West Side Story has narrowly beaten The
Sound of Music in the 'battle of the musicals'. The
vote was taken as part of Musical Mayhem! – a celebration
of The Musical in song and dance by the children of St Michael's
Junior Choir, during the middle weekend of the Bedford Park Festival.
Almost 200 votes were cast and West Side Story won by just three
votes. It was helped by a remarkably confident performance of
the song Somewhere by Milly Forrest and a tongue-in-cheek version
of I Feel Pretty, featuring Daniel Pirie.
The audience in St Michael's Church was invited to choose between
a dozen musicals, after watching songs performed by the choir.
The second half of the show featured the top five musicals in
reverse order, announced by the narrator Archie Preston.
Francesca Bailey and the choir sang Do-Re-Mi from The Sound of
Music, to put The Sound of Music in second place. My Fair Lady
took third place, thanks to an entertaining performance of Get
Me To the Church on Time, featuring James Porter as the drunken
dustman, Alfred P. Doolittle, with four cronies.
In fourth place overall was Annie, which featured Alice Kent
singing Tomorrow and Charlotte Keith singing Maybe, while fifth
place went to Oliver, with a medley of songs sung by the whole
choir. They were run very close by Gentlemen Prefer Blondes, thanks
to a vampish performance of Diamonds Are A Girl's Best Friend
by Jocelyn Juritz, which prompted huge applause from the audience.
The other soloist was Eleanor Douglas, who sang Wonderful Copenhagen
from Hans Christian Andersen. Other highlights included the Teddy
Bears' Picnic by the younger children and Sausage Rock 'n' Roll
from the musical Divine Pursuits by local composer Cecilia McDowell,
in which all the dancers wore 'pig' masks!
Much of the show's success must be credited to the choreographer,
16-year-old Harriet Preston, who last year played Miss Hannigan
in the Festival production of Annie and the previous year played
Nancy in Oliver. She coaxed remarkably accomplished dance performances
out of the children, as did the musical director Phoebe Woollam.
Many parents helped with the costumes, set design and technical
production and half a dozen young musicians also played a large
part in the show's success. It was sponsored by Letts, the educational
publisher, based in Chiswick High Road.
Those who voted for Chiswick's Favourite Musical were entered
into a draw to win a £10 CD voucher. The three winners were:
Charlotte Timmons, Colin Busby and W.P. Gillette-Fussell.
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