TOMORROW'S TALENT SUMMER SCHOOL

TOMORROW'S TALENT SUMMER SCHOOL

Little Waltham

29.07.12

Gavin Wilkinson's West End Workshops provide a unique opportunity for young performers to work with professionals from today's musical theatre.

No concessions are made for youth or inexperience; no prisoners are taken.

Sunday's showcase began with Lost and Found – intense movement from a strong posse of young men, matched later by the girls, then the youngsters.

Helen Siveter, from the We Will Rock You company, brought us an edgy vitality in One Vision, with solos from Ollie Fox and Chester Lawrence. Alice Masters and Laura Messin duetted brilliantly in a number from Wicked, working with Stevie Tate Bauer; Rebecca Louis, a member of the last London Cats cast, developed an energetic Jellicle Cats, and Matthew Clark [Matilda] produced some off-the-wall choreography for Revolting Children.

All the numbers were delivered with confidence and admirable discipline, none more so than the finale, Cat and the Moon, involving all forty performers and developed in collaboration with them by Mr Wilkinson himself, who spent eighteen months in the West End Lord of the Rings.

His dance captain and right-hand woman for this week's workshops was Liz Pilgrim.

WHEN CHILDREN RULE THE WORLD

WHEN CHILDREN RULE THE WORLD

Tomorrow's Talent at The Cramphorn Theatre

17.06.12

It's been an amazing year for Tomorrow's Talent. Their CM1 Glee Club made the national finals on the BBC, and they have alumni in Matilda, Singin' in the Rain, Shrek and Oliver.

This summer showcase celebrated those successes, with impressive unplugged spots from the Glee crowd, and Isobelle Molloy reprising an affecting circus fairytale from Matilda.

But it was also an opportunity for every student to strut their stuff and show what they can do under performance pressure. So the bedtime story was followed by Hushabye Mountain – lovely choral singing directed by MD Kris Rawlinson. There were intimate individual moments, like Erin Jacobs' choirgirl confession, and big production numbers, like the appropriate triple threat scene from Fame, a cleverly devised "book" sequence, the title song [from Whistle Down the Wind], a snippet from Cats, an exhausting burst of Hairspray, and that classic exit number, So Long Farewell from The Sound of Music.

Everyone, from the tiniest to the tallest, showed commendable discipline and stagecraft, making for a very entertaining hour in the Cramphorn, produced by Gavin Wilkinson and directed by Emma Tapley.

The Senior Group are presenting Rent in the Civic next month, and we were treated to a tantalizing trailer – Seasons of Love - amazing even unamplified.

CHICAGO

CHICAGO SUMMER SCHOOL

Tomorrow's Talent at Little Waltham

14.08.11

They pulled it off last year with a pared-down, no-frills Cats; this year the even more demanding, infinitely darker Chicago, the three-ring circus of Cook County Jail, where celebrity is a drug and murder is entertainment.

Gavin Wilkinson's karaoke version was hard-hitting [though they did “pipe down the swearing”] and caught the steamy atmosphere to perfection. No lighting to help, nor sound reinforcement, just these madly talented young people [average age 14 or 15], inventive choreography and stunning stagecraft. And the chairs of course, used with flair and imagination. The precision of the movements, the depth of the characterizations were an incredible achievement in less than a week.

A very strong ensemble, all of them characters in their own right, and very effective in the big numbers – the sisterhood tango, Razzle Dazzle complete with knife throwing act. Sam Toland was a touching Mr Cellophane, Ashton Reed played seasoned vaudevillian Velma, with dance captain Liz Pilgrim as Mama Morton. Some of the best character work came from wannabe celebrity Roxie [Sophie Walker], and her mouthpiece Flynn, a very stylish Josh Butcher. Their impeccable quick-fire duet, which blossoms into a full-blown riot of dance moves, was brilliantly done. I could believe that sequence alone took five days to set, but no, the whole hour was polished and perfected from scratch in that time. Sixty minutes of energetic, emotional musical theatre, and still oomph enough for the Hot Honey Rag and a fantastic finale.

production photograph by Louise Freeland

CATS

CATS

Tomorrow's Talent

15.08.10

Cardboard city with fairy lights; street sounds and sirens. And then the feline invasion, cats of all varieties pouring in through every imaginable entrance for a stunning sequence of extracts from TS Eliot's only hit musical, now approaching its thirtieth birthday.

Big numbers and impressive solos, from amongst others Jess Moore as Grizabella in the iconic Memory, beautifully staged here, Bart Lambert as a rock-god Rum Tum Tugger, and Mark Ellis, precise and perky as Skimbleshanks the Railway Cat. Duos included Laura Messin and Sophie Walker sharing Macavity, Polly Grieve-Russell helping Alex Houlton's Gus regale the listening kittens with tales of his palmiest days, and a lively Mungojerrie and Rumpleteazer from Andrew and Natalie Cooper - “a wonderful way of working together”.

But the greatest impact came from the production numbers: Jellicle Cats to start and finish, The Naming of Cats with its disciplined choral speaking [and these are tricky literary lyrics], and the carton train for the Sleeping Car Express.

Superb make-up and hair [West End expert Sally Tynan] – with special plaudits to Sam Toland's Munkustrap and some splendid ears and whiskers on kittens. Dance Captain was Liz Pilgrim, and the show was directed by Tomorrow's Talent Principal Gavin Wilkinson.

photographs by Louise Freeland