Wales Millennium Centre – 17 November 2019
Reviewed by Rhys Payne
4.5****
Having attended the previous Novello Orchestra concert at the Wales Millennium Centre which was titled Night at the Musicals, I already had extremely high expectations for Movie Mixtape: Songs from the Silver Screen but the extraordinarily talented performers and players managed to surpass the already high standard.
Like itʼs predecessor Movie Mixtape was a cabaret-style show which had performers come up and sing some songs based on a theme. They were accomplices by the incredibly Novello Orchestra and strangely the audience were encouraged to sing-a-long to the songs which did become difficult for some of the bigger musical numbers but people in the audience joined nonetheless. It was a fun-filled evening with many songs from movies I personally have seen and many I have not. Even the songs and movies I had not heard before, I enjoyed so much that I have now started a new list of film that I have to watch as the songs from them are so good. The show could be seen as a celebration of the music of movies and the lights, audience participation and energy helped add to the celebratory vibe of the show and also made the show even more enjoyable to watch.
The actual orchestra themselves were incredible as always. What’s great about these show in the three-part series is that the orchestra is situated on stage and so are visible to the audience at all time which I believe is fantastic as the orchestras in shows often go unnoticed and under-appreciated. There was a wide selection of mega-mixes and fanatic songs which truly showcased the Novello’s talent and craftsmanship. My personal favourite was the Ghostbusters theme tune being played to open the show. This show was both fun, nostalgic and iconic which encompasses the entire concept of the whole show so this was a very clever inclusion especially as it opened the whole concert.
I honestly have no words that can describe my feelings towards Lucie Jones during this concert. I was over the moon when it was announced that she would be singing at this event as I have been an avid fan for quite some time and was already aware of her vocal abilities prior to the concert but she knocked everyoneʼs socks off. SHE WAS OUT OF THIS WORLD! She did a powerful rendition of Sky-fall which rivalled even the original sang by Adele, she sang Let it Go from Frozen which was 1000% better than the likes of the Demi Levato cover and I would even personally say it was better than the original Idina Menzel. She sang the most moving rendition of Moon River that I have ever heard and her final solo of I Will Always Love You from The Bodyguard was worth the price of the tickets in its own. Normally when my overview of songs are brief itʼs because there isnʼt a lot to say but in this case, I am actually lost for words (which is the worse thing a reviewer can be) but Lucie Jones is a phenomenon all while being a likeable and friendly personality. If you arenʼt already you need to keep an eye on Lucie as she is destined for incredible things.
Also on this card was H from Steps. I lost a bit of the hype as being slightly too young to be a fully-fledged Steps fan but I still enjoyed the
songs he sang. He started with Tragedy from Saturday Night Fever which was gloriously fun and had even the conductor dancing which was fun to see. He had so much energy and stage presence although at the time he was giving off defiant childrenʼs entertainer vibes this wasnʼt really a problem. His crowning moments came in his duets. Falling Slowly from Once was an extremely moving and emotional duet, with fellow performer Staffan Hughes, that had me in tears throughout. It was a strong and powerful song that Ian “H” Watkins sang after delivering a heart filled message of love and acceptance. His other duet of I’ve had the Time of my Life from Dirty Dancing with Lucie Jones was incredible and displayed the chemistry between these two performers beautifully. However, there was no lift at the end of the song that I was personally hoping for but it was amazing nonetheless.
Stefan Hughes was a special guest for this evening and delivered some beautiful vocals. His cover of King of the Swingers from Jungle Book was incredible although he did seem visibly awkward during dance breaks etc and it was clear that he was first and foremost a singer and used his skills to deliverer many wonderful songs from the silver screen. This production brought in a co-host which was different from the last concert. In the previous one, David Mahoney conducted and also was the compere whereas in this show Connie Fisher helped introduce many of the acts. I personally did not enjoy this co-hosting as it at times looked chaotic and also Connie delivered her sections very formally which gave me award nomination vibes rather than cabaret performance but this is all up to personal preference.
My only qualm with this show was that the finale number which combined all the performers and a local choir was somewhat disappointing. All the other performances in this night were so spectacular and This is Me from The Greatest Showman fell a bit flat. Donʼt get me wrong it was still a really great number but I donʼt believe it reached the heights that the other songs in this show did.
Overall I would rate this production 4 and a half stars out of 5 and would recommend everyone to keep an eye out for there next event which will be announced soon!