Bring It On was performed by the cast who took part in Birmingham Alexandra’s stage experience. It brings together a large group of young people with the same end goal of performing a production to the same standard as other shows at the Alexandra. It’s tough call to take but thanks to the dedication of the crew involved and cast members, it was a resounding success.
I had not heard of stage experience before but I am a big fan of youth theatre so wanted to support this production, my expectations were not set up high nor low, just in the middle. I was expecting one or two stand out performances prior to seeing the show.
I wanted to see this musical when it had planned to go on tour professionally from the West End but unfortunately this got cancelled. I knew some of the soundtrack, and one of the tracks I have on my mp3 player already when I go to the gym.
The production burst into life with “ What I Was Born To Do”, usually the cast in other productions switch on after 10 minutes, however the company of this production exploded onto stage with such magnanimous force just like a rocket lift off. The company kept the same level of energy throughout the show, which is hard to do.
I think the show itself could improve on two things, one scene featured a loud hailer, but the audience heard not enough sound from it and second the volume was slightly too loud. At times it was too loud which made the clarity of the words within the singing a bit mingled.
The show features cheerleading and I had not expected such acrobatics in the show, these were simply amazing. The performers performed these as seasoned professionals.
The scene setting and lighting were fantastic, it was bold and brash.
The company were absolutely spot on with their singing and dancing, full of energy and coordinated well. Due to there being a sea of faces on stage, at times it was hard to tell who was saying certain lines.
Both halves of the show were fantastic, but I did prefer the songs within the 1st half. The audience was a bit muted tonight, it wasn’t your saturday night audience, I think personally the audience should have shown much more support at the jokes and performances.
As always in my reviews, I give shoutouts to the performers who I really loved. It doesn’t mean the others were not any lesser good, but just the ones I preferred.
Laura Bryan gave an exceptional performance as Campbell, fantastic voice and dance movements. When she was on stage, I had to remind myself this was not the west end. I loved Brittany Jarman-Watson’s performance as Danielle, delivering her character as sassy, confident and tender. Bessy Hingley’s acting was right on cue and definitely played Eva brilliantly, with a particular scene receiving applause. I would like to give special mention to Molly Ann Bache and Demi Mitchell, I loved both of these actors’ performances, everything you’d want their characters to be, they delivered perfectly. K’vae Brown playing Twig gave an outstanding performance and I can see him being in professional productions in no time.
I hope all members of the company pursue their dreams, they all displayed absolute star quality on stage. They delivered more passion and energy than some seasoned west end performers.
You already know I am going to recommend you see this show, but be quick, it ends this Saturday. Did the company Bring It? They brought it!
https://www.atgtickets.com/venues/the-alexandra-theatre-birmingham/
