UK Theatre Network

The Waterside Theatre celebrated its first birthday with their own version of X-Factor, as 9 finalists competed for the chance to perform in the Christmas pantomime Dick Whittington.

Looking to find the most talented act, the judging panel was made up of TV and West End star Jonathan Wiles, who will be starring as Dick Whittington alongside panto dame Christian Patterson.  Joining the panel was News Editor of the Bucks Herald Adam King and the Waterside’s Chief Executive Elizabeth Adlington.

The show was co-hosted by the lovely Suzanne Carley, who will be playing Alice in the panto, with the voice over and presenting talents of Richard Carr of Bucks TV.

Kicking off the evening was 12 year old Jacob Cole, who’d recently appeared in Oliver in the West End, singing a medley of songs from Les Miserables.  The judges loved his voice and gave him lots of positive encouragement to continue developing and performing.  Next up was brother and sister act, Laura and Scott Caldwell-Nicolas performing Fix You by Coldplay.  Not only did they sing, but also played keyboard and guitar and Laura gave a strong and very confident performance, with judges commenting ‘you absolutely nailed that and should be very proud of yourselves’.

A delightful pair of little girls Alyssa Howel and Georgia Monastyrskys entertained us with some comedy magic tricks, with the judges encouraging them to keep their act going in future.  Ten year old Tyler Rose Parker belted out Valerie by Amy Winehouse acapella with an incredibly mature voice, although I agreed with the judges that it would have been better if she’d had a backing track.

Finishing off the first act were a group of girls aged 10-16 from the Stage Plus School of Performing Arts, who performed a theatre piece from Snoopy the Musical.  Judges felt they’d given a ‘fantastic performance and were all West End material, with strong ensemble work’.

Opening the second act was Tina-Louise and the Bellyrinas, performing an Egyptian Cabaret Bely Dance piece Genie Magic.  The choreography was excellent, with gorgeously colourful costumes and judges comments included ‘just loved it’ and ‘absolutely brilliant’, which I totally agreed with.

Sixty-five year old Ernie Scott Medies performed Bob Dylan’s Tambourine Man, with his one man band guitar and harmonica.  Ernie said he normally only sings in the bath, although I suspect he’s probably been seen performing in pubs or busking around Aylesbury!

Sisters Chloe and Sophie Bewick performed a dance piece Get Shakey by The Ian Carey Project.  They already have 12 dance lessons a week and it was great to see how much energy and commitment they’d put into their performance.

The final act of the evening was stunning 18 year old Ayo Sananayake performing Muse’s version of Feelin’ Good, which the judges said was ‘fantastically good’.

It was a hard decision for the judges to find a winner from this talented group of artists, so Suzanne and Richard  entertained us with a contest to win prizes as we waited for the result.

I was delighted to see that Tina-Louise and the Bellyrinas won the contest and they treated us to another performance of their dance, which will fit in really well with the panto and I’m sure everyone will enjoy as much as we did.

Jonny commented ‘This has been one of the toughest decisions I’ve ever been involved in making. The calibre of acts was just phenomenal and if I could, I would love to include all of the finalists in this year’s pantomime, but we had to choose  one. The amount of talent on stage was amazing and I cannot think of a better way for the Waterside to have celebrated their very special first birthday.’

The judges were impressed by the colourful act, their professionalism, and gleaming smiles, and are now tasked with weaving the dance troupe into the script. The date the Bellyrinas will be starring in the show is soon to be confirmed so keep your eyes peeled!

The evening was another fund raiser for the Waterside’s nominated charity the Florence Nightingale Hospice, who provide specialist palliative care services to those with a life-limiting illness.  So far the theatre has raised nearly £10,000 for the charity!

Dick Whittington runs from 9th-31st December 2011.  Performance times vary so check on website for details.
Tickets: £7.50-£33.50
Box Office: 0844 871 7614
Book Online: www.atgtickets.com/aylesbury

Reviewed by:
Yvonne Delahaye
24.11.11