Mayflower Theatre, Southampton – 13 April 2017. Reviewed by Lindsay Sykes
It’s no secret I like Earl Carpenter, the velvet richness of his vocals are beautiful and totally worth flying from one end of the country to the other to see him perform in his hometown.
An Evening with…. however was a to raise cash and awareness of the Mayflower Musical Youth Theatre and show off the amazing talent of the youngsters who attend there. And yes, Earl was supposed to be the star of the show but I’m sure he’ll agree the kids were the real stars
The show started with comedy and there was much comedy through out, Earl supposedly auditioning by singing Race You to the Top of the Mountain from The Secret Garden, after a rapturous performance he was told he was too old and this paved the way for the stage to be invaded by one who weren’t too old and we got to hear the theatre group sing songs from Hairspray, Bugsy Malone and two from special shows written just for the group – Rock Around the Gaumont and Five of the Best. We were given information about the shows and heard some lovely stories about how the MMYT had given help and confidence and where the older performers were now – at various colleges and performing arts schools.
There were some stunning vocals from Hannah Morton, Hannah Hunt and Georgia Carr – showing what amazing talent MMYT is producing
The first half ended with Earl singing Music of the Night from The Phantom of the Opera, after he’d given us an entertaining story about the his Frank Spencer impression at the 20th anniversary of Phantom.
The second half opened with Earl and company sing Luck be a Lady from Guys and Dolls the show the MMYT are putting on this year. Followed by a solo rendition of Sunset Boulevard.
The MMYT entertained us to a few from Oliver – with vocals from Charlie Steggall, Megan Pake, Sam Wood and Georgia Carr again. A stunning version of Bui Doi from Miss Saigon with Earl on lead vocals and then one of the hi-lights for me – the very multi-talented George Shrapnell singing Major General and Hail Poetry from The Pirates of Penzance.
The evening ended with a stunning run of songs from Les Miserables. Starting with a brilliant version of Master of the House with Sam Wood and Jenni Walker. Sadie Levett’s stunning rendition of On My Own was phenomenal. Earls own version of Stars – a song he has sung over 2000 times but makes every time seem like the first and a whole company version of One Day More with Earl, George Sharapnell, Sam Wood, Jenni Walker, Sadie Levett, Hannah Hunt, Theo James and Dominic Green on lead vocals
The whole performance was supported by a fabulous live band on stage lead by Simon Slater.
The show was wonderful, showcasing what amazing talent we have right on our own doorstep and proving how we should nurture that talent so we can have our next West End stars.