Beyond The Barricade

I spent one June evening at Beyond The Barricade which was on at the Leeds City Varieties.  I've heard of the successful group who are approaching their 15th year of touring and entertaining audiences.  I was encouraged to go and see them live.

Waiting for Beyond The Barricade

The group was formed by Andy Reiss and David Fawcett after they both performed in the Manchester production of Les Miserables in 1992.  Andy was the Resident Director on the 1st UK National Tour of Les Miserables in the late 1990s.  On this tour they are accompanied by Rebecca Vere and Katie Leeming.  Both West End ladies had an involvement in Les Miserables at some stage in their careers.

I met up with Cath, a long standing and loyal Beyond The Barricade fan, and we sat in our front shows in anticipation for the evening's programme.  The show opened with musical numbers from The Phantom of the Opera.  Introductions were then made by David and musical numbers followed from Godspell, Jesus Christ Superstar, Jersey Boys and West Side Story.  I loved the songs from Jersey Boys and made a mental note to book and see the musical soon.

Following the interval the programme continued with Miss Saigon.  Listening to some of the songs reminded me about the exciting news of the Miss Saigon returning to the West End.  I do miss the musical not being in the West End and always believed it was a big mistake to have closed the musical in the first place!

The group sang a medley of Disney songs including those from The Lion King.  David sang Chess's Anthem convincingly and it's certainly my favourite song from the musical.  The anticipated highlight of the evening was no doubt was a selection of songs from Les Miserables.  The group sang individually and in unison musical numbers including I Dreamed A Dream, Stars, Bring Me Home, Do You Hear the People Sing and One Day More.  It was a perfect ending to an exciting evening of musicals.

Seeing Beyond The Barricade is highly recommended and I encourage for anyone to catch them perform at one of the many venues throughout the country.  Please see their website for further details.  Afterwards, we had the opportunity to meet them in the foyer which enhanced a wonderful evening.

Cath, Andy Reiss, Me (Dawn), David Fawcett, Rebecca Vere and Katie Leeming after the show