I think by now, most people know just how much Strictly Come Dancing – as well as the friendships that I’ve made through that show – mean to me. But even more than that, I’ve been able to find inspiration in the forms of the professional dancers on the show, as well as discovering new interests because of these friendships. Since I began watching the show (that’s an entirely different story in this blog post), I’ve always had my few favourites and I consider myself lucky that the professional dancers who I love on the show are ones who also do their own tours as well.
This time around, as I’d already promised myself that I was going to attend Anton & Erin’s tour the minute I walked out of seeing their tour last year. (I wrote a blog post on that one too.) Anyone who knows me knows that I love musicals and will jokingly – okay, not always jokingly – fight with someone over their favourite musicals, as well as their opinions on them. By the time Anton & Erin’s 2019 tour – Dance Those Magical Musicals – commenced, I had already bought three tickets – both of their shows at London’s Barbican Hall as well as their show at the Brighton Dome. A part of me found even more excitement at the notion that, after attending their 2018 dates alone, I had managed to invite one of my friends to Anton & Erin’s first Barbican date, as well as the fact I’d be meeting another friend there as well. It should also be mentioned here that I’ve struggled severely with my mental health over the past year and these two friends have been constant support systems throughout it all, so the fact that I was going to see the tour with them meant even more to me.
Instead of summarising all three shows, I’ll simply talk about some of my favourite bits from the tour as a whole, since I could go on four hours. As I loved the year before, I loved that importance of the guest singers – Lance Ellington and Laura Emmitt – as well as the backing dancers – Kelly Chow, Bethany Dows, Luke Field-Wright, Adam Lyons, Joshua Moore & Ellie O’Gorman. All of these people, as well as the London Concert Orchestra are stars of the show in their own right – as Dance Those Magical Musicals doesn’t just feature Anton and Erin’s talents – but instead the talents of everyone on stage.
Throughout the entire show, I found myself even more struck with how much I was moved by each of the musical numbers – whether choreographed, vocal or instrumental, or a mix of all of the above. While neither favourite musicals aren’t currently on either Broadway or West End (Once on this Island and Seussical – in case you’re wondering), the show consisted of numerous songs that I have loved over the years. Like most people familiar with musicals, my favourite songs going into the show were all ones that I was familiar with beforehand – most notably “As Long As He Needs Me” from Oliver! – as my mother played Nancy in her high school’s production of the musical years ago. For each song that I knew, I found myself mouthing along the words, and it brought back so many memories of having grown up on these songs.
I could go on for ages about what each number meant to me – as I can think of at least ten right now, but I’ll leave it as the fact that I’ve had the songs that mean the most to me playing on repeat in the back of my mind ever since their Brighton show. (And in a little list below.) I feel so grateful that I could see this incredibly talented bunch of people preform, and I sincerely wish the best for the last few weeks of their tour. And, of course, I can’t wait to see what they come up with next year.
★ ★
Top Favourite Numbers from Anton and Erin’s show:
✩Lullaby of Broadway
✩Edelweiss
✩One Fine Day
✩Jersey Boys Medley
✩As Long As He Needs Me
✩Me and My Girl / If The Rain’s Got to Fall
✩Don’t Rain On My Parade
✩The Lady is a Tramp
✩The Impossible Dream
✩I Dreamed a Dream
✩Hairspray Medley
(See what I mean about too many favourites?!)
the dreaming road 