Review: Musicals: The Ultimate Live Band Sing-Along at Tyne Theatre & Opera House

Musicals The Live Band Sing-Along – Sunday 13th October 

Invited| Review by Robyn Watson

Musicals the Ultimate Singalong is a real showstopper of an evening filled with laughter, dancing and singing until my voice is weary.

Before the start of the show, the Tyne Theatre was filled with the best show tunes around but with a dance vibe added to them. We were raving to On my Own at one point and I was already getting into the party mood. It is to be noted that the bistro bar and toilets are currently closed, however the top bar is open with unisex toilets available. 

The stage was set up simply with the five piece band and the interactive screen behind which had the name of the show sprawled across it. The hype began as the countdown from 60 seconds started and we all excitedly chanted alongside it. They had the rules on the screen before our show began. We were encouraged to sing along, dance along and clap along as it is our chance to shine. They ensured we wouldn’t be told off for singing as you normally would be at the theatre. We are the show of course…! 

I absolutely adored the resident MD, Vicki Calver, who had the quickest hands on a keyboard I have ever seen. She also blew me away with her singing in Defying Gravity. They started the show with an absolute bang with Time Warp as our sequin clad singers took to the stage. Quite honestly, we were meant to be singing along but I was mesmerised by their voices from the off. 

They introduced themselves as Natalie Pilkington, Damion Scarcella and Jake Byrom. They warmed us up with some famous Sister Act vocal exercises which were so much fun- although I couldn’t hit the high notes after a day full of singing in a concert the day before! They had wonderful rapport with the audience constantly addressing us and involving and encouraging us. I loved the quick fire games to finish the intro too! 

They started at the beginning, as that’s a very good place to start with Do Re Mi. The levels of musical theatre banter were brilliant with lots of hidden jokes throughout. This was followed by an incredible Les Miserables medley with Natalie expertly singing On My Own. 

We were lucky enough to have a Jersey Boy, who had toured for a whole 12 years in our midst. Damion played Frankie Vallie and wowed us with those falsetto vocals in a medley from the show. He involved one of the audience members during Can’t Take My Eyes Off You which was wonderful. 

We were transported into two romantic duets with Shallow and Time of My Life. Then, in true crazy fashion we were treated to a typical Panto classic with a twist. The twelve days of Webber which parodied 12 of his greatest shows and this was total carnage throughout. I’m talking wigs, masks and seconds to make it to the next part of the song. Chaos of the best kind. 

To end act one we were transported to our Disney favourites. From Jungle Book to Lion King – a personal favourite of mine. Natalie came out dressed in glittering green to perform Part of Your World with the boys cascading bubble machines everywhere and ending with a quick change into Elsa for Let it Go with a ridiculous snow foam machine with the boys dressed as two adorable penguins. 

Act Two welcomed us to the greatest show. Then we were transported into two classics complete with wonderful costumes with Mary Poppins and Chitty Chitty Bang Bang where they let an audience member fly them around the hall with a steering wheel. This resulted in her running around in rings and them being out of breath in a strong pursuit to keep up with her. Beyond hilarious. 

Natalie wowed us once again with her very apt performance of wicked which has just hit the north east. She truly does have breathtaking vocals and it didn’t surprise me when they said she had played every single character in Six the Musical in the West End. What a spectacular talent. Then Damion led us into King George You’ll Be Back which seems to be a firm favourite in musical theatre land at the moment. 

We dived into movie musicals with Pretty Woman, Back to the Future and Saturday Night Fever. Of course I had to bust out my best dance moves along with the rest of the crowd who ate up every second. I did laugh at the women behind us who asked if we did Musical Theatre – the box steps and jazz hands must have been a dead giveaway. 

For the penultimate number of the evening we were treated to an ABBA Medley and obviously that always goes down well. I have to say I was thoroughly impressed with the dance moves from the men as well as Natalie. We all chanted for one more song and for our encore we danced the night away to You Can’t Stop the Beat from Hairspray. 

I have never laughed, sang and danced so much for a very long time. I just felt truly joyous throughout the whole evening. The only complaint is it just wasn’t long enough, at around 45 minutes per half, we could have stayed all night to enjoy such rawkus fun! I would definitely advise anyone to go and see this if they want to leave filled with energy and a huge smile on their faces.

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