Friday, December 18, 2020

GIRL POWER (Thespie)*****

 

By Imogen

Link: Girl Power – Thespie | Thespie

Available until: Monday 21st December

Boys are so important to my life and it’s so rubbish that I haven’t been out with one since March. It’s really unfair and I don’t know why they can’t sort it out. There are some boys who said they would kiss me but I could never go out with anyone with such a terrible disregard for my health. It’s a vicious circle.

But girls are very important to me too as confidantes and I have my little group and I have my role models. Seven of my biggest role models are the girls in this concert, the Queens from Six. Jarneia Richard-Noel (Jaye’J) plays Aragon, Millie O’Connell used to play Boleyn, Natalie Paris plays Seymour, Alexia McIntosh (Lexi) plays Cleves, Aimie Atkinson used to play Howard, Maiya Quansah-Breed used to play Parr, and Grace Mouat used to cover all six roles. She’s not one of those understudies who’s not good enough to play a leading role, she’s an understudy who’s too versatile to play just one. (It can be a curse being versatile, I should know.) All the other girls from Six are obviously my role models too but they’re not in this concert.

This concert is about celebrating female girl groups through the ages. This must have been filmed a few days ago because they think Little Mix has four members. I’m sure they know about Jesy leaving now. They are very intelligent and I’m sure they keep up with all the interesting news.

The Queens started off with Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy by the Andrews Sisters which was a really powerful opening. Then they brought the energy right down for Will You Still Love Me Tomorrow? by the Shirelles. I’ve never heard of them but it is a shame the Queens didn’t bring their own Cherelle. Cherelle Jay (Cee-J) is another versatile understudy who covers everyone in the West End production of Six.

They continue with songs by The Supremes (Up the Ladder to the Roof), The Labelles (Lady Marmalade), En Vogue (Don’t Let Go), the Spice Girls (Too Much), Cheetah Girls 2 (The Party’s Just Begun), Jessie J, Ariana Grande and Nicki Minaj (who aren’t really a group but they did Bang Bang together) and finally Little Mix (Power). There are lots of girl groups they missed out but it was interesting hearing something from every decade even if some decades are BAD. The Queens made them sound good though.

The songs are in different styles so they get to show their versatility but they also get to show what they do very best of all. Jaye’J and Lexi did rap. Lexi’s voice has some lovely dark qualities which is also good for R&B, Jaye’J is a bit more jazzy. Aimie has lots of vocal flexibility and she’s also really good at singing quickly and getting all the words correct and coherent. Millie is really good at the happy songs (and although we didn’t see so much of it in this concert, she’s also brilliant at characterisation and comedy), Natalie is very sweet and lyrical, and Maiya has a lot of vocal power and punch but she doesn’t lose the beauty in her voice. Grace can sing anything but she was mostly taking the lyrical lines that required a darker colour in this concert.

But they are all singing together as a girl group of seven, they had solo lines so they obviously had to adapt to all the different styles. They all kept a bit of their individuality but they adapted to all the styles really well. And the harmonies are insane. They sing them so well and so confidently and even though they all have individual voices, they really know how to make them blend.

There are also some sections where they talk about music and about each other so you get to find out some more about these inspiring Queens who I’m going to be just like one day. In my own individual Imogen way.

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