72nd Gang Show

My first production to review in 2022, at a shiny new venue – the Eric Morecambe Centre in Harpenden.  I am sure there were the inevitable teething problems, but overall the team accomplished a fantastic technical achievement and good performance values.  Lighting was good and sound well-balanced.

The opening number was impressive, with the whole cast on stage, singing their hearts out, obviously as pleased to be back, as the audience were to be there!

Telling the Time was well told with a very comic tag line.

Around the Pond gave the youngsters a chance to shine, in their colourful and imaginative costumes – very nicely accomplished.  Excellent Monet-style backcloth.  Choreography was simple but entirely suitable for the range of experience.

Dreams was a good foil to the previous set.  The soloists sang their songs extremely well and I really admired the composure of the young man, a big song nicely sung for one so young.  Choreography was good throughout the set, everyone performed it well.

Music was an utterly charming interlude, sang beautifully, the arrangement for the orchestra was lovely.

Superstition was the final set in Act 1, which gave the cast a chance to throw caution to the wind, and be very inventive, which the setting and choreography allowed, a fun, well-presented set. 

Act 2 started with Keep in Touch - Hieroglyphics solo was nicely done and  I really enjoyed the hoe-down number, choreography was very good, and the dancers threw themselves into the slightly less restrictive form of dance, lots of energy and expression.  Ollie Schlich made a real impression throughout, nice voice, good dance moves, he smiled and projected his enjoyment to the audience all the time.  For a non-dancer he really shone!

Back to the Office was a very relevant comedy sketch, well-performed, giving the audience plenty of laughs.

These Streets was also inventive, giving soloists good numbers to get their teeth into, excellent dance duo for Bless the Broken Road, a stirring rendition of 42nd Street, with the cast performing another well-choreographed number – tap without the sound, but an accomplishment for mainly non-dancers – very well done.  Another excellent backcloth.

Condimentally was a well-written sketch, with everyone creating their condiment well and believably – very enjoyable.

The Fosse number was nicely costumed and choreographed, colourful and very well danced, I thoroughly enjoyed this set.

Give Them a Hand was another well-presented item – the puppets were manipulated well by the puppeteers - very slick and extremely amusing.

The finale was a wonderful mix of music, duets presented well.  I liked the nod to Eric Morecambe with Bring Me Sunshine, and of course we all enjoyed joining in with the classic Gang Show songs.

A super evening’s entertainment, well done to the whole cast and crew for being determined to get the production on – a real credit to you all, and a great start to what we hope is the return to some sort of normality. 

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