Nice Swan Gala 2012 -Review- People's Theatre

Nice Swan.
Gala 2012
People's Theatre
27th May 2012

The nice people at Nice Swan Theatre Company, sent me an invite to come along to their Gala on Sunday night, along with the invite, it explained that this was just to thank me (and I am sure all the other review organisations and bodies) for coming along over the years and witnessing what they have had to offer and putting pen to paper...or fingers on keyboards.
So no review was necessary, but I think I need to get over to you how good this Gala actually was.

As the Gala pic explains this was going to be a Royal Variety style, with lots of different genres. I personally love these kind of nights, you can see how much talent one group actually has, not just in the acting/singing that I have seen from Nice Swan in the past.

Admittedly the night didn't get off to a very promising start, a Jersey Boys Medley straight from curtain up, didn't bowl me over, the singing was very flat in parts. For this to happen so soon, left me a little twitchy for the rest of the night.
The second performance righted the wrongs of the first, with a wonderful dance performance of Adele's 'Turning Tables'. Now I don't know much about contemporary dance, but this routine was very emotional and superb, not a foot out of place!
I was a bit disappointed that when a solo singer came on stage to their stuff, that no live music was in place to accompany them; this paired with, in my honest opinion, backing tracks that were too loud, and drowned out some of the singing, spoiled what could have been some great musical theatre numbers from the likes of Next to Normal, A Chorus Line and to some extent 'Roxie' from Chicago.
A guest appearance from Beth Macari singing acoustically two of her own songs broke the first quarter up very nicely. Beth has a voice at times that reminds me of an early Elkie Brooks.
I haven't seen either Legally Blonde or Ghost the Musical, but if what was served up by Nice Swan is a good representation of both the plays, then I think I will book a seat in the West End or when they are next touring. 'Omigod you guys' from Legally was very bubblegum pop, with lots going on.
'With You' from Ghost was such a beautiful passionate song, but unfortunately the guys behind the curtain sorting the next staging out were making a bit of a fuss, that I thought Patrick Swayze was going to make a posthumous entry.
Kids from The Sage Academy of Performing Arts performed on a couple of tracks, memorably on 'Naughty' from Matilda the Musical, some great talent up-and-coming from them.
To end the first half, a wonderful snippet form Les Miserable was aired, a stirring and jolly rendition to send us to our half time cup of tea and breath of fresh air from the humid theatre (it was when the sun was out!).
The second half started with the great 'I can hear the bells' from Hairspray, a wonderful performance from Olivia Brady, as the smitten Tracy Turnblad.
'Officer Krupke' from West Side Story was next, but was spoiled by intermittent mic problems, this was a shame as it is one of my favourite Musical theatre songs.
Kyle Jones another guest performer, danced superbly to Billy Elliot, at 14, he is a talent that I will certainly look out for.
More footwork next with Bryce Laverick and Carly Burns dancing elegantly to Rihanna's 'Love the way you lie', moves that went terrifically well with the score.
The highlight of the night for me was the wonderful Thomas Whalley (who I have seen many times with New Swan), as Fagan out of Oliver. His facial expressions and stage presence on 'Reviewing the situation' was a joy. I would love to see him in the full thing.
Ending the show was a snippet for the up-and-coming Nice Swan performance of Hair the Musical. The company sang the great 'Let the sunshine in'. Dale Jewitt was in great voice as the crowd clapped and cheered along. I really look forward to seeing this show in September. Hair the Musical

A great night of eclectic performances from a great company.

Michael Hunter

Life X 3 -Review- People's Theatre

Life X 3
People's Theatre
22 May 2012

Have you ever thought of what it might be like to have the shoe on the other foot, maybe to see things from a different perspective. Well, playwright, actress, novelist and screenwriter Yasmina Reza, has served up a treat for those of us that possess such an inkling.
Life X 3 is a play about the complexities of the title, life. What is going on with life one minute, within the blink of an eye or the existence of a sublime parallel universe, could be totally different, for the better, maybe for the worse.
Reza has created a study of how we understand each other, the study of how intricate we seem, feel and behave.
With Life X 3 it all seemed fairly straight forward, Henry (Joe McLaughlin) and Sonia (Lauren Breese) are really struggling to cope with not only their child, who refuses to settle for bed, but with their own relationship, maybe the ship has sailed for them.
Henry is planning the next night when he could receive a step up the ladder from Hubert, his boss.
Hubert (John MacDonald) and Inez (Maggie Childs), his wife, are due to call around for dinner to discuss Henry's paper that if published, could push them both to a different place.
With the already turmoil in the Henry household, the dinner guests turn up one night early. With their own troubles of neurotic and inner turmoil, the air is full of bravado, put downs and one-upmanship.
The ending is probably as we expected it to be, and the interval lights are shone.
Back to the second half, the same play is reworked twice, with the same characters, taking on a different mindset, a different approach, even the child is quite sweet in the third offering.
What is fascinating are the facts that we already know within the play after Act 1, and how stretched Reza makes them after this, this makes for brilliant viewable thought provoking theatre.
Not only is the writing spot on, but the acting and how it is put across to the well filled studio audience, is very good. When you can feel the tension of what is going on stage, well up inside of you, then you know it is hitting the spot. well done to the cast and directors, Brian Green, Leah Page, with the cast putting their collective thoughts into the fire too.
Life X 3 is a really clever play, think of the films, Groundhog Day mixed with Sliding Doors, with emotions and humour abound.

 Life X 3 plays until 26th May


Michael Hunter

Play It Again, Sam -Review- Westovians

Play It Again Sam
Westovians
20 May 2012

I often get the odd apparition or dream of somebody famous or other in the night. I must say this is normally after a few drinks, they don't do me any harm, they don't lecture me or lead me to a better understanding of myself, they just come...and go.
Allan Felix gets the odd visit from Humphrey Bogart, being a film reviewer, he could probably crit every one of Humps appearance down to the full stop.
Bogart is Allan's alter ego, he comes up in all of the right places, lending his vocal hand, especially within the confines of the disastrous love life of our protagonist.
Allan has had his heart broken by Nancy, the one and only love of his life. She has followed up her constant threats of leaving him, for a better, grander life. She wants to see more of the world, play the field, see the colours of the rainbow and take it all by the scruff of the neck.
Allan would be happy to just carry on as normal with her, head to the cinema and bury his head in the sand.
Dick, Allan's best friend, is on hand to give the advice, that a best friend can only give in times of need like this, head out meet more desirable women and forget about what has passed.
Linda, Dick's wife, lends a hand with the 'I have a few nice girlfriends you could date' arm of friendship, but nothing seems to go right for our man. His foot always seems to be firmly planted in all of the wrong places!
Allan and Linda get on like a house on fire, spending days out in the park and night's out visiting discotheques, for the unlikely fleeting moment that Allan will actually share some wonderful earth shattering meeting with a girl that will take him away from his neurotic and lonely lifestyle.
He seems though to be getting, closer and closer, day by day, to his best mates's wife, and  Humphrey is up to bad things, his advice could shatter his friendship with both Dick and Linda.

Opening to a great stage set up (Eddie McNamee and John Errington) of a typical front roomed 1970's apartment in New York, with its art decor walls and posters of Bogart.
Peter Dawson playing Felix, looked so comfortable up on the stage, like he had done the play time after time. A great showing from him (especially the many monologues), with some great comic timings. Play It Again, Sam's writer, the great Woody Allen would be very happy with Dawson's on stage performance.
Miriam Beber, as Nancy the want away wife, showed her grit as she poured scorn on her husband.
David Foster and Corinne Kilvington as Dick and Linda, put on a great display as helpful and watchful friends to Allan, the latter scenes with Linda and Allen were especially memorable.
Amy Jeffels played the many girlfriends of a hopeful Allen, some quick change dress scenes with great dialogue and acting, show that Amy has continued to impress.
Freddo Vista (I just love that name) played Allan's friendly agony Uncle, Bogart. Vista only had a few moments on stage, but was instrumental in the success of the show.
Directed by John Errington, with sound and light by Craig Richardson and Ian Johnson.
Play It Again, Sam is a sharp and witty play, with some great acting. If you are a fan of Woody Allen and his quirky Jewish way of looking at life, then you will love this.

Play It Again Sam, plays until Saturday 26th May

Michael Hunter

My Own Show -Review- Royalty Theatre

My Own Show
Royalty Theatre
15 May 2012

Fay, a TV chat show host, is worried that her career is on the wane - and her private life isn't up to much either. She is mortified to be reunited, on the set of This Is Your Life, with old school friend Caroline Pollard, but Caroline's bereavement gives her an idea that could rescue her ratings. The fickle nature of fame, the difficulties faced by older women in the media and the vagaries of friendship are dissected hilariously in this sly and witty comedy.

This is my second visit to The Royalty Theatre,with its nice warm approach to the public, seen at many of the amateur theatre's in the region. The first (many moons ago) wasn't that good, so I was looking for a step up in the right direction from the players.

Opening to Fay's (Muriel Waine) living room we see her in a bereft state surrounded by her old school friends Jude (Lorna Breeze) and Gillian (Norma Dougherty), having a bit of a post mortem in regards to her appearance on 'This Is Your Life'. The conversation falls to their old 'friend' Caroline 'Bollards' Pollard, who was a surprise guest on the show. Many stories of how she was disliked and bullied at school by them come to the fore.
After the dissection of the show, Bollards turns up (even after being given wrong street and address by the girls) and tries to reacquaint her friendship. Many more tales (with the odd secret) are discussed with them all. Overall Bollards is looking for a way out of her normal humdrum life, and with exposure on the 'This Is Your Life' programme, she is winning fans from the Gallery. Something that the girls and especially Fay, can't get to grips with.
Will Bollards get even more exposure? How will the other girls cope with this.

My Own Show (written by Lesley Bruce) has a cultural and modernistic statement on the ageism that exists in 'the limelight', only recently The BBC lost a landmark ageism case against Miriam O'Reilly, who was Countryfile presenter for many years. The BBC had wanted to bring in a new youthful outlook to the show.

I really felt as though I was watching maybe the third or fourth dress rehearsal, with the producer/director saying, in a  few months time when the show starts it will be great, but with some hard work. The acting was fairly moderate, almost wooden. Now fans and subscribers to my blog, will know that I love amateur theatre, so I am not bashing the genre- only bashing what does and does not work.

 The lights worked fine, needed more sound, the emptiness of the venue meant that the un-miked actresses sounded very tinny (not a lot of bodies through the door, to absorb the sound), also with the venue being close to main roads, the local noise was streaming in too.

The stage set up was in my opinion very tatty, I could not believe that a TV star could live in a house that looked so bedraggled....unless it was a hastily put together set, more care and attention is needed to get all of the right stuff right.
Directed by Paul Dunn.

My Own Show is playing until May 19th.

Michael Hunter

Jerusalem -Review- Peoples Theatre

Jerusalem
People's Theatre 
1st May 2012

It’s the day of the county fair and Johnny Byron is a wanted man. His son wants to go to the fair but Johnny has more pressing matters on his mind: the violent Troy Whitworth is after him and the local gang want to steal his stash of drugs and alcohol – from which he’s still hungover.  Now, to top it all, he has just been served with an eviction notice and the Council want him off their land.

Whenever I see so much critical acclaim attached to a play or a film, I often back away from it; so many have disappointed or failed to live up to its promise. This cannot be attributed to Jerusalem. It is WOW. People's Theatre has pulled off the stage show of the century. I can't reiterate enough how good this is. The acting from the People's lot is normally first class, but they have outshone anything I have ever seen from them.
 I never saw Jerusalem (written by Jez Butterworth) when it first aired back in 2009, but the Olivier and Tony Awards and the runs in the West End and Broadway is testament to its character. Professionally it must have been good, and with People's history and calibre of transferring hit shows (the wonderful The Pitmen Painters) to the small stage, this must be up there to win themselves some awards.
I have seen Peter Harrison, who plays the main character of Johnny 'Rooster' Byron, many times, but never so passionate, so up for it. He seemed so so comfortable on the stage, that it really felt it was about him, wrote for him almost (maybe I will be disappointed if I ever share a beer with him, to find out he is just a normal bloke like me..ha ha).

The play itself follows Johnny (think of Paddy Doherty (the Irish traveller, who won Big Brother) and his band of follows (again some superb acting from Stuart Laidler (Mr Parsons), Mitchell Labiak (Ginger), Christopher Goulding (Professor) and Steve Robertson (Wesley)) who are battling to stave off the final call of eviction from the wooded area in which they all congregate for parties, drug taking and that little bit of  wild living.
Johnny has adapted his lifestyle to fending for himself and is not going to give up without a fight. Even the many visits from officialdom doesn't worry him.
The story visits many of Johnny's tales, some believable, some not, of his life as the County Fairs top attraction. As a stuntman he pulled in the crowds from afar, but now living in his caravan, on land due for reclamation, he is struggling to get a grip of reality. His only hope is in the wizz and the spliffs that he peddles.
Trouble is never far away from him, but as a well versed man he always has an answer at hand. These answers are what he hopes to offer his eight year old son, as a gift for being such a wayward father.

Top marks to Tim Swinton for the wonderful stage design. It reminded me of the many music festivals that I have attended, with beer cans, litter and a good lived in mess filling the stage.
Sarah McLane who directed, was spot on with her words from the programme. This indeed was a night of unforgettable theatre.
Go and see it, cancel anything else.


Jerusalem runs until 5th May

Michael Hunter