Aristocats

The Aristocats is a story of a beloved pampered house cat of Madame Adelaide, who finds herself stranded in the countryside along with her 3 kittens. They are victim of Edgar the butler who is trying to cheat them out of their inheritance. The story follows duchess and her kittens trying to find their way home.   Along the way they meet various characters such as Thomas O’Malley, the independent-minded tomcat and other animals.

The costumes were good with quirky elements such as Scat cats waistcoat. They added characteristics to each character, along with the brilliant choreography in which was directed by Joshua Sinclair.   I particularly like the cabaret number, which gave the show a nice opening.

The music directed by Rowan Marshall was fantastic, the band played together very well.    I thoroughly enjoyed the underscores to engage us within the acting and during the scene changes.    Rowan singing little jazzy pieces of music to cover time gaps was something different in which I really liked.

The lighting by Chris Glenton was on cue. There seemed to be many black outs for quick scene changes, but this was done smoothly. Along with the sound by Scott Andrews this ran smoothly showing no issues with microphones or feedback. The scene changes were quick and quiet using minimal set and a projection back drop, and I think this worked well and effectively.

Liam Hicks as Thomas O’Malley showed a nice jazz voice and acted well against Sophie Jones as a well-played duchess. Benedict Tonge performed with a strong singing voice with accompanied a great character in which he revelled. My favourite character was Roquefort played fantastically by Molly Robinson. Each song and line was delivered with enthusiasm and she suited the part perfectly.

Overall Katie Hampson directed an enjoyable show, which came across in the children’s acting, singing and dancing. I look forward to coming to see future Riverside theatre productions.

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