On Friday night I had the privilege of attending the opening night gala of The Orchard Theatre’s Summer Youth Project of “Bring It On: The Musical”. Comprising of 100 young people auditioned from within the local community performing both on stage and behind the scenes and put together in just two weeks I was excited to attend this show along with my daughter.

“Bring it On: The Musical” is a fun filled, high energy show that is based on a series of films of the same name from the 2000s, surrounding the highs and lows of being part of a cheerleading squad in American high schools. Perhaps an odd choice for a summer youth project in Dartford and while there wasn’t perhaps the diversity expected from this particular musical, which was acknowledged in the program, there was certainly plenty to cheer about onstage.

Having 91 young people onstage, organised and portraying the level of skill in dance, drama and singing that is expected from even an amateur production is no small feat and this was fantastically accomplished by director Davin Maun. The show moved well from scene to scene with only a few lags but a fantastic job by David for organising everyone onstage as well as the youth technical team who were fantastic. As you would expect from a show that focuses on cheerleading and dance the choreography was high energy and pitched at just the right level for this young cast by choreographer Debbie Smith. It was fantastic to see so many of the young people showing off their skills as they fearlessly flipped across the stage and the cheerleading skills that were included were well performed. Overall the singing was excellent from this production with musical direction by Steve Trill, for the most part the sound was projected well, a highlight being hearing all 91 young people singing together in the finale creating a fantastic sound.

The entire principle cast was fantastic, they all had excellent vocals, good timing and never missed a beat but my standouts and perhaps ones to watch for the future were Drew Stevens as Randall, Lola Moffat as Briget and Tatyana de Freitas as Campbell. Stevens had excellent stage presence and really captured the self-deprecating and sarcastic vibe of Randall while Moffat had excellent comic timing and was the stand out actor on the stage. De Freitas had the hardest job on stage, Campbell is the main character of the show and it is a big responsibility as well as a big sing and de Freitas handled it all with aplomb, this young person is certainly one to watch for the future.

Overall this was an excellent youth production, from the costumes to the set and lighting designs everyone involved in this production should be proud of what they have accomplished. It is wonderful to see such high-quality theatrical opportunities being offered to the youth of our area and we are incredibly lucky that the Orchard continue to run it’s program. Do get out and support these young people as they have done a fantastic job!

Review by Alexandria Wharram

Bring It On is on at The Orchard West until 25th August. It will be back next year with Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.

If you like this review you might also like my review of Six, Kathy & Stella and Mean Girls.