Streaming Review: Reunited - Girl Power / All I Want For Christmas Is Theatre

New streaming service Thespie have made their mark with a brilliant idea for a series. 'Reunited' does what it says on the tin - reunites casts of West End shows that have been unable to perform this year, and in some cases reunites cast members who have not performed together in years. The first two episodes focused on Wicked, The Prince of Egypt and &Juliet. Episodes three and four feature Six and an all star Christmas celebration. Here's a review of both those episodes:

Episode Three - Girl Power

Seven of the Queens from past productions of Six as well as some that are currently reigning (Well, not currently but when we're not in tier 3, 4 or 70, that is) have joined forces to create a girl band. That girl bands name? Seven! I'd have gone with Six Club 7 myself. Aimie Atkinson, Alexia McIntosh, Grace Mouat, Millie O’Connell, Natalie Paris, Maiya Quansah-Breed and Jarneia Richard-Noel are back together for an encore performance after their supposedly one-off 'The Reunion' show.

'Girl Power' is a celebration of some of the greatest girl groups in musical history. If you have come here expecting a bit of musical theatre, the closest you'll get is a version of The Shirelles 'Will You Love Me Tomorrow' (as seen in Beautiful). Instead, what we are treated to is a 45 minute whistle-stop history tour from the 1940s to the present day.

A diverse mix of songs from The Supremes, En Vogue and even The Cheetah Girls feature in a show that never takes its foot off the gas. The Spice Girls get their inevitable mention when the tempo slows down for a beautiful rendition of Christmas number one single 'Too Much'.

Unlike other shows in the Reunited series, this episode doesn't feature solos. This one is all about the sisterhood - every one of the 9 songs featured is a group effort, featuring incredible harmonies and, as sung in their Little Mix cover, a hell of a lot of power.

The seven ladies in this show are some of the best in the West End. It is no surprise why they have gathered a legion of fans both individually and in the show that first got them together. With this new girl band, they are sure to get a whole lot of new fans - and with a social media account already set up, this is clearly only the beginning for Seven. Expect to see a lot more of them in 2021, and with shows as slickly produced as this, that can only be a good thing.

Episode Four - All I Want For Christmas Is Theatre

The Christmas episode is a very definition of a spectacular. Featuring the streams of Reunited past, the streams of Reunited present and the streams of Reunited yet to come, this is a massive episode. Nearly every performer from the first three episodes are back for a Christmas shindig, as are the stars of the upcoming episodes with perhaps even a hint for an episode beyond that.

Over 40 West End stars feature in this mammoth episode. The cast of the first episode 'Unlimited: The Songs of Stephen Schwartz' including Alice Fearn, Sophie Evans, Dianne Pilkington and Alexia Khadime reunite again for a performance of Christmas favourite 'White Christmas' while the cast of &Juliet including Cassidy Janson, Oliver Tompsett and Jordan Luke Gage are back again for a beautiful 'Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas'.

Bringing it back to the present, Seven deliver a rousing rendition of Mariah Carey's classic 'All I Want For Christmas Is You'. One of the Queens gets a solo performance for a lesser known Mariah festive tune as Natalie Paris tackles the heartbreaking 'Miss You Mostat Christmas Time'. Emotion and heartbreak is what Natalie does best and her performance evokes memories of her singing 'Heart of Stone' in Six. One of the standouts of the show.

Another standout solo comes from former Wicked leading lady Alice Fearn who sings a flawless version of Joni Mitchell's 'River' - accompanying herself at the piano, Alice shows off her immeasurable talent and even seems to channel a bit of 'Defying Gravity' when she belts the word "Fly". Perhaps a happy coincidence but it made me smile nonetheless.

Looking to the future - yesterday the next two episodes in the Reunited series were announced and the stars of both of those shows are here to deliver some festivity. Jodie Steele, Sophie Isaacs and T'Shan Williams reunite from their time as the three Heathers for two brilliantly sassy performances in 'Santa Claus Is Coming To Town' and 'Christmas (Baby Please Come Home)'. The cast of Pretty Woman including Aimie Atkinson reunite for a more upbeat version of the Wham! classic 'Last Christmas'.

Then there was a bit of a surprise. We knew recent Olivier award winner Sam Tutty was a last minute addition to this show. What we didn't expect was practically the entire cast of Dear Evan Hansen to appear. Joining forces with three cast members for a jazzy 'Jingle Bells', the rest of the cast joined them for 'Merry Christmas Everyone'.

Seeing the cast of that incredible show back together was not something I was prepared for - to quote another Christmas story, my heart grew three sizes! While only the next two episodes have been announced thus far, it does leave me wondering - if the whole gang of Dear Evan Hansen have been filming, are we going to get a whole episode around them in the future? Let's hope so!

The first two episodes of Reunited were great but it felt like it was still finding its feet. Episodes three and four well and truly upped the ante. Girl Power was a brilliantly enjoyable 45 minutes of music but All I Want For Christmas Is Theatre was a masterpiece. Seeing THAT many amazingly talented West End performers in one place crammed into such a short running time was incredibly intense and a feast for the senses.

More emotional than expected, I'd safely say this is the best West end Christmas concert around at the moment. Give it a watch and realise just how viable these amazing people really are. And they got it right with the title - all I want for Christmas IS theatre, back where it belongs fully open, safe and thriving.

★★★★★

The first four episodes of Reunited are available to stream now on https://thespie.com with two more episodes released in the coming weeks.