Showstoppers! In Concert

25th – 27th May 2000 - Pump House Theatre, Watford
26th October 2001- Alban Arena, St. Albans

About The Show Showstoppers! gave audiences the chance to hear the finest numbers in musical theatre sung by some of the best local and professional talent. The cast members have performed all over the world in shows ranging from Les Miserables and West Side Story, to Oklahoma! and A Chorus Line and joined forces in Showstoppers! to bring the West End to Hertfordshire. With songs from 18 top musicals by Rodgers and Hammerstein through to Andrew Lloyd Webber, Showstoppers! was, on both occasions, a complete sell out.

          Cast

Bobbie Chatt
Matthew Gregory
Fenella Lee
Jeremy Pelzer
Charlotte Rhodes-Chamberlin
Jeff Nicholson

          Band

          Keyboard/Musical Director - Ben Sherwood

          Bass Guitar - Mike Royle

          Drums/Percussion - Ollie McDermott

          Guitar - Andy Driver

          Keyboard 2 - Graham Thompson

         

          Production Team

Producer/Director
Bobbie Chatt
Musical Director
Ben Sherwood
Lighting Design and Operation
Mark Hardwidge
Sound Design and Operation
Alan Foss
Choreography
Bobbie Chatt
Original Poster Design
Paul Bantin
Production Photographs
Annie Simons

          Act One

One Voice - Barry Manilow - The Company
Luck Be A Lady - Guys and Dolls - The Company
If My Friends Could See Me Now - Sweet Charity - Bobbie, Jeff, Matthew
Big Spender - Sweet Charity - Fenella
All I Ask Of You - Phantom of the Opera - Matthew, Charlotte
Music Of The Night - Phantom of the Opera - Jeremy
Vaults of Heaven - Whistle Down the Wind - Jeff and the Company
No Matter What - Whistle Down the Wind - Jeff, Jeremy, Matthew
Whistle Down The Wind - Whistle Down the Wind - Bobbie
Guys And Dolls Medley - Guys and Dolls - Jeremy, Fenella
Many A New Day - Oklahoma - Fenella, Charlotte, Bobbie
Wash That Man - South Pacific - Fenella, Charlotte, Bobbie
Camelot Medley - Camelot - Matthew
Honey Bun - South Pacific - Matthew and the `Honeys'
With Every Breath I Take - City of Angels - Charlotte
You're Nothing Without Me - City of Angels - Jeff, Jeremy
It's Never That Easy - Closer Than Ever - Bobbie, Fenella
Any Dream Will Do - Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat - Jeff and the Company

          Act Two

Seasons Of Love - Rent - The Company
There Are Worse Things I Could Do - Grease - Charlotte
Summer Nights - Grease - The Company
Hopelessly Devoted To You - Grease - Bobbie
Kansas City - Oklahoma - Charlotte, Fenella, Jeremy, Bobbie, Matthew
Why God? - Miss Saigon - Jeff
Sun And Moon - Miss Saigon - Bobbie, Jeff
Bui Doi - Miss Saigon - The Company
Losing My Mind - Follies - Fenella
You Could Drive A Person Crazy - Company - Fenella, Bobbie, Charlotte

Tell Me It's Not True - Blood Brothers - Charlotte, Jeremy and the Company
At The End Of The Day - Les Miserables - The Company
Stars - Les Miserables - Matthew
On My Own - Les Miserables - Bobbie
Do You Hear The People Sing? - Les Miserables - The Company
Bring Him Home - Les Miserables - Jeremy
One Day More - Les Miserables - The Company
Abba Medley – Mamma Mia! - The Company

Reviews

Dave Allen reviews a stunning performance of Showstoppers! at the Pump House Theatre, Watford

Simple formula proves a show-stopping winner!

A night of polished professionalism and stunning singing was on display at the Pump House Theatre last week in Showstoppers!

The show’s formula was simple. Six talented singers combined with a classy backing band to perform songs from some of the best musicals, past and present. And, with this talented company, it worked to perfection. The six performers, comprising Bobbie Chatt, Fenella Lee, Charlotte Rhodes-Chamberlin, Matthew Gregory, Jeff Nicholson and Jeremy Pelzer brought character and charisma to the show, as well as fantastic singing voices. Throughout, songs were acted as well as sung, with the performers really getting into the roles and not just showing off their talents.

By scouring the best of musicals for the best of songs, producer/director Bobbie Chatt guaranteed the show would be a progression of highlights.

All the way through great song followed great song, with Lee’s rendition of Big Spender and her duet with Pelzer in a medley from Guys and Dolls as early highlights.

All the performers gave star turns and each brought something personal to some familiar songs.

Nicholson’s naïve on-stage charm turned even Andrew Lloyd-Webber’s Any Dream Will Do into something enjoyable. A regular with local amateur societies, Nicholson more than held his own in this more established company in terms of quality and on-stage assurance and was always a winner with the audience.

More experienced performers Gregory and Pelzer also excelled. The power and depth of feeling provided by Gregory in Webber’s All I Ask of You and Stars from Les Miserables was breathtaking and Pelzer managed to move easily from light-hearted comic numbers such as City of Angels’ You’re Nothing Without Me to sombre showstoppers Music of the Night and Bring Him Home.

Rhodes-Chamberlin also showed tremendous versatility, moving gracefully from a defiant version of There Are Worse Things I Could Do from Grease, to Blood Brothers’ sad lament Tell Me It’s Not True and seemingly perfectly at home with both.

Lee was vampish and perfectly showy throughout and her contribution to If My Friends Could See Me Now and the Guys and Dolls medley made you wish the production could have included something from Cabaret – she would make a perfect Sally Bowles.

And, not content with producing and directing a magnificent show, Chatt’s appearances on stage were a delight.

She managed to bring a rare dignity to a Lloyd Webber number with Whistle Down the Wind and later showed her true class in a moving version of On My Own from Les Miserables.

Musically, this was not a show content to knock out old favourites. Songs were adapted and combined to brilliant effect, the credit for which must go to musical director Ben Sherwood and his band, Olly McDermott, Mike Royale and Andy Driver.

The audience was left wanting more from this company and its next performance will be eagerly awaited.

Watford Observer

                    Previews

Friends Pumping Out Show Tunes

Friends who first met as members of the Regeneration Theatre Company in St Albans are teaming up at the end of the month for a three-day show in Watford.

Bobbie Chatt from Radlett, who spent more than two years touring with Les Miserables, has got the group together for a three-day run of Showstoppers! at Watford’s Pump House Theatre from Thursday to Saturday May 25 to 27.

The cast includes St Albans bass Matthew Gregory and Charlotte Rhodes-Chamberlin, who last appeared together in St Albans Operatic Society’s dazzling production of Calamity Jane.

Matthew, who trained as a singer at the Royal Academy of Music, has sung many operatic roles, including Banquo in Macbeth, Escamillo in Carmen, and the Doctor in La Traviata.

In Showstoppers! he will find himself singing the Boyzone chart topper No Matter What from Andrew Lloyd Webber’s latest triumph Whistle Down the Wind.

Also in the show is Fenella Lee, from St Albans, who runs Rising Stars – a theatre group for youngsters aged between five and 12 which is based at the Fleetville Community Centre.

Mother of three Fenella, who lives in Camp Road, is also a member of a semi-professional repertory in Islington and sings with Rock and Roll band Checkmates, who regularly tour the country.

Showstoppers! will combine music from 18 West End shows including Les Miserables, Phantom of the Opera, Miss Saigon and West Side Story.

Herts Advertiser

Bobbie’s A Showstopper!

Borehamwood and Elstree Times reporter Bobbie Chatt will be wowing audiences next week with her production of the musical feast, Showstoppers!

Showstoppers! unites the best of local and West End talent in a concert of top songs from 18 favourite shows including Les Miserables, Phantom of the Opera, Oklahoma!, Blood Brothers and Grease.

Bobbie, 25, who lives in Radlett, recently returned to the area as Wendy in Peter Pan at the Alban Arena, St Albans, after spending two and a half years playing the roles of Eponine and Cosette in Les Miserables.

Showstoppers! will be staged at the Pump House Theatre, in Watford, from next Thursday May 25 to Saturday May 27.

Having previously produced in London and Liverpool, Bobbie is pleased to bring a show to Hertfordshire. She said: ‘With all today’s high-powered and set-driven shows I think sometimes people lose sight of the fact that the most important thing in a musical is the music itself.

Borehamwood Times

Bobbie’s back in town for charity showstopper

When Watford-born actress Bobbie Chatt decided to produce a musical she never imagined that a one-night event would raise more than £30,000 for charity.

Last year, as a member of the cast of the touring hit show, Les Miserables, Bobbie, 25, decided to stage and perform in the popular 1960s musical A Slice of Saturday Night at the Liverpool Empire. The charity show exceeded all expectations.

Earlier this month, the Make-A-Wish Foundation, which benefited from Bobbie’s success, presented her with a plaque to mark their gratitude. The presentation was at the Pump House Theatre in Local Board Road, where Bobbie is preparing another charity show from May 25 to 27.

Her new production, Showstoppers! will bring together local and West End singers to perform songs from the hit musicals Les Miserables, The Phantom of the Opera, Miss Saigon and Whistle Down the Wind, to name a few.

Bobbie said: ‘Everyone thought I was mad at the time, but I wanted to see if I was capable of single-handedly producing one big musical while performing in another. The next show is going to be just as wonderful – all we need now is an audience.’

Watford Observer

Pulling Out the Stops

St Albans will be coming alive with the sound of music later this month when the Arena plays host to Showstoppers!

Featuring a mix of West End performers and homegrown talent, Showstoppers! boasts the best songs from 19 hit productions ranging form Phantom of the Opera, to Blood Brothers and Oklahoma!

The concert is the brainchild of Bobbie Chatt who formed Brilliant Productions to unite professional and amateur performers from Hertfordshire and beyond. Bobbie spent more than two years touring the UK as Eponine and Cosette in Les Miserables before deciding to produce her own work. The Radlett-based performer said: ‘I felt there wasn’t enough opportunity for small groups of singers and actors to put on their own, high-quality work.’

Bobbie contacted five friends, Charlotte Rhodes-Chamberlin, Matthew Gregory, Fenella Lee, Jeremy Pelzer and Jeff Nicholson. They met up with musical director Ben Sherwood and Showstoppers! was born. The production premiered in Watford last year where it played to packed houses.

Bobbie’s next project will be to take on the role of Dorothy in the Arena’s Christmas spectacular The Wizard of Oz.

Herts Advertiser

From Lloyd Webber to Manilow, Jeff and Bobbie’s songs aim to stop the show!

A Rickmansworth performer is hoping to wow audiences all over Hertfordshire when he takes part in a West End showcase.

Jeff Nicholson, 20, of Watford Road, will be joining other local and professional singers in Showstoppers!, a showcase of songs ranging from Andrew Lloyd-Webber to Rodgers and Hammerstein, with a bit of Barry Manilow thrown in.

The show, being staged by local producer and actress Bobbie Chatt, was staged last May at the Pump House Theatre in Watford when the three-night run raised nearly a thousand pounds for charity.

Jeff is no stranger to the local stage, having taken lead roles with both Watford and Cassio Operatic Societies at the Palace Theatre.

Now with Showstoppers! he is heading to the Alban Arena and says he is looking forward to the challenge. ‘This is our biggest venue yet,’ he said. ‘We have had a lot of support from Watford audiences and it’s going to be a fantastic night. There’s something in it for everyone.’

Jeff will be joined onstage by Bobbie, who spent two years as Eponine and Cosette in Les Miserables and teaches dance at Moonglow in Watford.

The group also includes Watford-born Jeremy Pelzer. They will perform songs from 19 shows, including Phantom of the Opera, Whistle Down the Wind, Oklahoma!, Blood Brothers and Grease!

'Show was truly wonderful’

I was sad when I read your paper this week to see you didn’t do a review of the wonderful concert held in the Alban Arena on Sunday, October 21.

I have been to many concerts, but this one, Showstoppers!, was very special. It was local talent; three singers from St Albans, one from Radlett, two from Watford. The band were all from St Albans and the girl who thought up the idea was Bobbie Chatt.

She started her acting career in the Abbey Theatre in St Albans at the age of 12 years old and went on to play three of the leads in Les Miserables for two years.

She directed, produced and marketed Showstoppers! and sang in it. Nine hundred tickets were sold and it was packed out. I haven’t seen the Arena packed like it for a long time.
The singing was exceptional. I’m an old man but when Bobbie Chatt sang On My Own it brought tears to my eyes it was so beautiful.

They had the Cantores Choir from Loreto College in St Albans and 80 children sang like angels. So you see how disappointed I was not to see one word of praise in your paper about the local talent.

Well done Bobbie and the cast, you were brilliant. Please hurry back. In these awful times the world is having it’s a joy to have you young people doing what you do, especially as it was for the charity Make A Wish Foundation. Good luck Showstoppers!, make the next one soon.

Robert Downey
Park Street Lane, St. Albans
St. Albans Observer