Ross Gunning and his extremely talented cast of young performers – joined alongside by West End and Broadway stars Laura Pick, Alistair Brammer and Louise Dearman – hit the stage in front of a packed Theatre Royal, performing a variety of styles and genres of musical theatre – showcasing their development and excellent range (both vocal and performative) which the audience lapped up.
The show itself brings you songs from beloved musicals and movies and has something for the whole family. The variety in the song choice gave a really great range to the show, giving you moments of entertainment – for example, Jersey Boys Medley, This is Me from Greatest Showman and Ex Wives from Six – then hitting you with a tear jerker like the unbelievable act 1 finale of Defying Gravity. This kept the audience on their toes and created a lovely emotional arc leading to the finale of the entire night. The range of style with the music also gave the cast a chance to showcase their versatility in both singing and their acting which was great to see.
The orchestra – conducted by Gunning himself – was once again fantastic and never missed a beat. This show added a little something different for the band with the addition of the beautiful symphony of Gabriel’s Oboe from The Mission. This was performed by the entire orchestra with Gunning front and centre on the Marimba and violinist David Christie by his side. This completely broke the show up and was performed with such ease and elegance, giving such a relaxed feeling to the performance in act 2, almost mesmerising.
Rebecca Curbelo Valdivia absolutely nailed it again with the choreography. Her expertise and polish with routines shined on stage with the cast as an ensemble always tightly in sync and all looked very at ease with the extensive choreo. As well as some stand out performers who – as an audience member – you just know have that IT factor when it comes to slick and varied choreography styles and techniques.
The special guest artists consisted of London West End and Broadway stars; Laura Pick, Louise Dearman and Alistair Brammer. All 3 performers were at an elite level as you would expect but they never took away from the excellence of the movie to musicals cast. Laura Pick and Louise Dearman’s rendition of the musical theatre staple, Defying Gravity from the illustrious Wicked, as an act 1 closer was simply unbelievable. No other words for it. The ease and elegance that Pick showed when hitting the very popular and very difficult moment in the song was nothing short of breathtaking. Brammer had his moment when he tore the house down with the fantastic rendition of Heaven on my Mind from Jesus Christ Superstar. This rock/punk vocal range and style really suited Brammer down to a T and he had the audience members who had never heard the song listen to it on repeat on the drive home. Dearman opened the guest artists slots with a beautiful number from Waitress – She Used to be Mine, pulling at the audience heart strings and (especially after the opening number from the cast) letting the audience know….yes….this is the level we are on tonight. The 3 part harmonies in A Star is Born’s Shallow was another great highlight of the night also.
Now onto the Movies to Musicals cast. The cast consisted of: Elisha Beveridge, Chloe Bloice, Noah Brotherson, Christy Bullock-Walker, Jessica Butler, Caoimhe Clough, Lexi Coupler, Ross Creelman, Mia Currie, Darla Dempster, Olivia Deveney, Beth Donaldson, Amy Dougall, Katie Francis, Liam Gavin, Rosemary Gold, Robyn Goodfellow, Daniel Haggerty, Harriet Harper, Eve Harvey, Isabella Hay, Alasdair Honeyford, Aaron MacGregor, Francesca McGoldrick, Millie McGowan, Jennifer McLean, Sarah McManus, Eilidh McManus, Antonia Micallef-Eynaud, Abi Morrison, Katie Ponsonby, Eilidh Reid, Gregor Scott, Mhairi Steel, Georgia Wiggan, Lily Woolridge and Christopher Young.
The cast as a whole were on point from start to finish. One of my favourite things about this cast was the trust and family aspect as an ensemble. Everyone had chemistry and it just felt like one big family on stage having fun and performing not for an audience, but for each other. The show had a great balance and really lended itself to the talents of the cast. Jennifer McLean and Aaron MacGregor opened the show as the hosts for the opening number A Musical. These characters continued throughout the performance which was a great little addition to see, giving almost a slight structure and story to the piece. The Hamilton medley was a very bold but good choice for a section. Hamilton is a very hard play musically and the cast absolutely nailed it, bringing different types of energy, from the upbeat tempo of My Shot, to the eye watering and very eerie Quiet Uptown which was a personal highlight for myself. Christy Bullock-Walker was an absolute stand out performer during the Hamilton medley and stood out through the entire show with her endless energy, charisma and bundles of talent. Her face never dropped at all through any number, her dancing was next to none and she commanded the stage and her singing in Ex Wives from Six and rapping during My Shot was fantastic. Another standout performer is Daniel Haggerty who really got an opportunity this show to shine and showcase his ability in every aspect of performance. From his acting and singing in Tonight Belongs to You, to his rapping once again in My Shot, to his overall stage presence even as an ensemble member, Haggerty was one to watch from the get go.
In Conclusion, Movies to Musicals did it again, putting on a show to remember for everyone involved and getting some of the most popular songs in movie/theatre stuck in your head for days to come. The audience was on fire and was grasped from the off by the performers and were sent on a journey through the archives of musical theatre. Once again – excellent.
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Theatre Scotland 
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