Mad About the Musicals at the Buxton Opera House Review
Mad About the Musicals
Buxton Opera House
21 October 2015
Reviewed by Lucy Lowndes
Me and my daughter (aged 10) are both massive musical fans and we were very excited to be going to see Mad About the Musicals at the Buxton Opera House.
The show was due to start at 7.30pm but we arrived about 6.45pm, giving us plenty of time to find a parking space and collect our tickets. We were very lucky and were able to park only a few yards away from the Opera House entrance, it was also free to park as we had arrived after 6pm.
We entered the Opera House and were greeted by a cheery man at the ticket office who promptly found us our tickets and showed us the way to the bar for a pre-show drink. The bar was located upstairs, we each had a drink, which were very reasonably priced, whilst sitting on a couple of the chairs which were lined up around the edge of the room. By the time we had finished our drinks, it was about 7.15pm so we made our way to the toilets before being shown to our seats.
Our seats were located in the dress circles and we were sitting on row D in seats 9 and 10. Our view of the stage was perfect, and even with the people sitting in front of us my daughter could still see the stage. We could also see the magnificent Opera House ceiling, which is a wonderful sight, covered in paintings of cherubs and with gold embellishments.
The stage was set out with 2 glitter balls on either side of the stage and 5 musician stands which consisted of 2 keyboard players, 2 guitar/bass players and a drummer.
The show started promptly at 7.30pm and the stars of the show, Gareth Gates and Michael Courtney had everyone wowed with their amazing voices. Throughout the show they were accompanied by 3 amazing female vocalists, who were stars on their own. They all had wonderful voices.
During the first half we were treated to some great songs from Copacabana, Miss Saigon, Dr Zhivago, plus many more and ending the first half finale with a fantastic ballad from Queen’s, We Will Rock You which included Bohemian Rhapsody and we are the champions – Absolutely Brilliant!
The interval lasted about 20 minutes. We treated ourselves to an ice-cream which were being sold just outside the dress circle entrance. The ice creams were very reasonable at £2.50 per tub and very yummy.
After the interval the second half was just as captivating as the first. We were entertained with hits from The Phantom of the Opera, Funny Girl, Starship Troopers, Annie Get Your Gun, The Chorus Line and Jesus Christ Superstar.
The evening came to a close with a grand finale of songs from Les Miserables, all of which gave me goose pimples, and had the audience giving a standing ovation!
We left the theatre at approximately 10pm with a feeling of warmth inside from such a wonderfully entertaining evening. Although my daughter didn’t know all of the songs she still thoroughly enjoyed the show, as did I.
I cannot recommend this show highly enough. It was a fantastic show with an amazing cast.
I give the Buxton Opera House and Mad about the Musicals top marks.
For more information and tour dates click here.
For other shows at the Buxton Opera House visit www.buxtonoperahouse.org.uk.
Buxton Opera House, Water Street, Buxton, Derbyshire, SK17 6XN | 0845 127 2190