Glamour of the West End comes to Southampton’s West Quay

Southampton was in the spotlight as stars from the West End performed a new half term show – ‘The Sound of Musicals’.

West Quay shopping centre is home to an all new, free to attend outdoor performance, running from 23rd-29th October and located just outside by the city walls.

‘The Sound of Musicals’ brings together five family favourite musicals: Mary Poppins, Matilda, Frozen, Grease, and Mamma Mia – into one big musical mash-up. 

The new show follows on from last year’s, ‘Greatest Digital Fireworks Display’, themed on the Greatest Showman. 

General Manager for West Quay, Laura Read said: “Last year was such a success, we sort of needed to build on that this year.

“We still wanted to stick with the theme of musicals because they’re really popular. They appeal across the ages; there’s something for children, there’s something for older people.

“We were really keen to grow the event this year and bring in other new musicals to promote theatre further, and who can say no to a free event of this calibre?”

It almost seems more important now than ever to try and encourage more and more people to get involved in the arts.

Amy Boyde, Actor and dancer

Each musical segment features a medley of songs and dances from that specific musical, with the aim of giving children and theatre newbies an insight into an industry that has been struggling since the Covid-19 pandemic.

Actor and dancer, Amy Boyde, said: “Performances like this are exciting, not only for us as performers, but also for the audiences that come and see us.

“It’s nice to see so many people that wouldn’t usually go to the theatre, or people that wouldn’t watch a musical movie coming together and really enjoying something new to them.

“It almost seems more important now than ever to try and encourage more and more people to get involved in the arts. Our trade is almost disappearing, but moments like this make it all worth it.”

There are two 30 minute shows every night, one at 6:30pm and one at 8:00pm, with an estimated 2,000 people filling West Quays esplanade for each show.

The show also uses the cities heritage and setting by using the city walls as a backdrop for the lighting and projection effects used throughout the show.