Transported through musicals by the sweet sounds of youth theatre

The youngsters performed at Alnwick Playhouse for the last time before refurbishment to give an almost packed audience a programme of songs from musicals that the youth theatre groups have performed over the years.

They kicked off with Food Glorious Food from Oliver – and what a start it was, a brilliant opening song that featured all the chorus members.

They moved on to I’d Do Anything, sung by William Armstrong, Hannah von Loon, Freddie Walton and Claudia Ilderton. One of my favourite songs of the evening was up next – Hard Knock Life from Annie.

It can be difficult to portray the feeling and emotion in songs when you are simply standing on a stage, but the chorus did a superb job. It was well sung with enthusiasm.

Lexie Slater and Ellie Jones were up next with a duet for Tomorrow, again from Annie. What beautiful singing from two young girls.

On to Bugsy Malone, a stalwart of youth productions and the chorus tackled Bad Guys.

Claudia Ilderton and Hannah von Loon went back to Annie with Maybe – a difficult song to sing, but they did it really well.

On to the Addams family next with What If?, sung beautifully by Freddie Walton. He has such a beautiful tone to his voice.

And then William Armstrong brought a soft and sweet side to Sweeney Todd’s Not While I’m Around.

Eleanor Morris was a real star of the show. Her first performance came with Just Round the Corner from the Addams Family and she was outstanding. A nice use of lighting really lifted the performance. Her Big Spender was magnificent and she added another dimension to the show.

Megan Eaton was nervous singing Over the Rainbow, but she managed it perfectly.

And finally five songs from my favourite musical Les Miserables. At the End of the Day was just fantastic by the whole chorus. Daisy Lucas and Blue Juggins did a superb job with I Dreamed a Dream, and Aidan Stuart’s Bring him Home nearly brought me to tears. Emilia Grimes sang Castle on a Cloud beautifully.

They finished with Do You Hear the People Sing? And we really did hear them all sing, a superb night of music, showcasing the fantastic talents of our young performers.

Credit must also go to the outstanding accompaniment from Peter Brown.