Encore Theatre Productions 
Forest Arts Centre, New Milton
John Sivewright
18 September 2026
I have a confession to make: I was a huge X-Factor fan back in its mid-late 00’s heyday. I was therefore chomping at the bit to see Catch a Falling Star, a new, homegrown musical from Encore Theatre Productions that combined an emotional, pathos-filled plot with some excellent parodying of the reality show genre. The show sees separated at birth twins, Nicole and Emma, fly through the auditions of ‘Rising Starz’, and follows their journey through the crazy world of TV talent competition, while also seeing the girls dealing with difficulties in their personal lives, the suicide of one parent and serious illness of another. From a plot perspective, there was probably a little too much going on, and less subplots could have led to better “lead story” focus and more emotional connection when it mattered, but the talent and infectious energy of the cast, combined with the high quality of the musical numbers, made up for any need the script might have had for a tightened “second draft”.
Rachel Boucher as Emma, initially very nervous at the prospect of her audition, gave a tender and highly likeable characterisation. Rachel also wrote many original musical numbers for the show with some flair, with ‘Don’t let go of me yet’, ‘The birthday letters’ and ‘All I want to be’ especially shining, while ‘Little light’ could easily be a radio hit if it were released as a single. Rachel clearly has a real talent for songwriting, and this shone through. As Emma’s birth sister, Nicole, Charlotte Smith gives an earnest and quirky performance, contrasting well with her more reticent sibling; their developing friendship (while not realising their real sisterly ties), was well portrayed and felt very natural.
Among supporting roles, standout performances were given by Yvonne Gray as Emma’s mum and Claire Smith as Nicole’s mum, as both effectively portrayed the loving relationships adopted parents can build with their children; Yvonne was especially convincing in displaying her character’s physical deterioration as her battle with kidney failure is being lost. As Simon Cowell-esque “nasty” judge, Stephen Powell, Lee Neal gave a scene stealing performance, revelling in opportunities to chew the scenery. Were this show revived, it would be nice to see this part expanded so he can be a true “villain” of the piece; the nature of exploitation in reality TV was briefly explored through his character, but this theme could be developed much further to give the show even more bite. Jasmine Partridge brought a lovely depth of feeling to her performance as Birth Mum, with tender deliveries of her solo ‘Mum’ opening and closing the show brilliantly.
Being a send-up of reality TV, much of the fun of Catch a Falling Star was found in the scenes depicting the auditions, semi final and final of ‘Rising Starz’. Ingenious use of projection was used to show pre-recorded footage of auditionees backstage waiting their turn, while there were live acts aplenty and, amusingly, tense music and anxious faces as the TV host, played with gusto by Writer and Director, Martin Mansfield, announced who was making it through to the next round. These scenes brought back many a fun memory for this old-school X-Factor fan!
Some brilliant ‘Rising Starz’ contestant acts were provided by a range of highly talented cast members, notably Julian Smith as the show runner-up, Martin Boucher as the ageing rocker and Francesca Mansfield as Cherry Cola, the diva judge (a parody of Cheryl Cole, perhaps?). While these were highly enjoyed by the audience, the sheer quantity of them perhaps took time away from the plot, leaving the show feeling like more of a “review” at times. But, again, the audience loved them, so perhaps I’m in the minority with that thinking.
Staging was simple yet effective, with revolving flats depicting Emma and Nicole’s kitchens and the TV studios respectively. The show was a bit let down by the sound, which will hopefully sort it itself out during the remaining performances, as radio mikes were often too slow to come in or too loud. The Forest Arts Centre is by no means a large performing venue, and one wonders whether, if the backing tracks were a bit quieter, the cast would even need them? Lighting was unobtrusive and well plotted, while scene changes were mostly slick and didn’t drag the pace.
Martin Mansfield, who wrote much of the libretto and Directed the piece should be very happy with the end product of this, his second homegrown musical, while Rachel Boucher and Claire Smith as Musical Directors and Kiera Jade Rockford as Choreographer all did a great job whipping the cast into tip-top musical shape. The cast and crew have done a splendid job bringing this new show from page to the stage and, with two performances remaining (this afternoon at 2.30pm and this evening at 7.30pm), it’s well worth a trip to New Milton to “catch” it.
