NARNIA – THE MUSICAL

NARNIA – THE MUSICAL

at Brentwood Theatre

12.12.17

The much-loved C S Lewis classic is not easy to bring off on stage.

This American version from the 80s, book by Jules Tasca, music by Thomas Tierney with lyrics by Ted Drachman, is a full-blown musical with some pleasant tunes for all – captures the excitement of the Pevensies’ adventure, and even manages a brief Blitz frame.

There’s magic, too, in Ray Howes' warm-hearted production, with the White Stag [Emma White, also a spirited Mrs Beaver] dancing with fairy dust for the Overture. The land of Narnia is suggested by an impressive Gothic-inspired set, though the wardrobe seems somewhat understated.

A company of eight young actors bring the characters to life with infectious enthusiasm. Connor Kelly is an excellent Edmund, completely convincing as the boy who’s seduced by the White Queen’s promise of Turkish Delight. His sisters are Elize Layton’s Lucy and Katie Lawrence’s Susan – their singing in Field of Flowers is a musical highlight. Tom Brooks doubles delightfully as the brave Peter and the bearded dwarf who drags the White Queen’s chariot around. She’s played, with a touch of the Demon King, by Lydia Shaw, beautifully attired and made up. Aslan, the Lion who heads the forces of Good, is Philip McParland, who’s also the wise professor. His characterization is not helped by his head-dress, which sits awkwardly atop his mane and his own face. Noblest in profile, it must be a disappointment for a generation raised on Cats and The Lion King. Guido Garcia Lueches is a wonderful Mr Tumnus as well as Mr Beaver.

There are plenty of musical numbers – Andy Prideaux the MD - some more appropriate than others. No problem with a jolly knees-up for the Beavers, but it seems inappropriate to trivialise torture and martyrdom with “Murder Today”.

The opening number - “Doors and Windows” - sets out some fine sentiments about what the Prof calls “the architecture of possibilities”. Not easy language, or ideas, for the audience from Margaretting Church of England Primary School. But they seemed rapt by the story, unfamiliar to many of them I’m sure, of Good driving out Evil, the children lost now found, Springtime melting Narnia’s perpetual winter and the world made right again ...

"Aslan Returns" artwork by Jonathan Barry

LES MISÉRABLES

LES MISÉRABLES

BOSSY at Brentwood Theatre

21.11.17

A huge challenge to fit Victor Hugo’s epic onto the tiny Brentwood stage. BOSSY, who have been here before, wisely choose to emphasise the human stories rather than the wider picture.

The barricades [anyone for tennis?] are effective, with smoke and flashing lights from the battle beyond. Good work from the student militants here, and in the stillness of Drink With Me, the ante-bellum atmosphere poignantly suggested. Huge commitment from the ensemble for At the End of the Day, and the wedding ball looked good too – lovely gowns and convincing choreography. The ending makes a real impact: the simple tableau of Valjean’s death, with the newly-weds seated in front, before the company join in one last anthem, the youngest revolutionary up aloft, desperately waving the red flag of freedom.

Props and costumes vary in their impact – the map of Paris was excellent, the red tablecloth under it somewhat too small. The gates to Valjean’s garden on the rue Plumet, as so often, prove problematical, but once they are in place, there are some fine stage pictures for the operatic quartet and trio.

An excellent cast this time out, with some fine voices, despite the relative youth of these performers. Sam Harper makes a compelling Valjean, wonderfully sung with real emotional impact – Bring Him Home predictably moving. Joe Folley is Javert; a portrait of a man obsessed, with every word carefully shaped. He even convinces us that he is staring into the abyss before his final descent into the Seine.

Katherine Dodds plays Cosette, working well with her imposing Marius [Dan Pugh]. I might have liked a less introspective Empty Chairs – the phantom faces behind, strikingly lit, should not capture all our attention. Jodie Tarrant is the tragic Fantine, giving us a well-phrased I Dreamed a Dream, though it was a shame her eyes were obscured by her hat and the lighting. A superb Eponine from Tia Stack – one of the best On My Own I’ve seen, simply staged but with 100% emotional investment. As student leader Enjolras Jamie Wilson is in fine voice, and gives a captivating depiction of youthful idealism.

Enjoyable comic relief from the Thenardiers [Rosie Griffiths as the nasty Madame, Lady Macbeth to Michael Percival’s coarse, well-sung Monsieur]. Two nice little dance numbers for them, before each is dumped to the floor.

And Sam Johnson makes a great Gavroche – more Artful Dodger than innocent Oliver – a cocky young urchin engaging with his audience and making the most of his dramatic role in the uprising, even in his violent death, left largely to the imagination.

Not the ideal venue for the musical theatre MD, but Cathy Edkins provides solid support for her young singers, mostly on keyboards, though oboe and trombone are also prominent. Les Misérables is directed by Gaynor Wilson, bringing the familiar story to life, and encouraging some fine performances from soloists and ensemble.

LADIES IN LAVENDER

LADIES IN LAVENDER

Hutton Players at Brentwood Theatre

15.11.17

A charming period piece, with two juicy roles for the more mature actress, two stock characters, and two cyphers for the younger generation.

Hutton Players – directed here by Patrick Stevens – field a fine sextet. The Widdington sisters, set all a-flutter by one Andrea Marowski, the Angel, the Greek God, the Polish violinist washed up on their Cornish shore, are Kathy Smith and Lindsey Crutchett, the latter especially moving as long suppressed desires are rekindled, and sibling rivalry upsets their tranquil lives. The scene in which she finishes reading The Little Mermaid as Andrea sleeps on the floor is beautifully judged.

Ruddy cheeked, outspoken Dorcas, who enjoys making a fuss and baking, is given a lovely comic performance by June Fitzgerald, while the local doctor, widower and amateur fiddler, is confidently played by William Wells.

The “artistic visitor”, sketching the shoreline and helping Andrea launch his performing career, is Louise Bridgman – her subplot scene with Dr Mead excellently played - and the enigmatic shipwrecked Pole himself is Lewis Symes.

The set is a delight – Aunt Elizabeth’s counterpane, the azure seascape simply suggested, the pre-war wireless, inhabited by Vernon Keeble-Watson’s BBC announcer, doubtless dinner-jacketed. Only the garden gate jars – better left to the imagination, perhaps.

There is, of course, much music, including a little of Nigel Hess’s splendid score for the film. It might have been better to record the first extract especially [without piano], but the frozen, spotlit solos for Andrea are very effective. Even for the unlikely Toccata of his London début, the sisters listening in at home, dressed in their Sunday best.

DIRTY ROTTEN SCOUNDRELS

DIRTY ROTTEN SCOUNDRELS

Brentwood Operatic Society at Brentwood Theatre

21.10.17

It’s a fine old story, but this musical version, by Jeffrey Lane and David Yazbek – an uneasy mix of period charm and crude, edgy humour – needs a very slick and glitzy production to make it work. And Louise Byrne successfully provides it, within the limitations of the Brentwood stage, making for a very entertaining evening.

The setting is simple and versatile, with a raised balcony under which Max Harris’s excellent little band sits, very much a part of the action.

An accomplished company, ensemble and principals alike, and some fine singing, too, making the best of some fairly forgettable numbers.

The show opens with a quartet of French maids – the action is set on the Riviera – and the chorus have a deal of fun as hotel guests, gamblers, Oklahomans and tourists.

The scoundrels of the title are Lawrence, a suave, laid-back swindler, played with a fine sense of style by Martin Harris, though it was perhaps hard to imagine him as a Man of Destiny or the stuff of female dreams. He shone in his disguise as the “Vienna sausage” - the memorable moment where he simply stands, feather poised, was a measure of his dramatic talent. The contrasting other half of this odd couple, the “gorilla en croute” Freddy, was a very physical, very funny Allister Smith. They meet their match in Kate Henderson’s Christine – the Soap Queen – a warm, sunny persona till she shows her true con-woman colours as the Jackal.

Nice work from Lisa Harris as Muriel – her What Was A Woman To Do was a musical high – and Ian Southgate as André, joining her in a lovely old-fashioned song-and-dance duet.

production photograph: Claire Collinson

THE BRENTS

THE BRENTS

at Brentwood Theatre

07.09.2017

A record nineteen awards at this year's Brents – the glittering evening celebrating community theatre, and rewarding the best of the shows staged here over the past year.

It's a slick operation, with thesps and luvvies, dressed to kill, packing the tables. Live music, a la Academy Awards, provided by Tonality, directed by Andy Prideaux. And, new this year, we were treated to a brilliant musical curtain-raiser from some familiar Brentwood talent, including the new Theatre Manager, Jon Hare.

It was good to see outgoing manager Mark Reed and technical supremo David Zelly rewarded with Brents of their own: the Mary Redman Award for 2017.

Peter Taylor, another backstage hero, was recognised in the Jo Stoneham Award.

Other individuals in the spotlight included Lloyd Bonson, for his Pooh-Bah in Shenfield Operatic's Hot Mikado, Kerry Cooke for her Katisha in the same show.

Darren Matthews won Best Actor for his Joe Pirelli in the latest RoxyKrasner for The College Players [the Best Play this year], and Juliet Thomas was crowned Best Actress in a Musical for her Rita in the excellent Made in Dagenham from Brentwood Operatic, which also won Best Musical.

A strong showing from the younger generation; two very young performers – Summer Hicks and James Nash, won Brents for their roles in The Music Man, from Billericay Operatic. And the Margaret Hutton Youth Group Award went to BOSSY's Hairspray.

full list of nominees and winners here

thanks to Claire Collinson Photography

HOT MIKADO

HOT MIKADO

Shenfield Operatic Society at Brentwood Theatre

07.06.17

The simplest of sets: a staircase, with rope lights, lanterns, banners for the Rising Sun and Yum-Yum's moon, and Ian Southgate's splendid swing band just visible behind.

This jazzed-up G&S is set in the 1940s, and the six dudes in shades – Gentlemen of Japan – could have walked straight in from Guys and Dolls. This keen sense of style is maintained throughout Louise Byrne's hugely enjoyable production.

Maximum space for the nifty choreography – no passengers, no prisoners in this show – and we're treated to Lindy Hop, Jitterbug and a fabulous tap routine in Act Two.

A talented cast handle the tricky hybrid with élan. Jack Lloyd is the young second trumpet Nanki-Poo, Liberty Watts his Yum-Yum – shades of Judy Garland, in her artless Japanese way, for her big solo. The comedy roles include Allister Smith's energetic KoKo, his Little List firmly 40s-based, with Revivalists, FDR and Garbo in the frame, sporting a top-knot for Tit Willow. Iain Johnson is a suave Mikado; Jamie Fudge an engaging Pish-Tush. Lloyd Bonson makes an imposing Pooh-Bah, bringing all of his many offices to life. Superb vocals from the other Little Maids – Kate Smith and Rachel Watson, polka dots and parasols for their introductory Andrews Sisters trio. And, stealing the scene with her vampish torch songs, Kerry Cooke's wonderful scarlet Katisha. They all work together with practised ease; the trios for Howdy Do and I Am So Proud very neatly done.

The music comes off best in this adaptation. The lyrics could usefully have been updated with more imagination, though many of Gilbert's original jokes still score their laughs.

A stylish, polished production, with the impressive chorus given lots to do, and choreographed smoothly on and off the awkward Brentwood stage.

image: Claire Collinson photography

OH, CAROL!

OH, CAROL!

Ad Hoc Players at Brentwood Theatre

18.05.17

Ad Hoc Players chalk up twenty years in 2017, and this quirky comedy, written for them by Eddie Coleman, was one of the first they brought to Brentwood Theatre.

So this revival is a celebration, with veterans joining the playwright in a warmly receptive audience for the opening night.

The play centres on Martin [Liam Mannix], whose love for his new-found girlfriend, “Miss Gorgeous Adorable” Carol, baffles his friends and family. “A man, a midget or a transsexual” they could have accepted, but this ??? Their reactions, and ours, vary uneasily from mockery – sexist banter and tasteless joshing – to sympathy. Most successful in the former is Andrew Spong with assured comic timing as work-mate Jason, and in the latter Candy Lillywhite-Taylor as sister Alison, who vows to follow her brother to the edge, and in the final scene, as the story comes full circle, prepares to introduce her own controversial lover to family and friends …

Hilary Martin is the formidable mother who dares to say that the emperor is naked, and there's a nice cameo from Paul Ganney as the shrink who sees Martin's predilection as his ticket to psychiatric fame and fortune.

Ayckbourn it's not, or Orton, though the play has moments of both. Wendi Sheard directs, as she did in 2000; the set is impressive, with a fitted kitchen, two lounges and a dinner table set for six. There are some neat comedy moments – the rugby tackle, Martin Wilderspin's Dave appearing from behind the sofa. The characters step into the spotlight to share their thoughts – Ganney has some of the best of these monologues, including one with Martin's hands tightening around his throat. There's a tender heart-to-heart in the deserted street, leading us to hope that Alison and Jason might find happiness together. And so they do, but not quite as we might have expected.

MADE IN DAGENHAM

MADE IN DAGENHAM

Brentwood Operatic Society at Brentwood Theatre

09.05.17

The 2014 musical-of-the-movie has naturally been very popular locally, and now this Cortina Estate of a show has been shoe-horned into the Mini Clubman Brentwood Theatre for a sell-out run.

The large cast fills the uncluttered stage to excellent effect – the opening sequence, with its crescendo of radio news and the whole company walking across, is typical of the inventive approach taken by director Sarah Barton. Scene changes are [almost always] smoothed by musical bridges and muted blues. The upper level is sparingly but tellingly used.

No passengers on this production line – every performer gives total commitment to the inspiring true-ish story of the struggle for equal pay.

Juliet Thomas gives a movingly sincere portrait of the housewife thrust into the political limelight; she combines a strong stage presence with convincing insecurity and inner turmoil. Martin Harris is her Eddie, torn between his love for Rita and his loyalty to the lads on the shop floor. “I'm sorry I love you” is especially effective.

A host of colourful characters. Lisa Harris gives a subtle, and very moving, Connie, wedded to the Labour Party, whose spirit reaches out to inspire Rita at the TUC. The tongue-tied Clare is sympathetically sketched by Sian Prideaux; the potty-mouthed Beryl by Mandi Threadgold-Smith. Kerry Cooke gives a wonderfully committed Cass, and Clare Markey makes the most of the warmly drawn Barbara Castle.

Her Prime Minister – nicely done by Jon Keeler – is merely a figure of fun, and, perhaps not surprisingly, the men do come off rather worse in Richard Bean's witty book, from Graham Greenaway's sadistic schoolmaster to Bob Southgate's Trumpesque Tooley.

Jamie Fudge and Allister Smith, especially, relish multiple roles, including, respectively, the offensive club comic and the camp Hubble from Personnel.

And not forgetting the O'Grady kids, Sam Johnson and Sophie Cooke, both giving fine, full-on performances, and both playing the whole run !

Ensemble work is powerful and highly polished; not only the Stand Up finale, but Wossname, with Clare and the chorus, and the Everybody Out number that ends Act One, with the lads roped in and dragged up for Scouse solidarity. The vocal attack, in Storm Clouds, for instance, is exemplary – Andy Prideaux the MD, leading the band somewhere in the back office. Difficult to achieve a perfect balance in these circumstances, and on an otherwise faultless first night, some of the lyrics, and the dialogue, were hard to hear.

It's a powerful piece, perhaps even more relevant today than when I first saw it … incompetent PM, randy, misogynist Yank on the loose … given a memorable outing by these Essex boys and girls.

production photograph by Claire Collinson

ROXY KRASNER

ROXY KRASNER

and the Case of the Pink Belle

The College Players at Brentwood Theatre

05.05.17

Holy potato skins ! It's the fourth in the Roxy Krasner franchise, bringing its unique brand of surreal silliness to Brentwood Theatre.

It's well over three years since their last outing, but all the familiar elements are in place: the trademark half-moon window, with excellent projections, including an introductory montage to set the scene.

The characters, too – Darren Matthews' fast-talking “Smokey” Joe Pirelli, and his faithful Girl Friday Roxy [Lindsay Hollingsworth]. They almost get to tie the knot this time, thwarted at the last moment by Victor the scammer vicar, played by William Wells, who also gets to hone his German accent as the character with the cleverest moniker – Herr Helmut Mullerlicht.

The Salmon Sisters are back, too – inimitably played by June Fitzgerald and Elaine Laight. This time we find them bravely piloting a bomber and gamely posing as strippers. The crude, lewd Limelight Larry [Paul Sparrowham on fearless form] and the equally dim English Gwen [Hannah James] are central to the plot, and cosmopolitan colour is added by Claire Hilder, Romy Brooks and Elliott Porte.

Bob O'Brien is the NYPD's finest, especially hilarious when carried insensible from the stag party …

An A-list cast, with award-winning actors like Gary Ball lucky to get a chance to walk on and shift scenery.

No chance of spoilers here, since the comically convoluted plot defies summary. The Pink Belle of the title is both a plane and a chanteuse, there are model aircraft, dinosaurs, dances both tap and fan, cherrystones – balls to Hamburg – and a humanitarian, vegetarian Sagittarian. But no giraffe, librarian, meteorologist, or cartographer. Close, but no cigar. Actually, there is a cigar, clutched in Larry's sweaty fist.

Hard not to be caught up in the daft twists and turns of this tale of battleships and flying fortresses. A sterner critic might have wished for a firmer hand, perhaps wielding a pair of scissors. Some of the gags were laboured, sometimes the manic pace was allowed to flag.

But an impressive, original comedy, produced and directed for the College Players by Nick Wilkes.

Will there be a fifth wheel on this tireless trilogy ? Roxy seems to think so; close encounters in the Nevada desert are promised in The Case of the Alien Invasion. Watch this space ...

HAIRSPRAY

HAIRSPRAY

BOSSY at Brentwood Theatre

13.04.17

A happy, homespun Hairspray from BOSSY, in fine Sixties style, musically and wardrobe-wise.

Gaynor Wilson's production keeps the setting simple – a nice vertical bed for Tracy's awakening – while Andy Prideaux's quartet sets the musical pace, with a prominent role for that essential sax. Some impressive ensemble numbers: the mother and daughter sextet, the Council members in the title number, the joyous Can't Stop the Beat finale.

And plenty of punchy performances from an energetic cast – I saw the Thursday company. An immensely likeable Tracy from Tia Stack, pint-sized rabble rouser and would-be teenage Jezebel. She has the character to perfection, and brings energy and elan to all her numbers. Michael Percival is her mother, feisty and voluminously dressed, with Adam Ellis as her dad, the extrovert joke store manager, and Dan Pugh as her love interest, the heart-throb Link Larkin. The bigoted baddies include Ellie Lovelace's Velma – a magnetic stage presence – and her daughter Amber [Grace Frost]. A lovely, gawky Penny Pingleton from Cloe Lee, and a great glib Corny from Joe Folley.

Jeremy Lawal-Champion impresses as Seaweed, son of Motormouth Maybelle, nicely done by Tomi Bello, especially in her act two anthem, and her “big, blonde and beautiful” act one finale.

Lots of fine character work in the cast, including doubles from Will Loader as Mr Pinky and Brad, and Owen Jackson as the penitentiary official and Mr Spritzer, President of Ultra Clutch, proud sponsor of the Corny Collins TV show.

THE VICAR OF DIBLEY

THE VICAR OF DIBLEY

New Venture Players at Brentwood Theatre

06.04.17

It must be a bit like being in a tribute band, doing one of these sitcom spin-offs. Have they come to admire your performance, or to be reminded of the much-loved originals ?

They certainly pull in the punters – New Venture Players' pleasing production playing to very respectable houses.

The action takes place in the village hall and the vicarage, with a couple of jokes in the vestry and the climactic wedding in St Barnabas itself. As so often, the adaptation has lots of short scenes and set-pieces – twenty+ here – with the familiar pattern of punch-line [or not- “Let's go and have a cup of tea!” not the easiest exit line] and black-out for the scene change, accompanied by Howard Goodall's familiar psalm.

NVP have fielded an excellent cast of parishioners. All the dearly beloved “characters” are present – pedantic Frank Pickle [Melvyn Freake] taking the minutes, lusty lard-haired Farmer Hewitt [David Lintin], dim, dotty Jim Trott [Dicky P Stallard] and the toxic Mrs Cropley [Paula Harris Brett]. All given the full OTT broad farce treatment. Villain of the piece Chairman Horton is played with relish by Vernon Keeble-Watson, with Tim Murphy as his twittish son Hugo, and Lucy Mason as his prospective daughter-in-law, the cabbage-patch doll Alice. And there are a couple of appearances by some young guest stars: children of the parish and nuptial teletubbies !

The voice of reason and Christian charity amongst all the gurning grotesques is the Rev Grainger, back in the day when lady vicars were rare birds, the “babe with a bob-cut and a magnificent bosom”. She's played with wonderful warmth and perfect comic timing by Julia Stallard.

Though there are some slow patches, Joan Scarsbrook-Bird's production is a faithful recreation of a fondly remembered programme, much enjoyed by the audience, with some memorable comedy moments – chocolate for lent, the litre of gin and the kiss that lasts the whole interval ...