January 2006 - Region 7 - Tony Adler
SUMMER HOLIDAY
HEYWOOD A.O. and D.S.
Produced and directed by Joanne Lord.
Musical Director : David Abendstern
Choreographer : Jill McIntosh.
Whilst Summer Holiday is a light show, no one should be under any illusion that it is easy to stage and perform unless they have 10 talented individuals who look right (age wise) and who can sing, or at least, put a number over successfully - plus a London Transport Bus of course. The chorus can be rather incidental and a Society can make as much or as little use of a chorus as a Society wishes. I cannot think that Heywood will have found this production for its youth group very easy.
What Youth group has ten young members who are principal material all at the same time? This is is not a show where you can hide the principals by the chorus work.
The production team obviously had worked very hard and must have felt, at the end of the day, that they had had considerable deserved success. All the performers threw themselves into their respective parts with considerable enthusiasm and success and no one let the side down.
I feel a particular mention should be made of Charlotte McGrory as Barbara, Jonathan Mair as Don and also Naomi Johnson as Stella.
The staging ( including the bus) was quite acceptable as was the band and I suspect all the customers went home happy. I give full credit to the production team of Joanne, David and Jill for their hard work and probably patience.
However, on a personal note, I was saddened, as the members of the society would have been, to learn that John Schofield had suddenly been taken ill that evening and had just died as they got him to hospital. A member of this Society and associated with it and others for a great many years, John, still a young man at 53, was particularly involved in the dramatic side of our movement rather than the musical although I remember him well as a very successful Higgins and a lot of his amateur efforts were directed towards the Curtain Theatre in Rochdale and also Heywood Arts. The amateur movement will join the family and Society in their grief, particularly his wife, Victoria and Charlotte who have already both shown considerable on-stage talent.
H.M.S. PINAFORE
GREENACRES A.O.S
Producer: Norma Grimshaw.
Musical Director : Victoria Greenhalgh.
I felt that, over all, this was quite a successful production. Certainly, it was an enjoyable one and all the principals sang competently.
Janet Marshall gave her usual efficient and youthful performance as Josephine whose father was appropriately played and sung by the experienced Mike Kennedy. Peter Crichton was a very able seaman as Ralph and always plays well opposite Janet and Janet Milner always performs with plenty of personality and vocal skill; she was a very suitable Little Buttercup.
John Myers, over the years, must have "had a go" at most G & S male leads. He acquitted himself satisfactorily as Sir Joseph Porter. Once again, Norma Grimshaw's production was efficient and Victoria Greenhalgh took over as M.D perfectly well. An efficient G & S production well backed by the chorus who supported and sang well.
MY FAIR LADY
SADDLEWORTH MUSICAL SOCIETY
Producer: Gary Davis
Musical Director : Harry Butterworth
Choreographer : Chloe Pimlott
This was a very good show and well appreciated by the audience who flocked to see it. Saddleworth Musical used to be distinguished by its strong singing principals and chorus but these days sometimes things have to change, if only intermittently for various and well known, obvious reasons.
With a very strong team of capable and experienced principals soundly directed by Gary Davis with the music under the capable direction of Harry Butterworth the show ran very smoothly.
In the part of Higgins, Martin Roche gave the commanding performance one has come to expect from him in which he totally dominated every scene almost at times in a bullying manner. Indeed, only his Mother seemed unaffected by his behaviour (which is right) and Frank Boocock as Pickering gave him excellent support. Victoria Schofield, playing under considerable emotional strain, once again displayed both her acting and singing talent and she was an excellent Eliza.
I doubt that there will have been a better amateur Doolittle anywhere than Mike Conroy, again a part in which I have seen him perform previously but this time in a different manner. It unfortunately has the result that I have seen others play Doolittle competently but several levels below Mike Conroy's performances. Gary Davis, as well as directing used his excellent voice and experience to play the part of Freddy and he was very good. Pat Butterworth, on stage for a change, (instead of in the orchestra), gave a sensitive performance as Mrs Higgins. Miriam Lawton in a non-singing part, for a change also, as Mrs Pearce and Brian McEwan as Karpathy were both well cast and sound.
The modest amount of chorus work in this show was efficiently portrayed although it was not possible, with the limited stage size and chorus size, to show off the production numbers to their fullest effect.
I thought the staging and set were excellent and reflect credit on those involved. However, this show always gives me a personal problem. I was fortunate many years ago to see one of the first performances at Drury Lane starring Rex Harrison, Julie Andrews and Stanley Holloway and cannot get the performance out of my mind because it was so special. To me, Harrison and the way he played it, was Higgins with an arrogance that had charm as well as a kind of aggression and although I, and indeed a great majority of the audience, thought Martin Roche was outstanding nevertheless to me, he was not a Rex Harrison, but then, who is?
NOW THAT'S ENTERTAINMENT
ST. DUNSTAN'S YOUTH THEATRE
Produced, directed and Choreographed by : Linda Ash.
I appreciated the telephone call from Linda Ash with an invitation to the performance she was arranging for the youth section of St. Dunstan's. However, knowing the company limitations which St. Dunstan's have because of its loyalty to its own members, I wondered whether there was enough talent to put on a successful production of this nature.There can always be a temptation to try and involve senior members of the society but in this case, only Susan Milligan and Paul Rigney were really involved. I have no doubt there was considerable help, perhaps from heavenly quarters, by the involvement of two Parish Priests in Father Robin Colpman and Father David Featherstone, one with quite an interesting Bob Dylan touch.
I enjoyed the first half far more than I expected I would whilst the second half was excellent. It was thoroughly entertaining and Linda Ash who produced, directed and choreographed the whole show seemed to have worked very well with all the youngsters involved who had responded to what she wanted and it no doubt helped when the musical director was her son, Stuart. Susan Milligan's husband was on the keyboards and had carried out musical arrangements.
Quite frankly anyone who did not enjoy this production, which was about the right length, would be someone who it would have been very hard to please. I had a thoroughly enjoyable evening. It was very light and entertaining and indeed, there was some talent for the future when they become adults and let us hope they stay around. They really do very well, this society, because it always looks as if their community in Manchester still sticks together and they work as a team. I give them full marks for producing something which must have entertained the audience so well.