Who could ask for anything more at the third Cardiff International Festival of Musical Theatre? That’s the question 300 local schoolchildren put to their audiences on Sunday during the festival’s opening gala of that name, when they performed excerpts from five different musicals with the introduction of three UK performers, Graham Bickley, Shân Cothi and Ria Jones.
Perhaps the title of the gala reflects the confidence of the festival’s chief executive, Joanne Benjamin, and her team. And there are good reasons to be positive: the opening of the Wales Millennium Centre in 2004 now allows for performances by the biggest touring musical productions, and Welsh singers have been making their mark on the musical stage since the mid-19th century.
