Bromsgrove School – Hairspray – a sell-out success

18 Feb 2017

Over 75 students from Bromsgrove School took part in an outstanding sell-out production of the outrageous 60’s musical “Hairspray” at The Artrix Centre last week leaving audiences, young and old, buzzing with excitement and appreciation.

Under the assured musical direction of James McKelvey and Fiona McCanliss, the band tackled this hugely difficult score with true professionalism in every aspect. Lucy McKee, as Director, brought together her 45-strong cast with confidence and style, to generate a true sense of ensemble on stage. Clare Lidbury turned what is essentially a non-stop dance show into a highly disciplined sequence of dazzling synchronised, sinuous movement. Coupled with the work of a highly trained student crew running all technical aspects of the production, this was a perfect example of how live performance really can bring together the many diverse talents of Bromsgrove’s students into a remarkable, cohesive whole.

Mr Tim Norton, Director of Performing Arts said “This was an incredibly strong ensemble piece, with stand-out performances that proved there are some extraordinary singers and actors at the School. Miles Rosbrook deserves high praise for the hundreds of hours he spent trapped inside both a vast flesh suit and a huge hairspray can to transform himself into the larger than-life Edna Turnblad, while the utterly breath-taking talents of Rachel Xuereb dominated Hairspray from the opening moments to the final note of each evening. In every way, Rachel seemed born to have played the role of Tracy Turnblad and we fully expect to see her taking the West End by storm in just a few years”.

While Bromsgrove school hopes in every way to maintain links with Artrix, we look forward to being able to stage productions of a similar high calibre in our very own new Performing Arts Centre from next September.

If this year’s main event is anything to go by, the future looks very bright for Performing Arts at Bromsgrove.