Review: The Theatre Channel – Episode Five The Classics of Broadway

The Theatre Channel returns with Episode Five, full of The Classics of Broadway sung by the likes of Bonnie Langford, Gary Wilmot and Marisha Wallace

“Tell me, why should it be true,
That I get a kick out of you”

Over four instalments last year, Adam Blanshay Productions and The Theatre Café’s The Theatre Channel managed the not-inconsiderable feat of finding its niche within the crowded marketplace of streamed theatrical content and also elevating its quality. Such is its quality with its consistently high production values, you really do get the feeling of seeing bona fide musical theatre rather than just another concert.

It doesn’t come easily though and the filming of Episode Five – The Classics of Broadway was hit particularly hard with the double whammy of the third lockdown and director and choreographer Bill Deamer having to shield. But we all know the show must go on and with Thom Southerland being brought in as co-director, this musical journey down the Great White Way arrives in fine form, maintaining that impressive standard.

From Freddie Fox’s louche Cabaret medley to Gary Wilmot effortlessly gliding through Guys and Dolls‘ ‘Luck Be A Lady’, these classics shimmer anew under these vibrants treatments. And the settings of The Theatre Café itself (and its surroundings…) are once again utilised so well – Bonnie Langford gets the family love in during ‘I Get A Kick Out Of You’ and The Café Four’s chirpy rendition of ‘Coffee Break’ from How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying is the perfect fit.

By the time the episode culminates in Marisha Wallace’s soaring rendition of West Side Story’s ‘Somewhere’, finding inspiration on the terraces of the National Theatre, it is hard not to feel entirely enthused about this nurturing of the creative spirit. And whilst we wait for a roadmap that may or may not be worth the paper it is scribbled on, The Theatre Channel delivers a beautiful reminder of what it is we have to look forward to in the hopefully not-too-distant future.

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