Arts Week Reviews – Bugsy Malone, QAS Fest, Private Art Viewing

Bugsy Malone: A Review By Rivi Lock-Phillips and Alice Read-Clarke

A fun musical from start to finish, packed with action and lots of singing and dancing. We entered the PAC knowing nothing about the show, and by the end we had been blown away by the talent displayed and the excellent execution of everything on stage (and off stage)!

Entering the PAC, the atmosphere was buzzing with excitement in the rush of people preparing things. The stage had the word “Bugsy” written in huge stars, and the rest of the stage was adorned with the same stars scattered around, which made for a fun backdrop for the play. My personal favourite part of the set had to be the disco ball, though!

Preparing the audience for the show, the band played an overture which really set the mood and further excited people for the performance, also signalling us to pay attention to the stage. The lights went down, and the opening number began. It gave us a good introduction to the play, and we loved the singing. “Fat Sam’s Grand Slam” was the next song, and as we wrote in our notes, “it’s a bop”! This song was so much fun, and the choreography was so lively, it was so entertaining for everyone in the audience, and it looked like the cast was having lots of fun on stage, which is always important.

What really stood out to us in the first act was the song “Tomorrow”, Fizzy’s solo, performed by Finn Williams. The singing truly left us speechless, and the emotion of the song was conveyed so well. Congratulations, Finn! these characters really added to the show and we laughed a lot.

Bugsy Malone and Blousey Brown, played by Grace Henman and Ellie Dent, worked so well together and the acting by this pair was very high quality, as was Blousey’s singing.

The second act opened with Tallulah’s solo, “My Name is Tallulah”. Vanessa Cuatrecasas played Tallulah so well and really suited the part. Despite a few tech glitches, this song was performed excellently and drew the audience in for the final half of the show.

The song “Down and Out” was performed in such a creative manner, using bowls to add another type of sound to the tap dance. We thought this was so creative and clever, and the inventiveness of the performance of this song definitely intrigued the audience. This was one of our personal favourite songs because of the choreography of it.

Fat Sam and Dandy Dan’s gangs were so entertaining, the comedy provided by The final song of the show, “You Give a Little Love”, left everyone on a high- an upbeat song with the whole cast on stage together. We were taught that fighting is futile and “we’re weaker divided”, and the audience was left with this message to consider.

Congratulations to the whole cast for putting on an entertaining, fun performance full of talent and excitement. Special mentions go to the choreographers, lighting crew, sound, musicians and Mr Punter, whom the play could not have happened without!

QAS Fest: A Review By Alice Read-Clarke

Despite the pouring rain, QAS Fest went ahead on Thursday evening. There were many wonderful performances from different students throughout the year groups. There was music from a wide variety of genres, from musicals to rap and pop.

The headline act has to be the staff band, who performed 'Mr Blue Sky' by the Electric Light Orchestra. Their wonderful performance had everyone on their feet. There were a variety of other pop performances from bands in many year groups. The L4 Band performed 'We Will Rock You' by Queen, the U4 Band played both 'House of Memories' by Panic at the Disco and 'Boulevard of Broken Dreams' by Green Day and the L5 Band played 'Kathleen' by Catfish and the Bottlemen. The BLT's (L5) performance of 'Finesse' by Cardi B and Bruno Mars was full of energy, with its wonderful dance routine.

There were many other types of music, with some of the school choirs singing musicals, 'Six' from (you guessed it!) Six, and 'You Will Be Found' from Dear Evan Hansen. There were two instrumental performances, one from the QA Trio, with the piano, cello and violin, and one from Ivy, Amelia and Janie, with the drums, piano and most notably the xylophone.

Whilst it may not be Glastonbury (yet!), we certainly had the weather. Despite this, a massive congratulations to everyone who performed, and to everyone who helped the show go smoothly.

Private Art Viewing: A Review

If you popped into the private view of the current GCSE and A Level artwork held on the Tuesday evening of Arts Week, you would have had an absolute treat for your visual senses. The art was diverse, and eye-catching and included a number of pieces of textiles, mixed media, and digital art as well as paintings.

From @QAS_head

A highlight was Sophie Bailey’s 3d work of an older woman painting. The ability to view the piece from different angles, and see a different thing each time, made it absolute mesmerising and it certainly earned its centre stage location. The standout piece for me was Amelia Wing’s dry etching of her sister, Natalie, face to face with her horse. The detail in the bridle and the horsehair was breath-taking and the gaze between the two was riveting, drawing the viewer deep into the painting and stirring appreciation of the feelings of peace and harmony between person and animal.

From @QAS_head As David Bowie once said ‘owning art is a stable nourishment and can change the way you feel in the mornings.’ I don’t know about the mornings, but I certainly went away from this year’s private view with an absolute respect for the artists of Queen Anne’s, and a happy feeling in my heart.