Review: Young Burnley theatre school stars deserve standing ovation for fabulous cabaret show
Imagine a show that combines the music of David Bowie and Dolly Parton with Take That and Abba.
It is certainly an eclectic mix of musical genres that keeps the audience on their toes right from the beginning to the very end.
And it sums up perfectly the performers from Burnley's Basics Junior Theatre School Shooting Stars vocalise group at their annual cabaret show held in The Lounge at Crow Wood.
Aged just nine to 14, I have seen some of these children perform before and their talent and vocal range has left me in awe and once again they blew me away.
The children each got the chance to chose their own song and many of the tracks were from new musicals such as Mary Poppins Returns, Waitress and Bonnie and Clyde. So they weren't particularly familiar to the audience but boy did those children deliver!
But they also threw in some absolute classics including David Bowie's Life On Mars, Nine to Five by Dolly Parton Fleetwood Mac's Landslide and Slipping Through My Fingers from Mamma Mia.
Each and every child gave their performance 100 per cent and deserved the rousing applause, cheers and standing ovations they received. It was lovely to see them thoroughly enjoying themselves on that stage.
The hours of rehearsing each child has put into their performance was clearly evident to see and it paid off.
But what impressed me the most was the camaraderie between the young performers who supported each other wholeheartedly. Not a shred of jealousy or competitiveness to be seen in the room and that made their performances all the more sweeter.
The performers were: Eloise Whittle, Grace Tomlinson, Kate Hollingsworth, Harris Rafferty, Evie Musso, Jolie Forrest, Libby Hall, Tobyn Thorpe, Millie Holmes, Hannah Read, James Chadwick, Madison Stockton, Jack Vaughan, Isobel Parker, Lottie Norwood, Hughie Higginson, Darcie Brown, Ruby Yates, Amelia Lancaster, Charlie Birtwistle.