And Now For Something Completely Different

SAM Theatre present this revue production titled ‘And Now For Something Completely Different’.

Though the show may not have lived up to its title, it did offer a mix and variety of entertainment.

The first half gave us a ‘Les Miserables’ suite followed by another medley of songs from ‘Phantom’.  The Musical Director (Ian Christensen) had given the cast some nice harmonies offering a Chamber Choir esque rendition of ‘Castle On A Cloud’ and I particularly enjoyed the male chorus with echo’s and underlining harmonies during some of the female ballads. As all of the numbers were performed to backing tracks I do think that Ian conducting in the first half was not necessary. Based on what I saw, I feel that the cast had the strength and ability to cope on their own.  My main criticism here is that these two fifteen minute sections, one after the other, were very similar in mood and styles, mid-way through ‘phantom’ I was certainly ready for something completely different!

Joining SAM Theatre and closing the first half was a section of more commercial music from Altrincham Youth Theatre.

The second half was again split into two parts, the first being a 1920’s speakeasy theme with music and routines from ‘Chicago’, ‘Cabaret’, ‘Bugsy Malone’ and ‘The Pajama Game’ all presented in a traditional Fosse style.

Then, to finish, we were treated to a mélange of songs and sketches titled; ‘Just For Laughs’.

I do think the production would have been stronger if the running order was shaken up a bit rather than presenting the styles and genres in block sections. Having the ‘Just For Laughs’ section spread out amongst the entire show would have added some comic relief in some beneficial places and would have evenly balanced out the variety of the show.

Same goes for the youth section, rather than one long piece, splitting it over the two acts would have broken it up a bit with better results.   

Particular highlights for me were the comical ‘Noddy Sketch’ performed by Jeff Harpin, ‘The Clock sketch’ and ‘Wild Boys’.

Undoubtedly, the strength of this production was down to the sturdy line up in the male ensemble, we got some very capable singing voices and worthy performances from the men which is a dying breed amongst our game, these guys are an obvious credit to the society!

A lot of the staging and choreography was straightforward and I would have liked more energised and complex movement in the Fosse section as some of the dancers were clearly capable of more but I fully appreciate the approach of keeping it simple, keeping it clean.

One aspect which shone was the amount of fun that’s been had in putting this revue together which is worthy of note, and to have such a large cast for a fundraising concert is also an admirable achievement!  Congratulations!

© NODA CIO. All rights reserved.