National Operatic & Dramatic Association London Region
Society : GLOC Musical Theatre Production : Soho Cinders Date : 19 May 2018 Venue : Questors Theatre Be inspired by amateur theatre Report by : Zena Wigram, district 2 Show report
General GLOC Musical Theatre has a gift for finding shows less often performed which suit the strengths of the company, and your production of this enjoyable Stiles and Drewe musical was no exception. Performing the updated Cinderella story the same week as this year’s royal wedding was probably coincidence, given how far in advance you undoubtedly started planning, but it was nevertheless extremely apt! As usual, you gave us a show with high production values, a thoroughly rehearsed cast, and lots of careful attention to detail.
Players – leading The narration was split between Becky Marchant, Valerie Widdowson, Angela Talbot, Mehrengise Cooper and David Smith: they moved smoothly in and out of the ensemble without any apparent effort, and gave a lovely impression of just happening to be in the right place each time.
Alistair Slaughter was a wholesome and believable Robbie, the young male escort threatened with eviction by his (currently jailed) stepfather and his unpleasant stepsisters. Lynsey Munn and Menna Bevan fizzed as deliciously slutty Dana and Clodagh, vying to outdo one another’s vulgarity with energetic relish. It was a shame that their numbers were set fairly far back: ‘Fifteen Minutes’ in particular could well have been much further forward for the audience to enjoy the girls’ reactions to the paparazzi still more.
Robbie’s relationship with platonic soulmate Velcro (Victoria Jones), who runs his late mother’s launderette, was skilfully drawn and rang absolutely true. Victoria was delightfully natural, singing, dancing and acting excellently in a stand-out performance of warm sincerity. Gareth Bevan made an impact right from his first words as Lord Bellingham, the hard-headed business tycoon finding it almost impossible to believe he can’t have everything his way, while still deserving some sympathy for his misunderstanding of Robbie’s arrival – in the expensive outfit - at his party.
Mayoral candidate James Prince (Mark Evans) was a credible former champion swimmer, and the complex relationships with fiancée Marilyn (Kendra Masonchuck) and Robbie were well handled. While he and Robbie struggled somewhat with the rather clunky dialogue of their argument in Trafalgar Square, ‘Gypsies of the Ether’ was superb, with a stylish reveal of James, and beautifully sung (as was all their music) by both. Their final reconciliation was very satisfying. Marilyn and James’s farewell was very moving, and she was attractively sincere. She might try singing with a looser jaw to make her lovely singing even easier. Try to avoid shutting your eyes when you sing, because it shuts the audience out, whereas a good performance will draw them in. ‘Let him Go’ (Marilyn’s duet with Velcro) is arguably the show’s best number, and it was a highlight in a show with several super moments.
I liked the energy Chris Field brought to the part of thoroughly unpleasant political adviser William George, though at times it meant his dialogue was a little fast. He made the most of his smarming, as well as his abuse of unfortunate assistant Sasha (Victoria Willis); the audience was delighted when the worm turned!
One or two of the soloists were inclined to ‘perform’ their emotions rather than feel them: think about your internal dialogue more, and try less hard to ‘show’ the character’s feelings.
https://lookaside.fbsbx.com/file/Noda%20Report%20GLOC-S…WqhP_9cmgTeY1ENNI7RysALgFc27yHRvO-Leu8DMYYWqc2ou 26/08/2018, 19 06 Page 1 of 3 The relationships between the characters were believable and accents were strong and consistent – with a particularly neat contrast between Marilyn and Velcro in ‘Let him Go’. However, some performers have a few articulation issues: if you have a lazy ‘r’ or a splashy ‘s’, it’s harder to give a character authority, as well as harder for the audience to understand what you say, so it’s worth doing some tongue exercises to make your consonants crisper.
While it is good to keep the pace up, some of the dialogue was a little rushed: speak with energy but take enough time to ensure that the audience can hear all the jokes, as well as the exposition - even when no-one is likely to misunderstand the plot!
Players - ensemble The confident and committed ensemble including a delightful array of clever vignettes, right from the very start with the embarrassed hooker’s customer and the businessman on a scooter. Everyone was engaged and involved throughout the entire production, and it was obvious that every scene had been well learned and thoroughly rehearsed.
The party guests worked ‘Who’s that Boy?’ magnificently. There was lovely subtle acting support by ‘passers by’ in the scenes in Trafalgar Square, and the gorgeous customer in ‘It’s hard to tell’ slipped seamlessly in and out of the main ensemble. However, while I am used to congratulating GLOC on the discipline of their freezes, I was disappointed by one cast member who was enjoying herself too much to keep still downstage. Remember that your audience is subsidising your hobby, so you should keep in-jokes for backstage.
Director and choreographer Directing and choreographing a musical which very few people will have seen before must have been a bigger- than-usual task for Siân Bowles-Bevan, assisted by Lynsey Munn (when Lynsey wasn’t being tarty on stage), and the result was a triumph.
While the show was originally performed with a disembodied narrator (recorded by Stephen Fry), having the relay of five narrators part of the action rather than just observers worked perfectly – so much so that Stiles and Drewe could have written it like that from the beginning.
All the performances were energetic and positive. As mentioned before, some of the dialogue was a trifle rushed, and there were one or two jokes which might have been pointed a little more clearly (for example, the early joke about theatre-goers rubbing shoulders with prostitutes was pretty-much lost).
‘Hard to Tell’ was superb, with excellent dancing from Robbie and Velcro with their attractive customer before the entire ensemble joined in with gusto. The choreography of ‘Who’s that boy’ was also particularly impressive, with splendid movement (does it really fall into the category of choreography?) by Dana and Clodagh. Obviously a great deal of work had gone into the chorus spacing to cover the whole thrust neatly and evenly in all the big company scenes.
The careful attention to detail was obvious throughout, right to the neatly planned bows.
Musical director Nick King’s small but most effective band was placed behind the laundrette, with monitors in the auditorium which worked very well: all the cuing was spot-on. While they played the lively score expertly, unfortunately the volume – particularly that of the bass - was generally too loud under the dialogue, making it hard to hear all the jokes, and sometimes too loud under the singing too. When the band was quieter, for example in ‘Gypsies of the Ether’, the result was really lovely.
The cast had very good singing voices and all the singing was well-balanced and the harmonies secure. There were just one or two occasions when the chorus needed to sing with a little more energy to keep in tune.
Technical aspects – stage manager, set, sound, lighting The extremely high standard of technical work made for a most attractive-looking show.
The set, designed by Siân Bowles-Bevan, Stephen Parfitt and Stefano Bassi, and painted by Rick Myrtle and Stephen Parfitt, was extremely clever and most effective. Please do make sure you keep photographs for next year’s NODA scenic awards. Stage manager Matt Marchant and his crew (Sam Jeffrey, Sophie Duce and Jennifer Parker) covered, uncovered and shifted so quickly and neatly that new locations appeared almost by magic.
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Sam Thomas had sourced an array of suitable props – I particularly liked the gel champagne flutes, which were used well by the cast in appearing to drink from them. The ‘thought for the day’ on the travel board at London Bridge station must have been a lot of fun. A special note of admiration for whoever sorted out the logistics of the rickshaw and the washing machines in the laundrette!
Lighting, by lighting director Tim Edwards with follow spot operators Martin Wilcox and Laila El Balouty, was first class. Like much technical work, it was most impressive because it was so unobtrusive. Everyone was always clearly visible, whether in the smaller ‘scene’ areas or the whole stage; and the different scenes, such as the brightly lit laundry and the more shadowed external evenings, flowed seamlessly into one another.
Sound director Richard Eliot had created subtle soundscape effects that really placed us in the relevant scenes. I applaud his impressive juggling to manage five narration mics successfully (marking up his libretto must have taken some time!). Unfortunately, as well as problems with the volume of the band, most of the boom mics were fixed over cheek pouches, and the resultant muffling meant that words were hard to distinguish. Fixing a mic firmly against cheekbone or forehead makes the sound much clearer.
Costumes, hair and make-up The costume team had managed a tremendous array of splendid costumes. Rick Myrtle, Barbara Myrtle, Valerie Widdowson, Monica Lomas, Stephanie King, Lynsey Munn, Victoria Furzer-Pickett: congratulations and thank you for the impressive results of your teamwork. Costumes, very realistic wigs by Matthew Pimm, make-up, and jewellery were all appropriate and showed evidence of careful attention to detail. Just do remind the cast not to allow a trailing mic cable to spoil all your good work! Robbie had a distracting tendency to fiddle with his hat: in future he might consider rehearsing with that sort of costume item, just as it’s helpful for women to use rehearsal skirts when appropriate.
The women were delightfully sparkly in ‘It’s hard to tell’; perhaps the men might have had a few more sequins to match them? The beautiful cream and champagne coloured dresses, with perfectly co-ordinated shoes and jewellery, and smart black tie for the men, were just perfect for ‘You Shall Go to the Ball’. Dana and Clodagh’s tattoos, clothes, hair and make-up were stunning in their own special category!
Programme and front of house Ken Williams’s informative programme was cleanly laid out, with a clever set of cast photos by Valerie Widdowson and Stephen Brooks, with colour highlights and amusing additions by Jodi Lewis. (The people who stood further away from the background had fewer distracting shadows.) Being a bit stricter with the word count limit will allow the same font size for all the cast biogs.
Thank you to Karen Steel for efficiently arranging the reservation list at the box office, and to Victoria Furzer- Pickett for her warm welcome – and helping to return last year’s very well-deserved Flame award.
The standard of GLOC Musical Theatre’s productions is always extremely high. This report picks up on some very minor areas where you can make things even better, but please don’t take these hints as major criticisms, more as suggestions for improving an already good production.
I am sorry to be saying farewell to you as your NODA rep – your shows have made the role a pleasure during the past seven years. However, I look forward to enjoying future productions as a ‘normal’ audience member.
Zena Wigram District 2
Keep in touch with Curtain Up! - NODA London's e-newsletter Follow us on Twitter @NODA_London • London Festival Weekend 23-24 June 2018 • NODA Theatre Summer School 28 July - 4 August at Yarnfield Park, Stone, Staffs • National AGM and Presidential Gala 22 September at The Hilton St. Anne's Manor, Bracknell, Berkshire NODA – Be Inspired by Amateur Theatre
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