24 Hour Musical - The Pirates of Penzance

It is one of those classic Cabernet/Shiraz moments … when someone says, “Let’s do a musical from start to finish in 24 hours” and, the level-headed, sensible people who would normally just walk away giggling suddenly find themselves saying things like “Yes!” or “great idea Rob”, and before you know it the madness has begun. So, on Friday night (20th July) I was glued to my Facebook waiting for the draw to be made and to find out which show had been randomly selected for delivery the very next night. For myself … I was hoping for ‘Guys and Dolls’ … and for the RATz Massive I was hoping it was not ‘Into the Woods!’ The internet went quiet at 7.31pm and it was some 40 minutes later that I discovered the services of Mr Gilbert and Mr Sullivan were to be called upon as The Right Angles Theatre Company attempted to put on ‘The Pirates of Penzance!’ When I say “attempted”, this is one group where you can be sure that if they start it they will finish it, with only the quality being variable. It was (in retrospect) a good choice as the show truly does not take itself too seriously. And now, as I end the preamble and start the review … here is my problem. How do you review something like this? Well, before I say anything I want to say unequivocally that this was one of the most fun evenings I have ever had in a theatre. The wildest of wild rides with more ups and downs than a Brexit negotiation. And so, as we go on with this piece…. please remember my first (and most important) declaration. In case you were wondering, the 24 hours includes music, set and costumes … along with everything else, and that set was incredible. Very nearly as good as a regular show and with a lot more of it than you would expect in the time allocated. There were bits and pieces all over the place and everything beautifully decorated. All non-performance-based credits are attributed to “The Crew” who are named as Jonathon, Jacob, Mathilde, Sue, Christine, Geraldine, Dame Kerry, Natalia, Caroline, Lenner, Phil, Gary, Matt, Sir Bob, Jane, Steven, Chloe, Sue, Craig, Jamie and Emilia-Rose. My hat is off to each and everyone of them for this, and the sound and lighting, costumes, wigs and make up… all of which were excellent and showed little sign of the rush in which they had been conceived, manufactured or procured. Just for a change, I want to dedicate a small paragraph to “The Band”. Prodigiously talented Marie Cunningham and Jane and James (no second names listed) who produced a wonderful sound and had to cope with the mighty variations in the delivery of the vocals!!!!!!! Truly outstanding, even if Mrs C was familiar with the show, her wingmen (generic term with no gender orientation implied or suggested) may well have not been. It was remarkable, and worth the ticket price on its own. The cast was extremely large with more people in it than I could ever mention in one shortish review but amongst the chorus there was some cracking work from all the Pirates, Daughters and Police with maximum effort and complete focus from every performer. I would just take this opportunity to thank Eden Carver for the biggest laugh of the night as she “rearranged” herself to attract young Frederic. I cried with laughter as she proved that you don’t need any lines to steal a scene … at least not if you are lucky enough to have her talent. In the supporting roles I loved … Lizzie Bryant as Kate, even though she admitted to me afterward that she had no prior knowledge of this show and a roller-coaster feeling throughout proceedings - it didn’t really show and the same can be said of the excellent Edward O’Connor as Samuel, and the wonderful Catherine Missin as Edith. Another overly talented actor who had me aching with laughter was Thomas Gregory as the Police Sergeant. A pretty polished performance considering, and a characterisation that all but stole the show. If there were a NODA award for wearing moustaches to maximum comic effect, Mr Gregory would be taking home some silverware! I have no knowledge of Ellie Hiam except that she will be playing Laurie later this year in a production of ‘Oklahoma!’ She claims not to be an operatic singer but as female romantic lead, Mabel, she was delightful. Delivering the high notes particularly with some style. Taking into consideration that she will have been rehearsing through the night, it was a wonder she could speak … let alone sing. Her husband Chris had the questionable honour of delivering the part of the Major General and did a pretty good job with it. Even with script in hand I kept thinking - how will he ever manage the patter song “I Am the Very Model of a Modern Major General”? He had his finger marking his place in the aforementioned script but tried so hard to do a bit of acting during the song that it was not long before he had lost his page. It was another great comedy moment as he “di-dah-di-dahed” his way through it and should be congratulated for a brave effort and a pleasing characterisation. Now this is where things get complicated … I have no experience of a 24-hour musical, but, if the objective is to deliver an inconceivably professional standard production in a ludicrous time frame … this was an epic fail. If (as I suspect) it was a “lets have a go, do our best and have a few laughs on the journey” … it was a complete success. This show went from ‘The Pirates of Penzance’ into ‘Carry on Pirates’, reinventing itself briefly from time to time as Ann Summers the Musical. This was mostly due to the costume choices for the Daughters and the Policewomen both of which I thought were inspirational! Laura-Jane Shippey is a consummate professional and a quality performer in everything she does. However, a combination of illness and extreme (dangerously extreme) exhaustion pushed her to her very limits in this production. Somehow, she dug deep and held it together which I think is incredible under the circumstances. Her ridiculously charismatic brother, Josh, conversely was completely in his element. Not a clue what was going on a lot of the time, but he just kept on going making me laugh and laugh. He was at his funniest when it was blatantly his line next - he just stood in silence acting his socks off. Aside from the previously referenced Eden Carver comedy moment the biggest laugh was when Rob Williams thrust a script at him to jump start him back into action. I laughed so hard I thought I was having a coronary. Mr Shippey Junior was the perfect choice for the Pirate King and even attempting it without a script was ambitious. He turned the show into “Who’s Pirate Is It Anyway?” And the audience loved it! Penultimate paragraph honours were never in any doubt for this show. Virtuoso performer, Rob Williams was in a class of his own. I still fancy that this whole affair was his idea and so I have little sympathy for him. He was clearly a little exasperated at times when the show lurched dangerously towards pantomime but frankly looked too tired to care greatly. He used a script, but not all the time and clearly had a solid working knowledge of the show as he delivered most of his many songs without assistance. As romantic lead Frederic, his beautiful singing voice and mighty stage presence gave this production a level of gravitas that would have been lost by his absence. I suspect he had much to do with the whole show working process and that is something he should be very proud of. I sent a congratulatory text to him the next day and got a simple reply … “I am broken!” A little overly dramatic … but I take his point! My compliments to Director, Kevin Shippey, and indeed to all the cast and crew for what was an incredible achievement. Getting any show to stage is an immense task … doing it in 24 hours with so many young cast members who may not have even heard of G and S … stunning. It wasn’t the most polished production I will see this year, but I remind you all my opening comments… “This was one of the most fun evenings I have ever had in a theatre”. Truthfully, that is all you need to know!

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