West End On Tour, The Old REP, Birmingham - review

Featuring West End star Jacqueline Hughes, who starred as Elphaba on the world tour of Wicked, as well as Sam Lupton (Little Shop of Horrors and Avenue Q) and Gemma Atkins (Kinky Boots and Evita) the evening was a showcase of some of the West End’s most classic songs as well as current favourites.

The star cast were joined on stage by students from the Midlands Academy of Musical Theatre who had taken part in a weeklong summer course in preparation for the performance.

There were also performances of the Lion King and Cats by children from Class Act Theatrix whose confident and entertaining routines had the audience cheering.

The evening took the form of a showcase, with the professionals taking it in turns to perform various tracks interspersed with scenes from the various academies.

Tracks such as Defying Gravity, Bring Him Home and Take Me or Leave Me proved the skill and professionalism of the performers on show and it was great to see such talent in such an intimate theatre as The Old REP.

Sam Lupton’s performance of Avenue Q’s Purpose as well as Jacqueline Hughes’s Wizard and I truly bought the West End feel to Birmingham.

Less well known tracks from musicals such as Newsies, Dear Evan Hansen and Waitress were also performed, veering away from your standard amateur production affair (I’m looking at you Joseph).

An evening of great variety and professionalism as well as a showcase of upcoming talent from the local area, it can surely be considered that the event was a success and will hopefully be a catalyst in giving local children and students more opportunities to learn and perform with some of the best in the business in the future.