Review: ALL TOGETHER NOW! Shines Bright Spotlight on Local Talent

LAMTA'S year-end production, ALL TOGETHER NOW!, opened over the weekend to standing ovations. In collaboration with Music Theatre International and Pieter Toerien productions, ALL TOGETHER NOW! was a fantastic celebration of well-known musical theatre numbers that combined the best of established and up-and-coming local talent.

Opening with Be Our Guest, the programme of ALL TOGETHER NOW! ranged from Lloyd-Webber to Sondheim; Disney to ABBA. With short interludes recognising the importance and value of theatre across the globe, this delightful production could have easily turned into an inauthentic appeal - yet was anything but! Performed with passion and laced with sincerity, ALL TOGETHER NOW! was a heart-warming escape put on by the respected arts academy.

Group numbers in this production like We're All In This Together and You Can't Stop the Beat were high energy and well-choreographed for a larger company to work together. A specific number that stood out here was Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious - led by students Julia Durant and Gianluca Gironi who had great chemistry together. Seize The Day and Take A Chance On Me let students show off in smaller group numbers as the Theatre on the Bay stage was excellently utilised throughout. I'll admit I slightly cringed when I heard the opening bars of Let It Go, but sung in faultless three-part harmony by Keely Crocker, Jackie Lulu and Kelsey Buchalter, it's a version of the power ballad I could easily listen to on repeat!

The solo performances were a definite standout of opening night. Most memorable was Tannah Levick singing Gimme Gimme from THOROUGHLY MODERN MILLIE. Commanding the stage by herself with minimal movement, this young performer can only be described as magnetic. Another noteworthy mention is Robert Everson whose rendition of Empty Chairs at Empty Tables was excellently pitched and emotive, but not overly dramatic. Throughout ALL TOGETHER NOW! it's once again evident how closely LAMTA directors Anton Luitingh and Duane Alexander work with their students and get to know and hone their individual strengths.

Last but not least, Earl Gregory and Bethany Dickson were a welcome cameo to ALL TOGETHER NOW! that added some extra professional pizazz to an already polished production. It would have been nice to see more interaction between the professionals and the cast if the programme allowed for it; but that's not to say that it's not plausible some LAMTA students could stand their own sharing a stage with these theatre elites in the near future.

There's nothing like a bit of musical theatre to end off a long year, and it's even more special when done by LAMTA. ALL TOGETHER NOW! was just what you want from what has become a rare trip out to the theatre.

Photo credit: Supplied