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From
the moment the band took up “Silver Lining” we were away and the Friday and
Saturday night audiences settled down quickly after the first “fairy flash”
to wake us up and into the mood of the show. Colourful, pacy and upbeat,
this was Parish Players at its very best with the audience engaged from the
start.
Sweets and an early
audience song were also good ideas to encourage interaction and audience
participation and on both nights the audience took their cue. Asides, boos
and hisses and some throwaway lines kept the pace going, many of the
audience were more than ready to join in with the players on stage. There’s
nothing like some early applause and feedback to settle the cast and
encourage even more out of the actors.
Overall the balance
between Principals and Chorus worked well, with some very slick scene
changes and few pauses between the cast leaving and more people coming on.
The appearance of the
“Littlies” always brings an “Ah!” and the three young players were
concentrating hard in order to do so well. They looked a picture in their
lovely costumes.
From the moment Jack and
Jill appeared it was clear we had two experienced performers out to
entertain. Sally shows such good audience rapport and was never let down by
a missed cry of “Oi Oi Oi.” Louise Williams was a feisty Jill and clearly no
pushover with some lovely expressions and movement. Both tackled difficult
songs with aplomb and gusto though they would have been helped considerably
by a slightly lower key.
Paul Riches as the King
was suitably both regal and cowardly. He reminded me very much of the
“Cowardly Lion” from the Wizard of Oz – perhaps the golden costume helped to
create the effect. A man without courage indeed. The King and Dame
song/speaking worked well and a useful tactic for the less confident singer
makes for an effective comic moment.
The role of the fairy was
crucial to the pace and movement of the plot. Well done Emily for creating a
wonderful comic character with excellent audience rapport and timing of
lines and pauses. By the time the “40” song was underway there was genuine
sympathy for her – then incredulity as the full horror of the geriatric club
came into view. By Saturday night I kept rather more composure but the
genius who dreamt up the hideous costumes should be congratulated for
creating a moment that will set a benchmark for comic cameos for years to
come. I’ll never look at Cheryl, Roy, Graham and Richard in the same way
again. Well done and good sports all of you.
Across the ages the
standard was uniformly high. In particular Sarah Collingwood displayed a
maturity and depth of character well beyond her years. Confident, gangly in
that wonderful costume – surely a favourite character in the matinee and
displaying a fine sense of comic timing in delivering her lines.
So to the classic Panto
characters – Baddie and Dame. All credit to Johnny Depp for providing the
inspiration for the pirate / Lawrence Llewellyn-Bowen cross – certainly
Dickensian in execution of the lines with a touch of the Monty Pythons’ in
the “old woman” disguise. Simon Cheetham excelled in the role; from
the asides to the audience to his evident enjoyment he made maximum use of
the effect of costume and make-up. Marvellous.
David showed his
considerable experience in holding, working and developing audience
rapport. From the gold eyelashes to the pink udder bag the gags were
delivered with superb timing and again maximum use of costume and make-up to
develop the character and create the effects.
The Chorus had clearly
been well rehearsed and looked confident in their placing and movement on
the stage. Some fantastic set pieces (notably the aeroplane) must have been
precision rehearsed. The dancing was elegant and well staged, with the
movements flowing and obviously well within the scope of experienced and
novice dancers alike. Some individual cameos in Chorus reactions showed how
the whole group was working to keep the action going. The Flag song worked
wonderfully well. The booming voice of the giant was consistent with the
giant face in Scene II. The audience throwing balls at it was another good
idea.
The set was effective,
colourful and versatile, in particular the arch effect. The new curtains
really helped to produce a crisp and clean feel to the set assisted by well
thought-out lighting effects – particularly the UV. If you “spot” the
lighting then it’s not right and it never happened – congratulations to the
lighting team. Also the sounds team were very convincing – it took me two
nights to realise that Jack was making the effects “live.”
The UV effects across the
stage produced a well deserved round of applause. The net and moth prop
created a stir and the dairy effects and props helped the scene along.
The songs and music kept
the pace going and were well rehearsed and suitable for the voices in the
men. However the wonderful “crow” effect with the voice of Louise Williams
would have been even more magical if the song had been in the slightly lower
range. Overall the music kept the show rolling along – well done again.
Maureen and team performed with considerable aplomb at the right volume and
with a versatile combination of instruments.
Costume triumphed again
and I particularly liked the effort made with the boys’/men’s costumes in
the Chorus – the girls always look wonderful but the boys sparkled too.
The purple “flash” effect
for the walk down showed that you don’t need an elaborate costume change at
the end to create the right “note.”
Stage area – well done –
slick, fast, everything ready to go and quick changes. Only one point –
watches sparkle even in the “darkness.”
And finally – lest they
thought I’d forgotten – Daisy the Cow. Fab hat – great dancing, well
co-ordinated and with a character all of her own. Well done Chrissy and
Maggi – I understand a lifetime’s ambition has been achieved.
So to all in the show,
well done, but particularly to Chris and his unsung team of directors,
choreographers, make-up, producers and stage managers – only a year until I
can enjoy the panto again.
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