Acorn Antiques - The Musical

It was curtain up on a new era for Denmead Operatic Society as they presented their first show, under their new name Curtain Up! Productions.  

“Acorn Antiques – The Musical!” is based on the parodic soap opera of the same name from Victoria Wood’s “As Seen on TV” series from the 1980s. It makes fun of badly produced soap operas with wobbly sets, poor continuity, low production values and improbable plots. Characterisation is key in this show and their previous experience with productions of The Vicar of Dibley, ‘Allo, ‘Allo and He-De-Hi, set the company in good stead. Under the able direction of Ian Clark, they carried it off convincingly, no doubt helped somewhat by the stunning set, which was easily transformed from street scene to antiques shop interior by the slick stage crew, and even featured a working stair lift!

Nadine Darnley captured the essence of Mrs Overall with her downtrodden appearance, shuffling gait and Brummie accent. Sue Applin and Kaye Lee-Wright were well paired as the twins: up-tight Miss Babs and the desperate-for-love Miss Berta (respectively), with Sam Spivey perfect as the hard-nosed business woman and long-lost sister, Miss Bonnie. Sophie Dulake and Ryan Richards both shone as the stereotypical YTS-types, Mimi and Hugh, maintaining their characters well throughout.

With the three sisters reunited, they only have to find their mother, secure a husband for one of them and locate the hidden money in order to save the ailing antiques business from rampant globalisation and evil loan shark Tony, convincingly portrayed by Mark De Salis.

The musical numbers ranged from big, brassy, toe-tapping dances involving the whole cast, to softly sentimental solos. Berta’s solo “Remind Him” was beautifully sung and acted by Kaye Lee-Wright. Sue Applin and Sam Spivey also enchanted us with their individual numbers. I must also mention “Gent’s Duet”, touchingly sung by Ian Clark and Graham Cranmer.

An excellent eight-piece band, under the direction of Darren Alderton, produced a tremendous sound but, thanks to a good sound engineer, never overwhelmed the cast in volume, allowing us to hear every one of the clever words in the songs.

Acorn Antiques is a challenging piece and Victoria Wood, Julie Walters, Celia Imrie and co. are a hard act to follow, but Curtain Up! carried it off with pizazz and aplomb. Victoria Wood said her intention was to give people a “lovely, happy night in the theatre” and that’s exactly what Curtain Up! Productions gave us.

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