Encore 40 years of NYMT *****
Such a heart warming occasion was held on 30th October – the celebration the fortieth birthday of the National Youth Music Theatre and it involved 200 children and teenagers including the full thirty-piece orchestra.
It answers the question – why are all the British ensemble musicals so brilliant? It is because they are taught about how to behave at a very early age. They learn that a musical theatre production is comprised of a team and every element of the team has equal importance. They all sing, they all dance, they all act and some of them play instruments.
If you ever wonder where these talented youngsters come from, it is from organisations like this.
The great thing about these kids is that there is absolutely nothing cute about them. They are just small men and women, actors who do their job with passion, commitment and with total enjoyment.
The do regular productions of big musicals – often for the Edinburgh Festival and there are many well known names who became infected with ambition for show business by working with this company. Jude Law was one and Sheridan Smith, Matt Lucas. Jasper Britton, Tom Chambers, Stuart Matthew Price all practised their crafts with the NYMT.
Harold Goodall has been responsible for many of their productions and they did excerpts from The Hired Man, Dreaming, the Kissing Dance. They also are favourites with Steven Sondheim whose Pendragon was a great success and they also worked on Sweeney Todd, West Side Story and Into the Woods. Some of the memorial leading roles were performed by past members of the company including Jemimah Taylor , Helen Power, Dominic Tighe, a very beautiful rendering of Children Will Listen by Gina Beck. One of the great moments in the show is an excerpt from Bugsy Malone all performed with two lots of people, the current students and the members of the original NTMT cast – Sam Archer, Matt Fraser, Chris Heriot, Mike Jibson, Paul Lowe, Marc Pickering and Giovanni Spano.
Excerpts from other popular shows were Joseph and his Technicoloured Dream Coat, Annie, Oliver, Whistle Down the Wind, Oklahoma, Sweet Charity.
Guys and Dolls with everybody’s favourite from the show Gavin Spokes with his rendering of Sit Down you’re Rocking the Boat – the number that stopped the show regularly in the West End performances.
It was good to see some creative professionals in the audience looking for stars of the future.
Some of the young people will stay in the business others will just remember the happy times they had working with the company.
A terrific evening’s entertainment.
(Apologise if I spelled some of the people wrongly. The names on the programme were printed very very small.)
pyekan 