Review: Broadway To The Bay @ Wales Millennium Centre
Broadway To The Bay
Wales Millennium Centre
23/10/15
Wales Millennium Centre celebrates over a decade of performances and entertainment in the Welsh capital in style with a West End-inspired showcase titled "Broadway to the Bay". Bringing together a wealth of Welsh talent who have made their name on the musical circuit this show promises to be a one off showcase for the ages.
Supported by the 38-piece Novello Orchestra, the show starts with John Owen-Jones and David Mahoney bringing on the humour with a newly-penned number concerning Health & Safety during the performance. As the curtains raise the stage is drowned in music and lights with an impressive stage set designed for the show, with the parts of the orchestra in specially designed 'boxes' and the conductor throwing the music around. A flight of lighted stairs take centre stage for the singers and dancers to appear in style, and with a powerful opener from the Tenors of Rock with "Jesus Christ Superstar" the show begins.
These walls were built for this calibre of performance; the venue sings back as the songs come at you like Elaine Page's jukebox. It's a real mixture of old and new musical hits with songs from Hairspray and Wicked flying around classics from Phantom and Les Miserables. The vocals seem drowned out at times by the orchestra, but it seems only the male voices are lost as Ruthie Henshall and a heavily pregnant Kerry Ellis stand out as the strongest vocal performances. The performers introduce each other with a familiar camaraderie and humble friendliness, plus plenty of hyperbole regarding the venue and the capital. It seems a bit shticky, but that's all lost in the quality of the music and the Best of Broadway setlist, with the eclectic mix sung with admiration and earnest pleasure. A standout piece is a dance number from West Side Story and the finale of Les Miserables, with a glorious solo by Caroline Sheen of 'I Dreamed A Dream'.
As the show comes to a close the stage is flooded with children from local stage schools and students from RWCMD giving a look into the future of stage performance in Wales. It gives hope for the venue as some of these kids could be taking part in the next anniversary show at WMC having carved their own way into the West End. The show may not have been as advertised however, as it does feel like a ostentatious golden handshake to the venue itself rather than a Broadway revue, a glitzy grandiose karaoke for the Welsh capital. The music and performance was superb, despite having a few lost vocals, and the audience enjoyed it immensely; but it all seemed slightly self-important and pretentious in parts. Certainly the best platform for such revelry!
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Images by Wales Millennium Centre
