Being a singer and producer myself it's quite easy for me to judge who was singing in this show and who wasn't, let me give you the run through.
Rikki Loney ...Yes
Trevor Francis..Yes
Kimberley..Yes
Emma Beard..No
Aaron..Yes and played Guitar live too.
And s Lee..Yes
Kavanagh..Yes
Stacey.. Sometimes
Chentelle?...Yes
Shaun..Yes
All in all you can tell due to the cahange in sound ie: certain elements of songs had a processed sound whereas the Live aspects didn't, I'd say a good 90% of the show is live though and lets face it not even the big names sing live whilst doing compex dance routines!! All in all i enjoyed it, it was better than i expected and a great show for the kids. If you're complaining about the money then fine-go and buy a ticket to see Britney Spears mime all night but it'll cost you 3 times as much! - Sean
03 Mar 11
i went to gmania on tues night, not expecting much, nbut found myself blown away. "Kavana" the popstar of the 1990'[s excelled himself, his voice was one of the only live ones (i dont think emma beard or stacy mcclean sang live at all)and was stronger than most. his version of poker face was flawless and he even seemed to get into the dancing! Kavana and shaun smith seemed to have real banter with the crowd instead of a fake, non sensical story line, and there were some true comedy moments. Trevor Francis also excelled and Kimberly Southwick showed the girls how to do it. If you take gmania for what it is, fun and great songs, you will love every minute. - Sarah
17 Feb 11
I can't believe the other reviewers went to the same show - we were a party of 12 people and paid full price and were so impressed with the show we went back the next night - we will be going as often as we can, the show is BRILLIANT!!! The singing is outstanding and far exceeded our expectations, there was some really major talent in the show, particularly Trevor Francis, Rikki Loney, Kimberley Southwick and Stacey MCClean is the full popstar package! The songs were stunningly arranged and the quality of the sound production outstanding. Everyone in the audience had a great time and there were plenty of standing O's! I think maybe the previous reviews may have their own because everyone is raving about this show - we didn't even notice the set or other side issues because we were enjoying the show itself so much. I can't recommend G*Mania enough, great singers, great songs, great choreography, a lovely idea to involve a local stage school choir, that is totally the spirit of Glee! The only complaint it, I wish it had gone on all night! - G*Mania Fan
17 Feb 11
I also attended the G*Mania show at the Palace in Manchester.
Trevor Francis from the Last Choir Standing and Rikki Loney of X Factor a couple of years ago were by far the best singers. Our seats in the Grand Tier were up in the rafters but still close enough to see that at least some of the performances (especially the high octane dance numbers with the girls) were being mimed over a backing track. This may be something you could expect from Britney Spears in an arena with a complex dance routine, but for a show with fading stars in a theatre was simply unacceptable. You go to the theatre to see live performances. Simple as that.
When the curtain goes up, you are immediately hit by the lack of set. I wasn't expecting West End, but was expecting something, anything.
A lot of the people around us enjoyed the show for some of the comedy errors (dance routines going wrong and lights coming up when they shouldn't) apart from the performances themselves. Of particular hilarity were the scripted moments where the stars do some dialogue that leads up to the next song. Both times it made very little sense, the scripting was poor and the performances were cringeworthy.
The second half started with a section where the singers offer to give something back to the local community and a kids choir perform on stage. As good as they were (and some put the reality stars to shame) you do not pay more than 20 pounds to see a school production. It also made me wonder how many of the crowd were there just to see their children on stage.
I'm glad I only paid a discounted 10 pounds plus booking fee for the ticket. I was considering leaving at the interval to watch the Brits and if I had paid full price I would definitely have asked for a refund.
Save your money and go and see Glee in June, or get a take away and watch the current series on the TV.
High Point - any time Trevor Francis was on stage (and to some extent Rikki Loney). I'd have been happier if they sang for the whole show.
Low Point(s) - Kavanagh's performance of Poker Face was hideous, but the unashamed miming (especially the blond girl) was simply unacceptable for a live show. I spent much of the second half trying to work out if they were miming or not!
- Duncan Brown
