Now in its ninth year, Pride’s Got Talent is Britain’s only fully-inclusive LGBT+ talent show, showcasing the community’s best and brightest performers.  The competition is split into two categories – musical acts and cabaret – with the winners not only taking home £1000 prize money but also securing the enviable slot of performing live on Pride in London’s main stage in Trafalgar Square to thousands of people.

This year, the competition’s final was held at The Adelphi Theatre in London’s West End and was hosted by London Cabaret icon Michael Twaits. It’s an event which our Strategic Development Manager Adam Hornblow has supported for several years now and was delighted to be doing so again this year. He comments: “Each year, ‘Pride’s Got Talent’ moves to a different West End Theatre and so, for every show, we dream up a new technical solution to make it work in the new space we’re in. Before the event, we work closely with Michael Twaits and Ben Cook of PGT to come up with ideas and concepts that will achieve the best performance with only a day to get it all in, rehearsed, performed and back out again. Having worked on the show for a number of years now, we understand how it all works and what sort of planning is required well in advance.

He continues: “Site visits and collaboration with the PGT and venue teams enable us to achieve the best show possible and make sure it runs smoothly. That said, we also have to remain adaptable as, depending on which acts end up in the final, we often need to make some last-minute adjustments. On the day itself, we set up in the morning, do a full run-through rehearsal in the afternoon and then it’s straight on with the show in the evening before a rapid pack-down and exit to leave the theatre ready to continue with their normal show the next day. It’s a very long day but extremely rewarding”. 

This year’s final was held at the iconic Adelphi Theatre – which is currently home to the smash-hit musical Back to the Future. As such, Adam and the team wanted to use what was already in-situ for PGT. He explains: “As part of the Back to the Future set, there is a big, high resolution video wall covering the whole of the back stage – something we obviously wanted to use to our advantage. So we brought in robot cameras along with switching and playback equipment to make the most of this great feature. We also added our own on-stage audio monitoring, radio mics and additional performance lighting to complement the venue’s existing tech”. 

The Pride’s Got Talent final this year was another roaring success. The eventual winners were Andrea Di Giovanni (Singing) and Jordan Charles (Cabaret) who went on to perform on the main Pride in London stage on Saturday 1^st July. As well as showing their support behind-the-scenes, many of the d&b solutions staff were in the crowd, cheering on the acts. Adam comments: “It’s a real privilege to be involved with this event and it’s been exceptionally rewarding to see it grow into something which is now achieving well-populated West-End theatres. What has always amazed me is the exceptionally high standard of the acts in the final – they’re absolutely astonishing and I think this year was one of the best yet. Seeing genuinely talented people achieve the recognition and support they clearly deserve is such a great thing to play a part in”.

Michael Twaits comments: “We are once again so grateful for the support from Adam and the wider team in making Pride’s Got Talent a truly spectacular evening. We’re incredibly proud of what this event achieves – not just in terms of the opportunities for the performers but also providing a safe space for those acts within the community who are often overlooked. This year’s final was bigger than ever and we look forward to seeing the event continue to grow as well as continue working with those who’ve enabled this to happen”.

Photos courtesy of John Banyard and Kathleen Holman.

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