Come and meet those dancing feet!
On Tuesday the 5th of November, I went to see the Chelmsford Young Gen production of 42nd Street. Wow, these kids are so talented! It was a great production and I enjoyed it!
Georgia C was in the main role as young performer Peggy Sawyer and she was amazing! She had lovely vocals that if you ask me, weren’t showcased enough! I would love to see Georgia in the role of Judy in the Dolly Parton musical 9to5 – it’s a role I think she’d excel in! Georgia was also an incredible dancer! She really stood out in any group numbers because we were drawn to watch her, she had great poise and elegance. One of the numbers I thought she did a really good job with is Go into your Dance which was a group number with Millie, Kat, Izzy C and Izzy M – it’s a song where she did both singing and dancing and she was great at it! I really enjoyed her friendships with Kat, Izzy C and Izzy M; you could tell they were close both on-stage and off. Overall I really enjoyed her role, she was really likeable and excelled at the singing and dancing.
Next up we have Livi in the role of seasoned performer Dorothy. I had previously seen Livi in the role of Mimi in their production of RENT that they put on earlier in the year so I was excited to see her in another role. 42nd Street isn’t a musical I knew well prior to seeing this production, but I knew Dorothy was a big role (that had been portrayed by Bonnie Langford in the past), Livi was great in this role! She was a really great diva and nailed the American accent. Her vocals are insane for such a young performer. I really enjoyed her solo songs especially the Shadow Waltz – I thought the stripped back instruments suited her vocals really well. I also really enjoyed her duet with Georgia called About Quarter to Nine, I thought their voices blended really nicely. I also enjoyed her scenes with both Matt who played Abner and Sean who played Pat – I thought she had good chemistry with both of them, with Matt it was more comic relief and with Sean, it was more cutesy. Overall I enjoyed Livi/Dorothy, I thought it was done really well.
Following from Georgia and Livi we have Finley W who was in the role of manager, Julian Marsh. This was another strong casting choice. Finley did a really good job with this manager role. I really enjoyed his scenes as he was a great young actor, especially as this was his first show with Young Gen! I thought he was also a good singer – we didn’t hear him sing much but I enjoyed what we got. I really enjoyed his scenes with Georgia, I thought they worked really well together and that shone through in the scenes that they shared. I thought he closed the show really well with the 42nd Street reprise. I look forward to hopefully seeing Finley in more roles with Young Gen!
Our next role is Billy Lawler played by Charlie – who I had seen in 13, West Side Story and Our House, so was happy to see him again. I liked Charlie’s vocals in his main song called ‘Dames’ towards the end of the first act, I thought he and the rest of the boys’ did a really good job with that song. Like Finley, he also worked well with Georgia, I thought they had a really sweet friendship which again, shone through. I enjoyed seeing Charlie again in another main-ish role.
Next up we have the duo of Millie and Aleks in the roles of Maggie Jones and Bert Barry. I really enjoyed these two, they made me laugh in their scenes together. I thought they worked well together and had great comedic timing. I enjoyed their performances in the songs Getting out of Town and Shuffle off to Buffalo.
I thought Millie’s character Maggie had a great and motherly friendship with Kat, Izzy M and Izzy C’s characters as well as Georgia’s and really enjoyed the song they all had together. Overall I really enjoyed Millie and Aleks together and thought they were another great casting choice!
I also have to quickly mention Kat, Izzy M and Izzy C in the roles of Ann Reilly (Anytime Annie), Phyllis Dale and Lorraine Flemming. I enjoyed these three a lot! As mentioned I liked their song ‘Gointo your Dance’, I thought vocally they were great and thought their tap-dancing during that song was amazing, I also really enjoyed their on-stage friendship with Georgia.
Standouts
I really enjoyed this show…heres a couple of my standout elements
The costumes in this production were one of the best I’ve seen at Young Gen. The costumes were not only gorgeous but everyone had multiple costume changes! One of my favourite costume moments was the climax of the song Dames were all the girls came out in all different coloured costumes and ended up in a line looking like a rainbow gradient.
Not only did Young Gen have numerous costume changes, but they also had multiple sets and set pieces, which was great to see! One of my favourite set pieces was the dressing room mirror set in the song Sunny Side to Every Situation, it was simple but I really enjoyed it!
I also really enjoyed the big group numbers in this production such as We’re in the Money and 42nd Street, I thought they were done really well, not only were the mains in this production talented but so was the ensemble! Including some really talented younger members of the cast – new upcoming stars.
These kids are so talented and it really shone through with this show! I can’t wait to see their production of the school edition of Ghost: The Musical next April! I am so glad I discovered this company because I have loved every production that I’ve seen!
If you ever get a chance to see these kids put on a show, take it!