BIGLITTLE Theatre School 
Pavilion Theatre, Bournemouth
Jon Cockeram
16 July 2026
BIGLITTLE Theatre School are a staple of the local amateur dramatic scene, having been running for 30 years and offering young people the chance to learn and perform. One of the highlights of their annual program is the Broadway Showtunes extravaganza, which has been taking place since 2013 and continually offering fresh spectacle each year to allow their students to showcase their talents. And my word, what talents they have!
Just to give you some idea of scale here, they have 166 young people performing in this showcase, split across four age groups. It’s not until the opening medley from Les Miserables that you actually realise just quite how many people are taking part, with everyone filling the stage for one big ensemble number that set the bar incredibly high for the rest of the show.
From there all four age groups (from youngest to oldest: Footlights, Limelights, Starlights and the Professional Development Programme, or PDP) perform either on their own or in various combinations to bring us a wide range of songs from across the spectrum of musicals. We visited the cathedral at Notre Dame, a silent movie studio, a child talent pageant, and New York’s Radio City Music Hall to name but a few, moving from stage-filling ensemble numbers to ones with just three or four performers and back again. You never quite knew what you were going to get next, but the audience were never left disappointed; the standing ovation at the end just showed how entertained everyone had been.
It’s impossible to single out individual performers in this show – each and every one did an incredible job at singing and dancing with amazing energy and passion that shone through with everything they did. Everyone has clearly spent a lot of time and effort in honing their talents and has brought their best to the show, even whilst the glorious summer weather made the Pavilion feel a little like an oven at times. From the beginning right to the end in a dazzling finale number with more sequins than you could shake a stick at, nobody let the energy that pulsed throughout the show drop for a second, even in the quieter numbers. The amount of joy that could be seen on everyone’s faces as the curtain went down on an incredibly successful performance was truly heartwarming and justly deserved – this is youth theatre at its best, when those performing clearly love what they do and put everything they have into it.
Honestly, praise could be heaped on every single song or medley that was shown this evening; a huge amount of time and thought had clearly been put into the costuming (unique to each musical – I can’t even begin to imagine how many costumes that makes across the whole show!), choreography and staging for each number, as well as bringing out the best in the students and their skills. The creative team behind Broadway Showtunes, led by Natasha Barnes and Kelly Knight (both BIGLITTLE alumni who have performed in numerous professional shows in the West End and other places), should be commended for putting together such an excellent and varied programme. The band, led by Colin Billing and Sam Dando, should also get a special mention for providing the backbone of the entire showcase, and doing it with style!
If the students of BIGLITTLE represent the future of musicals, we’re all in very safe hands indeed – I can’t wait to see what they come up with next year!
Broadway Showtunes continues at Bournemouth Pavilion until Saturday 18 July.
