Review: Children in Need show, Barn Theatre, Southwick

As a symbol of their gratitude and respect, the team left the recuperating Des’s A5 front row seat unsold in an otherwise sell-out first night of the Children in Need show at the Barn Theatre, Southwick.

Mr Young founded Wings Productions in 2005 and handed the production reins to a can-do team of young Wings cast members in 2011.

The highly-entertaining show, called Everybody’s Talking About Musicals, clearly showed the hard work all the dancers, singers and technical crew had put into the two years since the last show.

Space doesn’t allow us to cover all the good things and talented performers in the show, but some highlights follow.

For me, the most moving song of the first night was Burn from the musical Hamilton, performed by Jenny Milner, Katie Bartholomew and Lucie Thaxter. The singers’ emotion, the staging and Matthew Pike’s lighting design combined to dramatic effect.

In a more light-hearted moment, the visual comedy of the male company, led by Terry Chalmers and Simon Newman, was a crowd-pleaser in God, I Hate Shakespeare from Something Rotten.

Among other things etched in my memory are the main cast retaining a ‘freeze’ pose while Emily Carter and Simon Pavelich sang Belle from Beauty and the Beast. How Sarah Borg held that astounded expression, I’ll never know!

More comedy came from the up-down staircase staging and rapport between Lucie Thaxter and Terry Chalmers in Therapy from Tick, Tick…Boom!

Speaking of time bombs, the pregnancy test song The Negative from Waitress brought laughter for Hannah Hopkins, Louise Yeo and Megan O’Hara.

Among stirring, well-choreographed ensembles were 21 Guns from American Idiot, Sit Down, You’re Rockin’ the Boat from Guys and Dolls and the multi-song One Day More from Les Misérables, complete with comic pop-up from Amy Bowyer and Richard Worsfold as the Thénardiers.

Talented people of Wings Productions, whether mentioned here or not, you honoured Des and Pudsey.