ANNIE – Totnes OS – Civic Hall – Sept 2007
Dir/chor : Kerry Spurway MD : Simon Manley
Once again Kerry worked hard to put an effective production on the Civic Hall stage in her joint role. As was expected she staged the musical numbers well and ensured the children gave polished and well-rehearsed performances. All gave confident portrayals and Annie (Amy Tidball) was most impressive. The 5 main adult roles provided a good solid core to the show. Nicky Whitby (Miss Hannigan) can always be relied upon to impress and was most amusing. Martin Poveda (Warbucks) managed to merge the fatherly with the business like effectively and Claire Schofield (Grace), Paul Robinson (Rooster) and Dee Waistnidge (Lily) all impressed. There were no weak links at all with the cast and the general company made the most of their scenes and overall the cast kept the show moving along at a nice pace within the scenes. They were, however, let down by the set. The homemade scenery looked fine, and the basic design of three revolves was a good idea, but the set was so bulky and difficult to handle, that scene changes were lengthy and became a show in themselves and really rather distracting. I always think less is more with scenery. The 3-piece band produced a suitable sound, but I wasn’t sure about having much of the music pre-set on the keyboards and very unusually for Simon, the musical tempi were far too slow.
CINDERELLA (Fiona Murray) – Totnes OS – Civic Hall – Jan 2008
Dir : Fiona Murray MD : Dave Holland
The home written script (by the director) got a gold star from me for finishing at the magic hour of 10pm and not over-running !! It could have been even shorter if the slapstick scene had been curtailed as that was over long and unfunny. The show was led by an excellent Cinderella (Bebe Sanders) who performed with great professionalism. There was a super pair of Ugly Sisters (Mike Sermon & Martin Poveda) who had some entertaining scenes and kept the audience amused. Buttons (Tom Kingdon) was lively and provided a good foil for the uglies. The predominantly young chorus showed good stage discipline and sang well, providing some lively routines. They were well sound balanced and could easily be heard over the band. Dave Holland produced the best band for a pantomime at this venue for some years. The cast provided some effective comedy, but at times the pace sagged and energy disappeared as some scenes were left to start silently and with no impact. Always try to end a scene with a song or start a scene with a song, and to cover scene changes with music or business to ensure that there is never a quiet moment with nothing happening.
©Copyright Totnes Amateur Operatic Dramatic Society 2008