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Review: SUNDAY NIGHT LIVE AT THE THEATRE CAFE Episode 2

Nothing to do on a Sunday lockdown evening? Well, Sunday Night Live at the Theatre Cafe has got you covered! It’s the show that you didn’t know you needed until now.

The second instalment, which streamed last night, is hosted by the fabulous Jack Malin, who is joined by West End performers Lauren Samuels, Charlotte Yorke, Natasha Agnew and Caroline Kay, fire performer Thommy Girl, and Graduate of the Week dancer Kiera Brunton, in an evening of performance and conversation.

Sunday Night Live raises money for a different theatrical charity with each episode, with this week dedicated to the Theatre Support Fund, As such, all performers wore their ‘The Show Must Go On!’ t-shirts during the event to highlight the cause.

The wonderful Jack Malin chooses the perfect song to kick off the show, with a silky smooth version of ‘Ordinary People’ - watch out John Legend!

Gretchen Wieners would definitely have said “so fetch!!!” about Charlotte Yorke and Natasha Agnew’s stunning vocal performance in ‘Apex Predator’ from Mean Girls; totally stealing the show. The duo work perfectly together on stage and also off stage when interviewed by Malin following their performance. When questioned “Do you have any advice for the performers out there? Especially the graduates”, Yorke provides a powerful answer - “ Find the joy in what you love and keep remembering why you got into this in the first place.” Wise and poignant words.

Fire performer Thommy Girl (also a burlesque performer and choreographer for the Atomic Bombshells UK) gives us a hypnotic and spectacular turn to Lindsey Stirling’s ‘Hold my Heart’; with graduate of the week Kiera Brunton delivering a phenomenal performance to ‘Overture/And All That Jazz’ from Chicago.

Caroline Kay blows us away with a moving performance of her original song, ‘Always You’. Her beautiful voice serenades us and complete with her interview, allows her bright and sparkling personality to shine through. West End star and TikTok sensation Lauren Samuels later closes the second episode with a gorgeous rendition of ‘Times are Hard for Dreamers’ from the musical, Amélie.

Despite lockdown, a morose year full of uncertain times, we still have the stagiest place in town to bring us incredible musical performances, interviews and allowing us to discover new artists and shows. We can’t thank the Theatre Cafe team enough for bringing us these wonderful evenings of entertainment.

***** Five stars

Reviewed by: Alexia Irene

To watch the latest episode, please click here.