The first concert in the Graduates at Cadogan Hall offers a fantastic online showcase for 13 fresh musical theatre graduates
COVID-19 hasn’t been a great time for many people but it has been particularly cruel on those who would have graduated during this time, robbing them of those rites of passage but also for theatre grads, the more valuable opportunity to showcase their talents. Graduates at Cadogan Hall is the brainchild of Ameena Hamid Productions and The Grad Fest, offering an online showcase for 40 2020 and 2021 graduates, who got to sing at Cadogan Hall with the brilliant Sam Young accompanying them, whilst also supporting the Acting for Others charity.
The programme is divided into three separate hour-long concerts and this first one has a whole raft of special guests, introduced as it is by Grace Mouat and sprinkled with gorgeous messages of support from those who know exactly what the struggles are, from the fabulous Anika Noni Rose, Alexia McIntosh, Gary Wilmot and Juliet Stevenson too. And since the concert is about celebrating all of these performers, I’ve opted to do things a little differently with this posts, giving everyone their moment to shine. So click on an image, read little mini reviews of their performances and get connected with them on socials to get their careers kickstarted in this different way.
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Kyle Birch
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Jay Worley
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Jo Stephenson
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George Maddison
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Alice Croft
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Karen Wilkinson
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Abel Law
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Dean Makowski-Clayton
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Lewis Snell
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Charlotte Hannah Jones
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Aoife O’Dea
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Sam Rippon
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Millie Cranston
Kyle Birch
Wrapping up this first show, Kyle Birch goes for The Wiz’s ‘Home’ and gives us a soaring rendition that sparkles from start to finish.
Trained at the London College of Music
Jay Worley
Gotta love someone who can pull off braces so stylishly… Jay Worley also makes the case that it isn’t the end of the world that we’re being further denied Jake Gyllenhaal’s George with this quietly intelligent rendition of Sondheim’s ‘Finishing the Hat’ with a real maturity that is exciting to behold.
Trained at the Royal Academy of Music
Jo Stephenson
I had to do a little digging to work out where Jo Stephenson’s song was from, not instantly recognising ‘A Love That Will Last’. Turns out it is from the soundtrack to The Princess Diaries 2: Royal Engagement (which I should probably get around to watching) and is a pleasant enough pop standard but one which Stephenson invests with real passion and showing off a skilful control of her voice.
Trained at Mountview
George Maddison
Choosing to sing ‘She Cries’ from Jason Robert Brown’s Songs From A New World, George Maddison shows just how to match the man to the material. His bright, clear voice is perfectly attuned to the open emotion of Brown’s writing – you could easily see him slipping into Jamie’s shoes in a forthcoming production of The Last Five Years – and that final exhalation is a fantastic bit of characterisation at the last. Great jacket too.
Trained at the Royal Academy of Music
Alice Croft
Taking on Waitress‘ ‘She Used To Be Mine’ is one of the braver choices of the night. It is a behemoth of a song and it has also become a concert staple for so many performers. Alice Croft makes her own mark by imbuing a slightly more rueful character into her performance and doing well with it.
Trained at Arts Ed
Karen Wilkinson
Opting for an Adam Guettel number is a bold move indeed but Karen Wilkinson knows exactly she’s doing, using the title track from The Light in the Piazza to showcase the dazzling quality of her voice to beautiful effect. I’m a sucker for a legit soprano so Wilkinson is definitely one I’ll be looking out for.
Trained at Mountview
Abel Law
Kicking off the entire series is Abel Law and by the end of his first sentence and the way he delivers the word ‘devotion’, it is pretty clear why! He grabs Dreamgirls‘ ‘One Night Only’ by the scruff of its neck and pours so much longing and desire into every line that it is hard to imagine that there isn’t a bright future ahead for this performer.
Trained at the Royal Academy of Music
Dean Makowski-Clayton
In an eye-catching pair of trousers and some cracking Converse, Dean Makowski-Clayton seizes the chance to basically audition for The Book of Mormon and why the hell not?! His rendition of the driving ‘I Believe’ feels like a leading man performance in the making and I’m buying it.
Trained at Mountview Academy
Lewis Snell
Hell yes! Eschewing the world of musical theatre, Lewis Snell gives us a deeply soulful take on Etta James’ ‘I’d Rather Go Blind’ which does that nifty trick of making him stand out from the crowd. It’s a fantastic performance too that makes me wish I was paying for overpriced martinis at Crazy Coqs watching Snell in cabaret.
Trained at the London College of Music
Charlotte Hannah Jones
I hadn’t heard Christopher Curtis’ Chaplin: The Musical before so kudos to Charlotte Hannah Jones for finding me a new musical to listen to and on the evidence of this ragtime-friendly, full-throated showstopper, it’s one I might well enjoy. Jones clearly has bags of character but what’s impressive is the way she controls that energy, ensuring all eyes are on fully focused on her.
Trained at Emil Dale Academy
Aoife O’Dea
A harp! And a Hadestown medley! Aoife O’Dea knows how to tick my boxes but even with such Clowns-pleasing antics aside, the musicality on show is worthy of the gods. And not only does she impress with a brace of Eurydice’s songs, a snippet of Hermes’ charismatic phrasing demonstrates a range of characterisation too. Impressive stuff.
Trained at Guildford School of Acting
Sam Rippon
No fair! William Finn’s ‘I’d Rather Be Sailing’ is one of my all-time favourite musical theatre songs and Sam Rippon delivers it with all of the tenderness and technique that I dream I have. It’s a brave choice for a showcase as it is isn’t particularly showy but Rippon resists the urge to oversell, finding deep conviction instead in its quiet beauty.
Trained at the Royal Academy of Music
Millie Cranston
Millie Cranston goes for a crowd-pleasing option in SIX’s ‘House of Stone’ but rather than taking a big swing, she offers up a largely more restrained rendition of the song which is highly engaging. Obvs she nails the big vocals that the climax demands but I’m more interested in the colours in her lower register that draw the listener in.
Trained at Trinity Laban
