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A Tale of Two Cities

Author: Michelle Coulson

Information

Date
12th April 2014
Society
Durham Musical Theatre Company
Venue
Gala Theatre, Durham
Type of Production
Musical
Director
Fred Wharton
Musical Director
Steven Hood
Choreographer
Janet Dixon

It is no surprise that this story of love, death and mistaken identity in late 18th century France and England leads to comparisons with “Les Miserables”, but the book is very different. This was an epic production in every sense of the word with a running time of 3 hours, 28 named character roles and 34 musical numbers, and was the perfect showcase for this society’s large and talented cast.

The orchestra sounded perfectly balanced and the sound quality was superb, making it possible to hear every word of both songs and dialogue which made following the complex plot possible. The many scene changes were completed quickly and smoothly in full view of the audience by a large team who were in costume to make them less obtrusive to the plot.

The ensemble, as the French revolutionaries and English serving classes, provided both the comedy and integrity to the piece giving strong support to the production.   They, together with the children in the cast, were polished and precise in their movement and their singing,

It is impossible for me to mention every named role, but there was not a weak link in any part of the casting. DMTC has some excellent performers and singers, and they were used to good effect.  The main characters included Steve Norman, as “Jerry Cruncher”, who gave a strong, believable character portrayal, providing many of the laughs in the piece, and Paul Maddison made “Mr Jarvis Lorry” tangible and supportive.  As the “Marquis St Evrémonde”, Clark Adamson successfully made his character despicable, and  in complete contrast to the warm and endearing character portrayed by Nikki Hellmuth as “Miss Pross”.  Anthony Smith, as “Dr Alexandre Manette”, as always gave an assured performance, as did Andy King, as “Ernest Defarge”, both singing well and acting with confidence.  Shireen Hamlani, in her first role for DMTC, shone as “Madame Thérèse Defarge”, her vocals were strong, and the fight and determination of her character was superb. The three main characters, Steven Berry as “Charles Darnay”, Katy Walton as “Lucie Manette”, and Graeme Walton as Sydney Carton, were faultless in their performances with excellent vocals from all of them.  Graeme in particular had a huge role to portray and many musical numbers to perform, which he sang beautifully.

Congratulations to all at DMTC for a superb production and for investing their time and talent into bringing a new piece of theatre to the North.

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