The fifth episode of The Theatre Channel series – The Classics of Broadway – was released last week and with a line up including Bonnie Langford, Mazz Murray, Gary Wilmot and Marisha Wallace, I couldn’t resist taking a peek.
Opening the show is Freddie Fox singing an arrangement of ‘Willkommen’ and ‘Money’ from Cabaret. It’s beautifully filmed (as is every performance) and really brings the essence of great theatre into your living room (which sadly many filmed productions fail to do so well).
Bonnie Langford gives a wonderful performance of ‘I Get A Kick Out Of You’ from Anything Goes, whilst taking a whistle-stop tour of the Theatre Café, admiring the theatrical memorabilia, much from shows that she or her family have starred in (the Strallen sisters are Bonnie’s nieces). Having been to the Theatre Café in London many times, it was an unbelievable achievement for them to film this number so well, given the space they had to work with.
Marisha Wallace sings ‘Somewhere’ from West Side Story, filmed on the Southbank, home of the National Theatre. It is an incredibly powerful and moving performance, showing the London skyline which many of us haven’t seen in the past year.
Also in the show, Mazz Murray sings ‘Everything’s Coming Up Roses’ from Gypsy and Gary Wilmot singing ‘Luck Be A Lady’ from Guys and Dolls. All performances are a delight to watch!
The Café Four (Alyn Hawke, Emily Langham, Sadie-Jean Shirley and Alex Woodward) performed ‘Coffee Break’ from How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying and members Alyn Hawke and Emily Langham also dueted on ‘Put On A Happy Face’ from Bye Bye Birdie.
Episodes are available to purchase and download via www.thetheatrecafe.co.uk/channel – once purchased, audiences are able to watch individual episodes unlimited times for up to 7 days.
★★★★★
Reviewed by West End Wilma
Photo: Edward Johnson
