I was lucky enough to go to the Assembly Hall Tunbridge Wells to see star of stage and screen Brendan Cole in his exhilarating current tour: Show Man. This is Brendan’s fifth touring dance extravaganza production and follows on from his hugely successful show: All Night Long.
Brendan is well known for being the very first winner of BBC’s Strictly Come Dancing. Show Man features an incredible team of dancers (and also local Kent talent) and live musicians and vocalists in a thrilling mix of dance, music and movement. The show featured Ballroom magic, adrenaline-charged Latin (for which Brendan is well known for) and electrifying show tunes; this really was a show that had it all.
Curtain up and the whole cast open Show Man with their version of the popular “The Greatest Show” from The Greatest Showman movie, which immediately sets the bar high for the rest of the evening.
A mixture of dances follows all perfectly choreographed to music from shows to popular hits from the charts that kept the tempo high for the first half before an amazing Argentine Tango brought the first part to a rapturous applause.
Curtain rises once more after a visit to the bar and the energy doesn’t falter with more pulsating moves and the whole ensemble and talented performers and musicians are of such a high energy that this is infectious and toe tapping and you want to get up and dance!
Brendan is host for the show with no compère; he interacts with the audience in a fun and animated way building off the feedback off the sell out frenzied audience in Tunbridge Wells.
As you would expect with a show of this calibre the choreography could not be faulted, the routines had been set down to the most meticulous detail and was delivered by all the dancers with precision perfection. Every dance was well suited to the song choice.
Equally the costumes were phenomenal, sequins a plenty on the dresses of the beautiful ladies and in all the outfits the strong vibrant colours added extra glitz and glamour around the venue highlighted by the venues lights. You could tell the cast really connected with each-other and was nice to see the friendships come alive on stage with their love of performing.
The aim of the night is pure entertainment. Its two hours of sheer indulgence where you can simply sit back, watch and relax; a bit like a Saturday night in front of Strictly really. This production is a great evening’s entertainment and is touring till the end of March see online for tour dates and more information.
