3.5 stars

Sometimes all it takes to fall in love with a musical is that one special song or moment. MTSoc’s medley of musical classics hopes to scratch that itch with over fifteen musicals represented! With more than 45 performers taking part in the show in small groups, the audience was transported across the musical theatre universe in short, snappy songs, with some being a little more memorable than others.

Daria Ditri’s solo performance in the song “Portrait of a Princess” from Unwritten Songs was one of the highlights of the night. The song itself is a quite daring, combining Disney princess stereotypes with much dirtier humour. It takes a lot to be able to sing in a Snow White-esqe voice while pretending to pleasure your prince charming and not make it look a little awkward. Luckily for the audience, Ditri executed the performance wonderfully. With a very strong voice and impeccable comedic timing, her performance was one of the most memorable, despite being one of the few songs performed solo,.

“His Work and Nothing More” from Jekyll & Hyde was another really strong performance. Sebastian Berger, Paul Monaghan, Celine Driessen and Sam Winiarski managed to pull off this difficult song through masterful coordination and amazing vocals. The real highlight of the first act, was the visually and vocally striking “Hellfire” from The Hunchback of Notre Dame. When robed men carrying candles slowly marched onto the stage from the audience followed by Daniella Gimbosh’s mesmerizing dancing, you knew good things are to come. From the moment Jonathan Hedley sang the first note, the audience was silent as his deep enchanted voice captures everyone in the room. Even more so than his singing, it was his ability to sell the character he was portraying that made his performance so remarkable.

In medley shows, it can be a little weird jumping through completely different plots and moods, so performers have to fully commit to each act. Unfortunately, sometimes committing simply isn’t enough. For example with Manuel Pestana Gageiro’s performance of “Never Ever Getting Rid of Me” from Waitress. Despite truly embodying the character and selling the story to the audience, a combination of sound issues and a lack of enunciation meant that most of the jokes were lost. Fixing these issues could have made what was a great performance brilliant.

There were many other amazing performances from musicals such as Hamilton and Six. However, the standout ones mentioned above all had something in common, they all followed the rule that less is more. When it comes to coordinating over twenty performers on stage, for example during the Hairspray classic You Can’t Stop the Beat, even if the performers and audience are having a blast, things have a tendency to look messy. During these bigger dance numbers, the performers with a dance background stood out, like the very talented and graceful Ella Reich.

On the whole, this was a fun show to watch for musical theatre fans and novices alike, with plenty of talent on display. Keep your eyes peeled for MTSoc’s next show!