BELTED! at The Other Palace Review
Written by Cathie for Theatre & Tonic
Disclaimer: Gifted tickets in exchange for an honest review. All views are our own
At The Other Palace Studio, a brand new celebration of talent and musical theatre has arrived. Presented by the Audition Booth, the theme of the night was BELTED! This was a delightful and brilliant evening of 22 singers celebrating their love of musical theatre, the magic of belting songs and hopes of a career in the theatre world. Founder and Creative Director Taya Morgan was a fantastic host for the night. Her style was beautifully enthusiastic and engaging as a host, which kept the audience focused and captivated throughout. With 22 performers throughout the night, equally divided into two acts, the songs and styles were original and polished.
Firstly were powerfully tragic ballads, including Emma Stockton singing “Dying Ain’t So Bad” from Bonnie & Clyde The Musical, Tizane McEvoy singing “I Miss The Mountains” from Next to Normal, Aidan Waller singing “Come Back” from Dogfight, Amber Elliot singing “Nothing Stops Another Day” from Ghost, Maria Jaszwska singing “A Part of That” from The Last Five Years, Harry Hudson singing “Run Away With Me” from The Mad Ones, Alexandra Vickers singing “A New Life” from Jekyll & Hyde, Becca Matthews singing “Say The Word” from The Mad Ones and Sammy Griffiths singing “Heart of Stone” from SIX The Musical.
We also experienced more cheerful comedic songs, Lois Gilder singing “Obviously” from The Great British Bake Off Musical, Madi White singing “Off With Their Heads” from Wonderland, Megan Colouhoun singing “A New Best Friend” from The Secret Diary of Adrian Mole and Joey O’Donnell singing “Me & Mr Popularity” from In Pieces. Childhood glories and imagination were fondly explored by Tia Jae singing “Lost in the Brass” from Band Geeks, and Joe Bell singing “There’s Always Tomorrow” from Peter Pan.
The final genre of songs for the evning where a selection of self empowerment-types, including Ellie Cram singing “To My Angels” from SuperYou, Heather Kirk singing “Gorgeous” from The Apple Tree. Billy Marsden singing “Who I’d Be” from Shrek The Musical, Emily Jones singing “Show Off” from The Drowsy Chaperone, Chiara Felletti singing “Don’t Rain On My Parade” from Funny Girl, Nicole Eastwood singing “I'm Not Afraid of Anything” from Songs From A New World, and Philip McParland singing “You’ll Be Back” from Hamilton.
This was a fantastic show and paced well at two hours running time. Each act was equally spaced and beautifully balanced the performers’ songs in a variety of styles, genres, and subjects. Every singer was wonderful and truly showcased their best efforts on stage. Although each act was impressive, particular standouts included Maid Waite, Emily Jones, Lois Gilder and Philip McParland in stunning stage charisma and singing. This was the first type of show which focuses purely on showcasing debut talent in the West End, and its joyful atmosphere of celebration and genuine camaraderie was electric to participate in. I hope future events can showcase not only the singers as individuals but also have an ensemble song to open and close the show to demonstrate the debut singer’s talents in tandem with each other. I also hope to see more themed nights which explore the highlights of musical theatre which we all love so well.
Overall, this was an excellent night out and a wonderful experience with new songs and powerful performances. I am throughly looking forward to the next night hosted by the Audition Booth and can’t wait to see the next performers and see the amazing new work this nights performers will do next!
BOLTED was performed at The Other Palace Studio in May 2026.
