Aspects of Love

I must start by saying many congratulations and thank you for inviting me to see the northern premiere of this show – and what a super job you made of it.

Obviously I was familiar with some of the songs but had never seen the show before so was uncertain what to expect.  Basically, the story revolves round Rose Vivert, and details perhaps unsurprisingly, all the various loves of her life, some perhaps a little more risqué than others.  As with any unknown work hearing the words is vital, and made even more difficult in this show because there is no libretto at all – everything is either recitative or singing.  So before going any further, I must say that the sound balance was very good – as was the clarity of voice from the singers meaning that, in the main, we did hear every word – thank you so much.

The orchestra was very good - maybe a fraction overpowering on just a couple of occasions but that is real nit-picking – it was a wonderful sound which perfectly enhanced a wonderful production.

The ‘set’ was by and large a blank set with two columns and the actual scene back projected onto the back wall.  I am no particular fan of this type of ‘scenery’ but in this case it was absolutely the only possible way I can imagine it being done.  There are innumerable scene changes – many of them very short - and without the aid of a picture on the back wall illustrating where we were I fear I would have been hopelessly lost.  At this point, I must say what a simply superb job was done by the stage crew – the set dressing for each of the many scenes was moved on and off the stage with military precision and was effected quickly and quietly – so there was no down time or loss of pace and the show could have been a disaster if their job had been done badly and inefficiently.

Costumes and hair styles matched the period and in the main looked good – costume changes, many of them very quick were handled well.

I was very impressed by the direction – the content of some of the scenes meant that they could have come over as more than a little smutty but everything was handled so tastefully that it would have been difficult to take offence.  I especially loved the scene with Jenny, Alex and the ball – to indicate the passage of time.

The singing was excellent throughout – and some great acting and characterisations which really brought the whole piece to life. It cannot have been an easy show to perform as the audience was largely silent so there was little feed-back from them.  However, their appreciation was clearly shown at the end – when, although the audience was applauding the minute the Rose and Alex began to sing the audience fell silent – just to be able listen to some more. What greater compliment could there be?

My sincere congratulations and thanks to everyone connected in any way with this production - both on stage and off.  It was a great show with some wonderful songs – with real tunes, sung well and a great example of team-work which resulted in an excellent, and highly professional and enjoyable show.  Thank you so much.

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