REVIEW: Beyond The Barricade - Manchester Opera House

Friday 20th March was a momentous day for a number of reasons, the first day of  the Spring vernal equinox,a total eclipse of the sun and the musical theatre tour of Beyond the Barricade landed in Manchesters opera house.

From the outset, where the cast of four performed numbers from Miss Saigon to the finale which featured favourites from Les Miserables, the audience were captivated. Initially, it seemed that the vocals were a little overshadowed by the band, the synth particularly but once the balance had been restored, the performances were fantastic. The strength of the vocals of the cast was enough to warrant minimal production.

As well as singing, David Fawcett took on the role of narrator, a witty one at that and his faultless vocals were spine tinglingly good.as well as effortless. He sang "Phantom of the opera" and "The music of the night" perfectly. I hung onto his every word as did the audience. If a single pin was to drop, you wouldn't have heard it. Rebecca Vere and Katie Leeming joined David on stage for "The music of the night" and their delivery was impeccable. It was almost as though they were having a private conversation which they would then invite us the audience to join in on. This dynamic, powerful style was a thread that ran throughout the show. Andy Reiss was impressive as he played the keyboard and conducted the band simultaneously. His solo performances were delivered with the same level of passion and energy.

I liked the way that the singers would recede into the background, stepping into the shadows and then come forward into the light as they performed again.. From the drama of Phantom of the opera, with the romanticism being beautifully portrayed to the humour of Wicked where Rebecca Vere adopted a squeaky voice to the delight of the audience, the skill and range in ability of the cast was obvious.

David explained that as well as performing musical numbers from modern musicals that the cast enjoyed performing numbers from the likes of West Side story which was over 50 years old. He humored the crowd by saying that they would perform the quintet from the musical in spite of there being only four of them.  When the cast sang "Tonight", the use of lighting added to the drama and really set the scene beautifully.

Musical numbers from Carousel, Chess and even Queen's track "Radio Gaga" from We will rock you ensued. I was less keen on the Radio Gaga. The performance of You'll never Walk alone sent shivers down my spine and gave me goosebumps. It was fabulous. The audience were quite sedate in the first half of the show but by the time more upbeat songs such as "does your mama know" from Mama Mia were performed they were less conservative and started to clap and move in their seats. This was a relief because it seemed that they were relaxing and showing their enjoyment more openly.

Songs from Little Shop of horrors, Evita, Les Miserables and Blood Brothers were seamlessly delivered by the quartet. Rebecca Vere and Katie Leeming were exceptional vocalists as were their male counterparts. The camaraderie between them was palpable. The energy of the cast was contagious and they performed as though their lives depended on it. The emotion of the numbers was conveyed to the audience remarkably well and by the end of the night, the audience were clapping and singing along.

The duration of the show was 2hours 20 wihich included a brief interval. The time flew by as it was a thoroughly engaging show. No wonder this is in its 15th year. It is a must see. I loved every second of it and would watch it again in a heartbeat.

For further details of the tour, click here