Littlehampton Players back on the boards with Kander & Ebb revue

They will bring the Kander & Ebb revue – which features songs from shows including Cabaret, New York, New York and Chicago among others – to the stage at The Windmill Theatre, Littlehampton on October 21 and 22.

Spokesman David Upcraft said: “We did a show in the spring and that went really, really well.

"There were some fresh faces which is always very exciting, to be bringing new people in and welcoming everyone back and starting again, just coming out with something fresh. And now this is our second production after the pandemic.

“It is pretty much a compilation show of Kander & Ebb music from lots of their bigger shows and also some of the lesser-known ones. It is an existing production with a full licence and has been produced a bunch of times in the past with people like Susan Stroman.

“The title comes from a quite well-known song for Liza Minnelli which was pretty much written for her and put into other shows so really it is like a performed revue with a lovely mixture of songs.

“Doing the show was something that we had toyed with for quite a while and from a consideration of what was the best show to be putting on post pandemic, it was about trying to encourage people back into the theatre.

"This just felt like a good opportunity to showcase Kander & Ebb’s music. It is amazing music and a lot of people will know the songs without knowing necessarily that it is Kander & Ebb.”

The music can be quite challenging to perform: “There are some fresh arrangements as well, certainly for the song Cabaret, a big number that everyone knows very well but it has been rewritten in very jazzy way with some complex harmonies.

"But everyone is really getting stuck into them. It is just a fantastic opportunity to do this.

“We have 15 voices in the cast and one of the members of the cast has brought her husband in to dance at one point. So it's a 15-strong company and the lovely thing is that there are no big leading roles.

"There are lots of solos and duets that really showcase the company working together and not just one person taking the whole thing. It's a really nice way to spread out and play to the strengths of the entire company.”

Inevitably the pandemic years were tough: “Every local theatre company found it particularly difficult to stay together and retain membership but we have actually found some really big positives in the end. We have been able to get some new members and I think everybody has come back with renewed energy and enthusiasm to make something of it.

"And we've got an amazing theatre to perform in which has had its challenges at times but we're so lucky to be there really. We are in good heart and we are growing which is great.”