Natalie Flynn Archives - North West End UK

Spring Awakening – Liverpool Empire Youth Theatre

10Aug

By Andrew LeeNo Comments

North West

Spring Awakening – Liverpool Empire Youth Theatre

Spring Awakening is a story of how sexual desires take hold of teenagers as they reach the precipice between childhood and adulthood. It is an exploration of the potential dangers of oppressing these desires, and of improper education about them. First hitting Broadway in 2006 after several years of previews and concerts, the importance of the show's theme is not to be understated and is as relevant in the 21st century as ever. The juxtaposition of alternative rock set against a religious, conservative backdrop is a real interesting concept. Over the last few years, I have seen lots of productions by Liverpool Empire Youth Theatre and have always found their ambition to be their greatest strength. Their production of ‘Chess’ a couple of years ago was particularly terrific, and Spring Aw...

Little Shop of Horrors – Liverpool Empire

Brimming with camp, B-Movie schtick, damsels in distress and botany with a bite, Little Shop of Horrors has long been a cult favourite. Liverpool Empire’s Youth Theatre group has done itself proud in bringing this quirky and energetic musical to the stage. If you’re not familiar with the story, it follows the nerdishly charming Seymour Krelborn, a flower shop boy who comes into the possession of a strange, exotic-looking plant during a solar eclipse. Seymour wants nothing more than to win the heart of his fellow shop assistant, Audrey, but the plant’s unusual feeding regime soon gives him something far more gruesome to focus on. Surrounded by an excellent set, with spot-on costumes, and supported by a superb band under the ever-reliable baton of Musical Director Paul Lawton, direc...

Chess – Empire Theatre

Chess is a musical with so much to talk about, a fantastic score, with beautifully textured orchestral and vocal writing. It has some of the most difficult roles and arias in all of musical theatre, and a concept full of incredible depth. The Chess world championships act as only the top layer of this dynamic narrative, with the Cold War, East/West relations, and hierarchy in society acting as the underpinning concepts. The narrative of ‘Chess’ is often convoluted, difficult to understand and a bit dull, but this production should be noted for providing lots of clarity on this, and the narrative drove forward right throughout. The first thing to say about this performance is that the vocal performances of the principal cast were sublime - truly of tip top professional quality. The th...