NODA Review - Waterloo and
Crosby Theatre Company (Youth Group)
Music by
Paul Williams
Director Leo
Appleton
Musical
Director Charles Moss
Choreography by Alex Appleton
The musical “Bugsy Malone” with music
by Paul Williams was adapted from the 1976 Film of the same name directed by
Alan Parker. Featuring a cast of children usually up to the age of 17years,
Bugsy Malone has been a favourite production for many amateur youth groups over
the years.
This was
an enjoyable production directed by Leo Appleton with some talented young
performers in the cast who all worked very well together, with lots of
enthusiasm and all the cast appeared to be enjoying themselves immensely. I
would like to name everybody who took part in this production as they all contributed
in their own way to the overall success of this show; but as there were fifty
children in the cast and a number of them played more than one part, this would
not be practical. However I think it would be nice to mention a few of the leading
players for all their hard work, they include, Alex Burke who gave a very good
performance as Bugsy and Eboni DeGeir- Mawdsley who sang and performed very
well as Blousey Brown. Lucas Frost was excellent as Fat Sam, he projected his
voice well and his diction was very clear, and Adam Cusack sang and performed
very well as Fizzy. Sarah Henshaw and Euan Parkes produced good
characterisations as Tallulah and Dandy Dan and there was also a nice comedy
duo from Captain Smolsky- Daniel Cassidy and Lieutenant O’Dreary- David Coyne.
Brian Comer as Cagey Joe, Daniel Hill as Leroy and Poppy Hart as Lena Marrelli
were also very entertaining. I was very
impressed with how the cast maintained their American accents throughout the show;
I could not hear any local inflections creeping into the dialogue which was
very good considering the age of the performers. However I did find it a little
hard to hear some of the dialogue at times but I am sure the art of projection
will come with experience. The scenery fitted the era well and placing the Band
on stage added to the atmosphere of the Speakeasy. The stage area was also used
to maximum efficiency meaning quick and smooth transition between scenes and
the costumes suited the roles and fitted the era very well.
The Band
led by Musical Director Charles “Razzmatazz” Moss played very well, were not too
loud and accompanied the cast soundly. Choreography by Alex Appleton added to
the production and was suitable for the age group of the performers. It was obvious
allot of hard work had gone into bringing this production to the stage and this
showed in the final product. Congratulations must be given to Leo Appleton for
his leadership of this project and well done to all involved including the back
stage crew and front of house. Thank you for inviting me, I hope to see you for
your next production.
Patricia
Connor
District
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