an undertaking it is. The programme lists over 90 performers in each of the three Music Theatre Camp casts, and the Spotlight cast has over 100. Astonishing. Kylie Green and Jen Frith direct the former and Zali Sedgman directs the latter. Understandably, there is a host of support staff for each. But best of all, the final product is an exceptional showcase of musical theatre. 

The singing is precise, animated, well-articulated and buoyant, the choreography is crisp, exciting and supportive of the songs’ meaning and purpose, the costumes (and there are so many of them) are decorative, showy and well-crafted, the scene changes are fluid and swift and the lighting and sound sensitively enhance the whole. In short, it is all of the highest order.

Each of the eight showcased musicals has its own character. The casts I saw showed clear understanding if that. There were many fine individual and ensemble performances. Jack Keukenmeester was empathetic and bold as Alexander Hamilton in the medley from Hamilton. He made the most of his fine voice and dashing stage presence, and his duet, Found Tonight, with Henry Green as Aaron Burr was memorable. In the excerpt from Oliver!, Airlie McCarthy stood out as the Artful Dodger, singing, acting and moving with cockney flair, while Vegas Nikolitsis as Nancy gave us a moving interpretation of As Long As He Needs Me. In the sequence from Boop, Ariel Higgs was sophisticated and classy as Betty Boop, and was especially effective in her solo Ordinary Day. In Something Rotten, Francis Osei-Tutu was smooth, lithe and exuberant as Shakespeare. In Once Upon A One More Time Zoe Pool’s performance of Cinderella’s Soliloquy was powerful. She had fine vocal control and a clear grasp of the importance of the light and shade required to interpret such a song.

There were many such high points in all segments of the showcase. All individual performers were well supported by the ensemble in each case. The finales of both Acts stood out as testaments to the way that Pelican Productions interpret their material and present it at such a high level of performance.

Bravo!