Review: WEST END MUSICAL DRIVE-IN Concert 1

Back in the summer, during those all too brief times when we had a taste of freedom, we may have still been unable to attend a theatre, but we could attend drive-in and outdoor shows. The incredible team at West End Musical Brunch launched West End Musical Drive In, welcoming audiences in the safety of their cars to enjoy live theatre in a series of concerts featuring a number of West End stars. 

The days of the drive-in may feel like an age ago but whilst we are back in lockdown, we have been given the chance to relive the joy and thrill of this new type of live theatre. Fortunately, the concerts were filmed and now the West End Musical Drive-In heads online in the form of five concerts, running at approximately two hours each. 

This first concert, hosted by West End Musical Brunch co-founder Shanay Holmes, sees Layton Williams, Shan Ako and Maiya Quansah-Breed taking to the stage, performing songs from shows such as Waitress, Tina: The Tina Turner Musical, Everybody’s Talking About Jamie, Rent. Kinky Boots and Hamilton. It may have taken place on a rather chilly evening, complete with a smattering of rain, but that didn’t seem to dampen the mood of the performers or the audience, who were happy to dance in the rain showers and beep their horns.

Maiya Quansah-Breed (Six) impresses with her renditions of ‘Burn’ from Hamilton and ‘Proud Mary’ from Tina: The Tina Turner Musical, before bringing a touch of Disney to the concert with a performance of ‘Almost There’ from The Princess and the Frog. She would be a great choice for the role of Tiana if ever Disney wanted to produce a live action version. Shanay Holmes (Rent, Jesus Christ Superstar, Dreamgirls) shows off her talents for both hosting and performing with ‘One Night Only’ from Dreamgirls and ‘This Is Me’ from The Greatest Showman. 

Shan Ako (Les Misérables, Queen of the Night) shows off powerhouse vocals with her renditions of ‘She Used to be Mine’ from Waitress and ‘Simply the Best’ from Tina: The Tina Turner Musical, as well as impressing with an original song from her EP entitled ‘Braveheart’. It was Layton Williams, however, who proved to be the real show stealer with his multiple costume changes and high energy dancing as he was joined by some of his colleagues from Everybody’s Talking About Jamie for performances of ‘And You Don’t Even Know it’ and the Jackson 5’s ‘ABC’, before revisiting his time in Rent with renditions of ‘I’ll Cover You’ and ‘Today 4 U’. He was also joined by Noah Thomas, who has also played the role of Jamie New in the stage production of Everybody’s Talking About Jamie, to close the show with a performance of ‘Out of the Darkness’. 

Whilst the musical performances are incredible, and you can feel the fun and the energy of this drive-in concert through the screen, having the border and logo around the video for the entire run time feels a little unnecessary. Also, whenever the performers ask the audience to sing along, you can’t really hear the response even though it was obvious there was one. However, this is only a small sound issue and it didn’t distract from the enjoyment of the show. 

This West End Musical Drive-In concert is a joy to watch, full of excellent performances and plenty of the joys of live theatre. With four more concerts in the series and one being released for 48 hours each week, there is plenty to look forward to.

****’ Four and a half stars

Reviewed by: Rebecca Wallis

To book tickets and to see the line-up for each concert, please click here.

Please note: this review also appears on the Musical Theatre Lives In Me blog.