Studio 58
42nd Street

Dates and Venue February 4- 26, 2017, Tues –Sat, 8pm, Sat & Sun matinees 3pm (except February 4). No Monday shows| Studio 58, Langara College, 100 West 49th Avenue, Vancouver

Director Barbara Tomasic Musical Director Christopher King Costume Design Carmen Alatorre Lighting Design Alan Brodie Choreographer Julie Tomaino Set Design Pam Johnson

Reviewer Darren Cordeiro


Studio 58 presents the Tony award-winning Broadway musical 42nd Street, performed by Langara College students, and it is a show you definitely don’t want to miss!

Set in the early 1930s, Peggy Sawyer heads from her small town to the Big City to audition for an upcoming Broadway show. While arriving late to the performance, a fellow performer’s eye is caught by her beauty and winds up getting her a second chance to audition. Amidst numerous twists and turns as the production gears towards opening night filled with colourful characters, Peggy is about to find out if her childhood dream of becoming a star will come true and if this small town girl has what it takes to make it to the top!

The choreography is well done with the talent of these performers shining by keeping up with the fast-paced tap routines in sync. I told myself that they all must have had dance training in their past and if they didn’t, it just made me that much more impressed. I could see the audience tapping their toes on the ground to the beat of the performance throughout many of the numbers.

To accompany the dance routines, a live in-house mini-orchestra was present and being a piano player myself, I know how much practice goes into fast numbers such as these with all the accompaniments. This to say, the orchestra was on point throughout.
As the studio is small, the performers didn’t appear to use microphones for acoustic reasons. This didn’t hinder the performance as there was a nice balance of their melody with the orchestra so that you could hear everything that was being sung. In addition, they were in tune throughout the numerous chorus ensembles.

The set and costume design complemented each other nicely creating a true feel of the 1930s. They used the limited real estate effectively to change the set and costumes quickly without interrupting the flow of the story. I specifically enjoyed the use of the white backdrop which the performers used to create silhouettes and the sound director used to project backdrops to recreate the feel of that era.

It is always a good feeling to support young actors by attending their performance, and you will see that the calibre of their talent doesn’t make you feel like you witnessed an amateur production. There’s a good possibility that you will be tapping your feet all the way home!

© 2017 Darren Cordeiro
Photography by David Cooper