Terra Nova - November 2011

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NORTH ESSEX THEATRE GUILD

Witham Dramatic Club

Terra Nova

By

Ted Tally

November 2011

 

It will be very difficult to write this adjudication without it being full of superlatives, as indeed this production of Terra Nova deserves.

 

The overall standard of the acting in this production was excellent so I have tried to balance my adjudication between the good and very good.

 

Edgar Evans 

I loved the way David played Evans. I really could believe that this man was plagued by frost bite, his on coming madness and death were a “champagne moment” if that is the right word to use for such a sad piece.

In this very dramatic production David’s beautiful soft Welsh accent contrasted with the Norwegian sound of Amundsen’s voice and with the other characters English accents 

This was a very strong performance indeed

Direction

The large open stage gave the director the advantage of not being hampered with furniture, therefore, allowing her to move the actors in such a way as to convey the vast wilderness of the Antarctic, but still being able to portray the closeness, friendship and, sometimes, frustration of the expedition party.

The choreography of the pulling of and the loading and unloading of the sledge was painstakingly precise; a tremendous amount of thought and work must have gone into getting that just right. 

The audience became so involved with the characters portrayed and there was such a tension built up in this production that at the end of the play there was a long pause before the audience relaxed and the richly deserved applause began.

This was the first time I had been to Witham Dramatic Club; it will not be my last.

Michael Poole

Some older reviews

October '11 Update

Over a year since my last post and happily I'm confirmed in post at Essex Probation. After stints in Basildon and Grays I am now Offender Manager/Court Officer in Chelmsford so my daily commute is down from 60 to 15 minutes.

Our only holiday this year has been to the USA - but what a trip. The Grand Canyon, Yosemite, San Francisco, L.A, Vegas and much more. We've already booked a trans continent US tour for next year. Our latest granchild, Rose, is thriving - as are all our kids and grandchildren and Adam and Gemma get married next year.

I've enjoyed performing in "Anything Goes" and the upcoming "Terra Nova" and was chuffed to get the best actor award for Sweeney from the North Essex Theatre Guild.

Anything Goes

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WITHAM  AMATEUR OPERATIC SOCIETY

ANYTHING GOES (Beaumont Version)

Director Cathy Court

Musical Director Ed Court

Performed at Witham Public Hall                               10^th May 2011

A popular show, and one which is a good company show using talents from newer members and seasoned players to add to the mix of the many diverse characters in the production.

David Slater as Lord Evelyn Oakleigh was a suitably upper class yet naïve member of the gentry, until we heard of his dalliance with Plum Blossom.Quite a change from David’s last major part as Sweeney Todd, and this time a fun part which I am sure he enjoyed.

There seemed to be fewer dancers in this show than I have seen, but the Angels did well in some good routines despite lack of  numbers.

Cathy Court as Director obviously made rehearsals fun which is what it is all about, to have a good time but produce the results, which I thought was well achieved.

Well done to the company on a really bright entertaining show.

ANYTHING GOES

Witham AOS at the Public Hall

The silly plot of Anything Goes is eclipsed by Cole Porter's wonderful songs, skilfully handled by this strong cast. Not all the production numbers had the oomph and the energy of Blow Gabriel Blow with its nuns and its scarlet sinners, and the tap-dancing Angels – beautifully dressed – were outweighed by the more statuesque passengers. So it was left to the principals to light up the stage. Particularly successful were David Slater's Lord Evelyn, with his silly-ass accent and his rampant sword, Tom Whelan's Whitney and Stewart Adkin's gravelly Public Enemy #13 – an exemplary musical comedy performance. His “Oima” was an engaging Kath Adkins, who made the most of her Buddie Beware.

 

David Slater (Lord Evelyn Oakleigh): The role of Evelyn couldn’t have been a bigger contrast for David after Sweeney Todd! He is an accomplished actor and singer and in this part we really saw his comedic abilities. David caught this silly “arse” character to a tee and his “Gypsy in Me” solo was a chance for him to really let his hair down- to the delight of the audience! Well done!

Kiss Me Kate Trinity

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Trinity - Kiss Me Kate

Kiss Me Kate, Trinity Methodist Music and Drama,
May 13, 2009
Director – Beccy Ashton; Musical Director – Susannah Edom

I admit I was apprehensive when I heard that Trinity was tackling Kiss me Kate. Cole Porter’s finest, in my opinion, is technically challenging for the backstage crew and is physically and vocally demanding, especially for Fred/Petrucchio. And what a step up from a regular diet of G&S to a combination of Shakespeare and schmooze! But Trinity rose to the challenge, i’ faith, and produced the best show I have seen them do. To be fair, this play within a play has a strong storyline (it is Shakespeare after all) and some glorious music, which I understand was from the Broadway version, rather than the “regular” show, thus accounting for some extra music and slightly different harmonies at times. So the basis for a good show was always there. However, some great principals, a mobile chorus, good orchestra and strong direction were also key ingredients needed for success and these were all in place. Starting with orchestra; the music was glorious throughout and although that perennial battle between orchestra and onstage volume was comprehensively won by the orchestra this was a price I, for one, was willing to pay for the richness of sound, especially from the brass, during the bigger numbers. Scenery, lighting and costumes were all good and I was glad to see that the director had forsworn the “men in tights” look in favour of doublet and breeches for the men. The former is usually unflattering and always distracting, especially when the men are, how shall we say, more mature. I enjoyed the build up of action during the overture, which gave the chorus more to do and the little touches such as the progressive tiredness during successive choruses of We open in Venice, were fun. Strong directorial touches were seen also during Where is the life that late I led, a beautifully choreographed and lustily sung number. The principals, some new talent and some home grown, were very good, all with strong voices. David Slater as Fred/Petrucchio was equally at home as director/lover or Shakespearean actor; his strong delivery was full of nuance and fun throughout. Janet Moore was a worthy shrewish adversary and I particularly enjoyed her So in love which gave free rein to her lovely voice. Alex Moore as Lois/Bianca and Richard Rosetti as Bill/Lucenti were convincing as ditzy blonde and gambling ne’er do well, respectively while the gangsters, played by Derek Lee and David Ehrlen were highly entertaining throughout. The smaller roles were well cast; I saw far more talent than I was aware of from previous shows. My final word must go to Adam Sullivan as Harrison Howell; his stereotype of the military officer combined with the best delivery of From this moment on I have ever heard had me in stitches. His performance epitomized the whole production. I had few expectations before the performance but came away delighted and hugely entertained.

Reviewer – Stewart Adkins

KISS ME KATE

Trinity Methodist Drama at the Civic

12.05.09

Another openin', another show. Beccy Ashton's production of the Cole Porter backstage classic began with bare boards, a quick tune-up from the pit, and a brilliantly planned build-up as chorus, crew and principals drifted on, adding their two-penn'orth to the Baltimore overture.

Trinity fielded a strong side of singers “entertaining and vivacious”. David Slater had the voice, the style and the presence for the leading man, Petruchio in the play, well matched by his Shrew, Janet Moore as the failed movie star making her stage come-back: they were utterly believable as the Wunderbar operetta duo. As the juveniles, Richard Rossetti was a precious Lucentio, with Alex Moore as the blonde Bianca. Derek Lee and David Ehren were the inept gangsters, still in spats for Shakespeare, deadpan vaudevillians.

In smaller roles, Matthew Lecznar was a flamboyant Gremio, seizing the chance to shine in the Act Two opener, Too Darn Hot, the other standout production number. And Adam Sullivan was a barnstorming General, his effortless baritone bringing his one number to glorious life.

Elsewhere, the ensemble work was unremarkable, and the smallish chorus struggled to match the panache of the principals. Accents were a problem for many; the cast are required to do American, then American doing Shakespearean British !

The set, from Albemarle, was superb, with flying pieces, a lovely front cloth and a truck for the adjoining dressing rooms – not quite stable enough for waltzing, though … And props: a gasp greeted the inappropriate blooms, and plastic flowerpots are poor weapons !

The excellent band, led by Trinity veteran Anton Archer, was under the baton of Musical Director Susannah Edom.

Chess Review

Braintree and Witham Times  – Ron Fosker

Love and chess, a dramatic mixture
On the face of it, chess is up there with fishing and dominoes as a likely subject for a dramatic musical. The num­ber of people on the streets of Witham who could name the current world champion would probably fit into a tele­phone box.
But it was not always that way. In the early 1970s, chess made the front pages. And if you bad asked anyone in the street then to name a chess player, they would almost cer­tainly have come up with Bobby Fischer and Boris Spassky.
It was the match between the two, and particularly the eccentric behaviour of the American challenger, that fired the public’s imagination and gave Tim Rice the idea for this musical.
His lyrics were brought to life by the sparkling choreog­raphy of Nikki Mundell­-Poole. The evening opened and closed with the stage bathed in the black and white of the chessboard but, in between, the Tyrolean and Bangkok settings allowed for a wide spread of colours in the ensemble numbers.
A newcomer, a regular and a returner took the three main roles of the two chess players and the manager of one, who falls in love with the other. John Escott, David Slater and Jenni Leggett brought drama and pathos to the roles and coped superbly with Benny Andersson and Bjorn Ulvaeus’s exceedingly challenging musica1 score. Kathryn and Stewart Adkins brought their usual polished performances to the ro1es of Slater’s wife and his KGB handler, while Tim Sheppard, in his 53rd year with WAOS, and Tom Whelan stepped out of the shadows with aplomb as the American marketing guru and the arbiter.
At the other end of the age scale, the show offered oppor­tunities to a number of the society’s younger members.
Ingenious use was also made of three giant screens, a first for the company, which show some of the action and background.
However, the complicated story, not helped by the fact that much of it is told by the chorus, and the dearth of well-known numbers led to more empty seats than is usual at a WAOS production. That was a shame as this was a high-standard evening that deserved better support

Hot Mikado review

WOW

THE HOT MIKADO

Director David Slater

Musical Director Susannah Edom

Choreographer Julie Slater

Performed at Witham Public Hall                                       20^th February 2010

This modern adaptation had everything going for a winner and WOW certainly came up with the goods in a fast, stylish presentation with every style of dance interpretation to make it a first class production.

The simple oriental set with the most exquisite lighting was so effective and was the static set throughout the production.

The cast gave us some memorable characters from the superb Ben Hermon’s KoKo who was a real study in an outlandish style of dress and gave a great performance, to the stately Tilda Bourne’s Katisha with a voice to really make the audience sit up and listen. The range of voice was remarkable in such a young lady.

The colourful and imaginative costumes added another dimension to this production and were a riot of colour and delight. Jake Davis as Nanki Poo gave a gentle style to his performance with a pleasing involvement with the audience.

Chris Adair as Pooh Bah and Josh Read as Pish Tush were very good, both drawing the audience to the story line, both very integral parts within the show.

Zoe Rogers as Yum Yum looked delightful and sang beautifully as did the other two maids, Faith Rogers as Pitti Sing and Martha Lawless  as Peep Bo.

A Elvis look alike on a Vespa gave us the Mikado’s entry. Played by Mark Ellis another delightful surprise in the second act. Mark delivered his dialogue in a very amusing fashion and gave us a very different slant on the Ruler of Japan.

The swing chorus numbers were really hot, and under the direction of Susannah Edom the orchestra supported and really enhanced the production.

David Slater’s direction was superb as was the choreography under the direction of Julie Slater.

A gem of a production. If you missed this show you missed a real treat. WOW are certainly making their mark in the area with consistent high standards.

Many congratulations to you all.