Carrying the Banner: Coffee, Newspapers & Jazzhands
Ben Howitt reports on the caffeine-fuelled epic that was MTSoc’s Autumn season
The Musical Theatre Society (MTSoc) ended their Autumn season last week with an all-singing, all-dancing musical revue. _Carrying The Banner _featured numbers from a spectrum of different musicals and cabaret acts, including Wicked and Avenue Q.
This is the third consecutive year in which MTSoc has abandoned any pretence of a storyline to allow society members to try directing and choreographing without the pressure of a full show. Additionally, this year there were a number of musical directors from the A Cappella society and the Royal College of Music.
Over 300 people attended the three day run, which played to full houses on Thursday and Friday night.
Rehearsals began in mid-October, directly following the October show,_ Acting! _With many of the cast having only just joined the society, the pressure was on, and a minimum of 12 hours of rehearsal every week kept everyone busy. During the two weeks preceding the show, there was rehearsal or a band call every day.
The Artistic Director, Harriet Campbell, praised the cast’s motivation and good spirit, saying “They’re my favourite cast ever… not just because they’re my cast.”
Next term, MTSoc will present their Spring Show, Merrily We Roll Along by Stephen Sondheim. Auditions continue to run next week; contact musicaltheatre@imperial.ac.uk for more details.
