It is prom season….or at least it is if you are a Centre Stage audience member. Centre Stage have put together their version of the proms, The Proms Remixed, with a cast of 25 and arguably more importantly for a proms show an orchestra of 31. The show steers clear of large ensemble pieces that one would traditionally find in a show of this kind (this is a One Day More free zone) and instead focuses on orchestrating or reworking musical theatre numbers that you may not expect to see performed in a show of this kind.

The set list was an utter delight and the majority of the songs were ones that I knew and loved whilst veering away from song choices that felt overdone. It was also wonderful to see and hear some more unusual songs being performed such as The Ballad of Sara Berry. Even the more well known songs were presented differently, for example ‘Come What May’ was presented A Capella and ‘I’m Not That Girl’ turned into a sextet of female voices for a beautifully unique version of the song.

Before I go much further it would be remiss of me not to talk about the orchestra of 30. Often in amateur theatre it is unusual (understandably) to have an orchestra larger than 12 but creative/musical director and orchestrator Dominic Veall tore up this rule book for this production and the orchestra took centre stage (and rightly so). The orchestrations by Veall, Chris Forte Nelson and Harry Style were sumptuous and a feast for the ears.

The cast were also well drilled by the team in terms of harmonies and you could tell that this had been a huge focus of the production resulting in tight harmonies and a rich sound from the ensemble in the bigger numbers. There were also some stand out solo moments including Trevor Williams who sang Moving Too Fast who wowed with his tone and vocal quality but also had the audience eating out of the palm of his hand with his charismatic performance and piano playing. Michael Dukes took the role of Bobby Strong for ‘Run Freedom Run’ with impressive riffs and Harriet Nokes’ beautifully simple version of ‘With You’ just before the end of the show left the audience so silent you could hear a pin drop.

Movement direction for the show was by Cheryl Gurnham and the self confessed motive was not just to ‘park and bark’ which made for an entertaining evening. There were however at times, especially for the ensemble where less would have been more and on occasions the ensemble movement became distracting, especially when just watching the singer and/or orchestra is entertainment enough and the maxim less is more on this front felt apt.

I must also commend the sound design and operation for the show, sound is difficult in any amateur production for a large variety of reasons but Adam has an orchestra around 3 times the size of normal to contend with but he did a wonderful job of mixing the ad balancing them with the singers beautifully. On the technically front Tash Boret also produced a simple yet effective lighting design ensuring that the attention was where it needed to be and that during some of the bigger numbers such as ‘Roxanne’ the lighting worked really well to compliment the songs mood.

It isn’t often you get to see a show with an orchestra of this size, let along in the amateur theatre world and when the orchestra sounds this great, combined with a varied and fun song selection it is a chance I would urge you not to let pass you by.

The Proms Remixed by Centre Stage is on until Saturday 19th July at the Bridewell Theatre. You can find out more and book tickets on Centre Stage’s website.

If you like this review of The Proms Remixed you may also like my review of past Centre Stages productions including Head Over Heels, The Wedding Singer and The Little Mermaid.