The West End, you say? Where is that? Well, that should be easy: we all know that the West End is the portion of Boston that was “urban-renewed” (i.e. demolished) in 1958. But surely it didn’t have a significant Welsh population, so what is the meaning of the title of this post, I hear you ask?

If you’re a theater person or a world traveler, you’ve probably realized by now that the West End in question is not in Boston at all but in London! Basically it’s London’s analog to New York’s Broadway.

Now that we’ve settled that, where does Wales fit in? It’s simply that all 12 members of this duodecet [yes, there really is such a word] are Welsh, as you can tell from their names: Steffan Hughes, Samantha Thomas, Sophie Evans, Samuel Wyn-Morris, Aaron Pryce-Lewis, Glain Rhys, Siwan Henderson, Rhidian Marc, and four others whose names I didn’t catch. As Welsh of the West End, they sing in various configurations — not necessarily as a duodecet, and not necessarily with these particular members:

This montage comes from Welsh of the West End’s beautiful performance of “One Day More” from Les Miserables. As the twelve are singing as a group, you’re probably wondering why the photos are all of individuals — shouldn’t there be a single group shot? I’ll give you a hint. The performance took place in February of 2021.

Ah yes! It was the height of the pandemic, so they couldn’t get together physically. They recorded over Zoom.

And that makes the performance all the more amazing. Coordinating even two people over Zoom is tough enough; coordinating 12 seems nigh impossible, but these twelve accomplished it with flying colors. My hat is off to them. (Or it would be, if I wore a hat.)

Anyway, most but not all of Welsh of the West End’s performances are of songs from musicals. If that’s your cup of tea, give them a listen. In any case, listen to “One Day More” here.

Categories: Life