An afternoon of songs from the works of Disney (and Pixar) sounded like a perfect fit for any fan of musicals and animated movies, and so Twisted proved to be just the ticket to escape the wind and rain of Storm Ciara.
The line-up had been tweaked slightly from original plans, with both Jessica Cervi (with the lovely title song of Beauty and the Beauty) and Esme Laudat (with a vibrant Speechless) stepping in at the last minute, but we were treated to a range of songs by thirteen young performers.
With only Everybody Wants To Be A Cat dating from before the 1989 resurgence of the House of Mouse, the songs included were from more contemporary fare – Mulan, The Hunchback of Notre Dame, Aladdin, The Little Mermaid, Anastasia, The Lion King, Beauty and the Beast, Tarzan, Moana, Tangled, Toy Story.
Fair enough given the age of the cast, and there was some stellar singing from all, with Chloe Hazel’s Poor Unfortunate Souls, Aran McRae’s Be Prepared, and Emily Mae Walker’s Let It Go being particular highlights. We had up-tempo songs – Maiya Quansah-Breed’s Make a Man Out Of You – and gender-swaps – Grace Mouat’s Proud of Your Boy.
Lewis Asquith (last seen by me in Soho Cinders), Cameron Burt and Chris Cameron completed the line-up of male singers (Asquith’s Hellfire from Hunchback was especially effective, but all excellent).
Lauren Soley, Josie Kemp and Charlotte A Steen were the other ladies (the first two showcasing big voices in tiny frames, the latter turning a technical issue with a microphone into a piece of warm repartee).
There are definitely cast members I’m not too familiar with who I’ll look out for in future shows and concerts. I liked the barebones approach of Twisted with a bare stage, a three-piece band, occasional bubbles blown from the stairwell, and a friendly bit of MCing from Monsteers Artistry’s founder Kyra Jessica Willis.
Twisted was a one-off concert at the Trafalgar Studio 1 on 9 February 2020. Photo of the cast bows courtesy of Monsteers Artistry social media.
LouReviews received a complimentary ticket to see Twisted.