The Magic of Animation 3 - Heroes & Villains
Cadogan Hall • 4th May
A return to the Cadogan Hall yesterday found ‘West End Does:’ performing their third ‘Magic of Animation’ concert, this time “celebrating some of the most iconic heroes and villains of animated film history”. With seven leading West End performers taking it in turn to provide the vocals, musical backing was provided by the 10 piece West End Does Orchestra, (led by musical director Samuel Wilson) as well as the 16 piece Guildford School of Acting Choir. Whilst this alone would have been enough to fill the audiences eyes and ears with spectacle and song, the already impressive line-up was periodically further supplemented by 6 dancers also heralding from the Guildford School of Acting, (they certainly seem to be pumping the talent out of Guildford), as well a second ‘guest’ choir, The West End Musical Choir, (I lost count of how many of them there were given how they seemed to pour onto the stage in an endless stream!)
Like the absolutely incredible I Am Harvey Milk, which had been the concert previous produced by Chorus Productions at the Cadogan Hall, (directed by Kirk Jameson - see Jack The Lad: Issue 40), this was another 1-day special concert seen only by those lucky enough to catch either the matinee or evening performance. Actor Rob Houchen had remained behind the scenes for I Am Harvey Milk, given he is also as part of the production company that has put these two shows on, but he got to take to the stage on this occasion, (having hot-foot it over from The Criterion Theatre were he has been appearing in the Olivier Award winning Titanique), and delighted the audience with his own exceptional renditions of Poor Unfortunate Souls (from The Little Mermaid) Son of Man (from Tarzan) and In The Dark Of The Night, (from Anastasia).
In an evening when there was so much to enjoy for fans of animated musicals, especially of the Disney variety, it seemed somehow inevitable to find Rob Madge making an appearance as part of tonights company, (see Jack The Lad: Issue 38). Having now famously filled a childhood creating their own Disney parades in their parents living room I would not have been at all surprised to learn that they had actually gate-crashed this particular party, but fortunately they had been invited and was making a suitably resplendent appearance in a black feather cuffed blouse, black sparkly trousers and equally sparkly silver heals for their renditions of The Bells Of Notre Dame (from The Hunchback of Notre Dame), Mother Knows Best, (from Tangled) and Be Prepared (from The Lion King). With a career that would seem to have already fulfilled many of Rob’s own childhood dreams, tonights genial host Simon Lipkin welcomed them to the stage with a cheeky “Wilkommen”, a nod to the announcement made just days before that Rob will be playing the Emcee in Cabaret at the Kit Kat Club from 29 May… meaning I just might find myself seeing that particularly outstanding production for a fourth time!!
Back to ‘Heroes & Villains’ however, and the talent just seemed to keep on coming as one West End performer after another took to the stage to give their own renditions of songs from some of Disney’s classic animated films. Alistair Brammer, Sharlene Hector, David Hunter, Rachel John and Leesa Tulley, (last seen in our 5 star reviewed Why Am I So Single), all offered first class vocals that elevated the night into becoming a surprisingly special event. I use the words ‘elevated’ & ‘suprisingly’ as it might come as a shock to learn that whilst being a lover of animated feature films, this particular audience member considers himself more ‘Team Manga’ than ‘Team Mouse’, (and is more likely to be found following Spiderman into the Spiderverse than the Hunchback into Notre Dame). As such the whole Disney musical genre has somewhat been allowed to pass me by, (please forgive me Rob), although, in my defence, I do still revisit The Nightmare Before Christmas at least once a year and I have seen Toy Story 1, 2, 3 and 4! That aside, without being able to rely on the warm affection generated by relating the chosen songs to the films they appeared in, tonight’s set list would need to work in it’s own right… or this was going to be a very long performance indeed and, as I took my seat I confess that despite the talented cast, I still had my reservations.
Thankfully, I needn’t have worried as I soon found myself being just as entertained as any hard-core Disney fan fresh from a one month binge-watch! On recollection, there’s no reason why I shouldn’t have liked the set list given the calibre of the song writing talent behind each song, including the likes of Elton John & Tim Rice (The Lion King), Randy Newman, (The Princess And The Frog), Stephen Schwartz & Alan Menken (The Hunchback of Notre Dame / Pocahontas and others), and Phil Collins, (Tarzan … ok, so you can’t win them all)… but these are songwriters and lyricists who were all at the very peak of their skills when dipping their talented toes into the wonderful world of Disney. Thankfully there were no cheesy ‘vignettes’ to try and visually recall the original films, this being very much a concert performance, and as such it worked incredibly well. My unfamiliarity with the songs means I can’t really comment on just how much Samuel Wilson’s musical arrangements will have differed from the originals, suffice to say he very much succeeded In bringing out the best of each and, along with the musicians, managed to create a sound three times the size of this economic 10 piece orchestra.
Whilst for many adults in the audience this would have no doubt been a nostalgic trip down memory lane, given that most of the chosen songs came from films made during Disneys Renaissance period of 1989 to 1999, the younger members of the audience proved just how enduring these songs still are, even without the colourful animated visuals, but for this particular reviewer it not only proved the wealth of talent we currently have on the stages of London’s West End theatres, but it also just might have offered-up a first-look glimpse at the next generation of West End stars, and my money is on at least some of them coming from the Guildford School of Acting!
★★★★★
West End Does: returns to the Cadogan Hall with Christmas In Concert • 14th December. Tickets available here
review: Simon J. Webb