Curtain lifted on dazzling summer show at Shanklin Theatre

Luckily for us here on the Isle of Wight, the team at Spotlight, based at Shanklin Theatre, defiantly refused to consider any such proposal.

In December they ploughed ahead with their Christmas pantomime, which was devastatingly cut short due to a further lockdown, and remained determined despite suffering a huge financial loss.

Buffered somewhat since, with a government grant from the Culture Recovery Fund, they ensured the Show Must Go On.

And so, on Thursday night, they lifted the curtain on their annual weekly summer show.

A staple for coach tour visitors, it also provides Islanders a chance to enjoy an evening out and plough some money back into the wonderful theatre and its resident company.

Audiences are socially distanced until the Government says otherwise, hopefully from July 19.

Beyond the West End was pure joy — full of glitz, big showbiz numbers, ever-changing costumes, and plenty of humour mixed in.

It was fun — something the world has been decidedly lacking in recently.

It was wonderful to be back in an auditorium seat, laughing at Dominic Pope's clowning around, dazzled by Rowan Lathey's ever-present beaming smile, and wowed by the performances by the entire cast.

Rowan Lathey.

There was something for everyone — showstoppers such as The Way We Were and It's All Coming Back To Me Now, tributes to Jersey Boys, Mary Poppins and Sir Tom Jones, and funny sketches.

The pandemic curiosities were cleverly weaved in. Dean Martin's words "thinkin' 'bout the things we used to do" had us remembering pre-pandemic times, while If I Were Not Upon the Stage had the cast thinking about what they would do if they HAD retrained.

It's just as well they didn't go down that route...

Catch the show every Thursday night until November 4.