What good is sitting alone in your room? Come hear the music play!

The lyrics of the Cabaret classic certainly rang true for the crowd at the Prest End show on Tuesday night, as musical fans gathered to celebrate the return of live theatre at Preston’s Charter Theatre.

Performing live for the first time since the pandemic hit, Preston-based troupe Create Theatre showcased a medley of hits from West End favourites including Wicked, The Lion King, Billie Elliot and Hamilton.

The show took a few surprising turns in the second half, with poignant Les Miserables classics I Dreamed a Dream and Bring Him Home performed unusually by all male and all female quartets respectively.

The crowd went wild at the energetic Jersey Boys number Beggin’, and even wilder at Oh What a Night.

The cast of local professionals and Create Theatre Academy students closed the show with an enjoyably chaotic Bohemian Rhapsody from We Will Rock You.

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“Wow, what an incredible feeling to be back on the Charter Theatre stage,” said Director Wesley Arron.

“The atmosphere was electric, we couldn’t have asked for a better audience for our first live performance back.

“The team at Create are so proud of what we produced and how our amazing students at Create Theatre Academy and wonderful cast performed.” 

Prest End was shown as part of the Preston Live Arts Festival, which ran from 21-30 June 2021. The brand new arts festival celebrating local talent was awarded a grant of £841,647 from the DCMS Cultural Recovery fund.

Preston City Council Councillor Peter Kelly, Cabinet Member for Culture and Arts, said: “As Preston comes out of lockdown we are committed to working towards putting our arts and cultural offering firmly back on the map, rebuilding our live performance programme and local audiences.

“We see the Preston Live Arts Festival as a key catalyst for the growth and development of the city whilst also providing our residents and visitors fun and engaging events and activities for the whole family to enjoy”.

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The festival, produced by Selladoor Worldwide, included family entertainment, live theatre, dance, music, contemporary art and comedy hosted at venues across the city.

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Did you attend any of Preston Live Arts Festival? Let us know in the comments.