The Beyond Broadway Experience

Bring It On

28/07/23

Festival Theatre, Edinburgh

If there’s one word that typifies the Beyond Broadway Experience it’s ‘exhilarating’. This revival of the cheerleader musical Bring It On (loosely based on the film of the same name) may be the most spectacular of their productions we’ve seen yet, with over 250 young performers dancing, singing and acting and even somersaulting across the Festival theatre’s massive stage. At regular intervals they also perform in the boxes and even in the auditorium. Between them, they generate enough energy to power the national grid.

Campbell (Ailsa MacLean) is a high school girl, who lives and breathes for cheerleading. Longing to be appointed captain of the accomplished Truman High School squad, she works alongside her pals, the self-obsessed Skylar (Cora Erskine) and her acolyte, Kylar (Jess Taylor). Meanwhile, the hapless Bridget (Ellen Ekland) keeps on trying out for the team, but she’s currently relegated to the role of Truman’s team mascot, complete with comedy costume.

Campbell’s hopes are cruelly dashed when she finds herself despatched to another local school, an entirely different institution from the bastion of privilege that is Truman. At Jackson High, the very idea of cheerleading is looked on with derision. The only other student from Truman to make the transition to Jackson is Bridget, who is delighted to find that she’s actually popular here. Not so Campbell. The ‘crew’ at Jackson, it turns out, have their own way of dancing and are happy to demonstrate how they think it should be done.

Undeterred, Campbell sets about befriending Jackson’s Queen Bee, Danielle (Rhianna Daley), eventually persuading her to set up their own cheerleading squad and even to go in for the National Finals. However, in order to win Danielle over, Campbell makes some pretty wild claims about the prizes that will be up for grabs, including some much-needed scholarships. And then the truth comes out…

There are some terrific performances here. MacLean has a soaring vocal range and Eklund’s assured clowning is a constant delight. I also enjoy the dorky Randal (Duncan Brown)’s impressive vocal performance but, more than anything else, this is an ensemble piece, and hats must be lifted to the choreography team, who have drilled their massive cast to perfection, enabling them to perform in thrilling, powerhouse set pieces that threaten to lift the roof of the building. The sizeable band show a lot of skill, and pump out the gutsy music with elan.

While this is an amateur production, the boundless talent and supreme dedication displayed by these young performers seems to render the word meaningless. Bring It On is, quite simply, a thrill ride.

4.2 stars

Philip Caveney

Fame: The Musical

Unknown

21/07/17

Alan Parker’s 1980 movie, Fame, is the film that launched a million star jumps – and, throughout the 1980s, the television series captured the imaginations of countless more viewers. This musical by The Beyond Broadway Experience manages to take the essence of the concept and uncork it spectacularly in the splendid surroundings of the King’s Theatre. I should point out that this is an amateur production but, like many of the community shows here, it makes you want to find a better word than ‘amateur’ to describe what’s happening, because it’s genuinely dazzling.

The musical follows a cohort of successful applicants through their time at the New York High School of Performing Arts (a genuine establishment with incredibly exacting standards). There’s Tyrone (Rory McLeod), strutting and dancing up a storm, but hiding the fact that he’s dyslexic. There’s Carmen (Caitlin Tipping), bold, brassy and struggling to control a fatal fascination with the street drugs that keep her dancer-thin. There’s Nick (Reuben Woolard), already the star of a peanut butter TV commercial, but desperate to prove himself as a genuine actor, and there’s Serena (Melissa McNaught), a shy girl with a huge voice who finds herself a little bit fixated on Nick.

But perhaps it’s unfair to single out individuals – although Mabel (Sarah Kerr)’s singing is so impressive it gives me chills – because the whole company performs with such aplomb. Choreographer Murray Grant has somehow schooled one hundred and sixty (count them!) young actors into giving the performances of their lives – they jump, twirl and pirouette around the crowded stage with perfect precision and during the song  Dancing On The Sidewalk actually burst off the stage and through the audience in a display of infectious enthusiasm that nearly lifts the roof off the theatre. This is a thrilling production and director Gerard Bentall should really take a well-deserved bow for helming this complex piece so expertly.

The show’s only on for one more night at the King’s but, if you can get seats for it, I’d advise you to grab them. If the pizzazz and energy from tonight’s performance could be bottled we’d all live an extra ten years – and with great big smiles on our faces too.

4.8 stars

Philip Caveney