After experiencing the devastating impact which the theatre industry faced throughout and post lockdown, it only seems necessary for art to be celebrated in such an immersive and positive context.
‘One Night Records’ is an underground maze that caters to live music festivals, ranging from rock’n’ roll to jazz. In this case, ‘West end in one night’ presented an excellent mixture of material within the musical theatre genre. We witnessed beautiful performances from established industry professionals such as Laura Pick (Wicked, Anyone Can Whistle) and Vanessa Fisher (Bring it On, Follies), but it was refreshing to hear equally spell-bounding vocals from fresh and hungry drama school graduates.
The venue hosts five different stages, which in this case employed a variety of different material and standards. Upon entrance, we were quickly transported into the ‘Jump City Room’ for the first set of the evening. Though in places the vocals were fairly underwhelming, Musical Director Honor Halford- Macleod talents and versatility as a pianist were immaculate. Even though she was faced away with her back to the performers (something which should be changed going forward), and the crowd were very chatty, her focus and accuracy in her playing was brilliant. My personal highlight of this set was Rose Galbraith’s rendition of ‘Taylor the Latte Boy’ which really lent itself to her beautiful clear tone and agile riffs and runs.
