Babes In The Wood

My penultimate Pantomime for the season took me on the beautiful scenic drive through the Yorkshire Dales to Hawes Operatic Society for their production of Babes In The Wood. Let me start by saying that even if not coming to see a show everyone needs to visit this gorgeous town, whether for the walks, cheese factory, or the array of amazing independent shops, this should be on everyone’s to do list.

Babes in the Wood is not an obvious choice of Pantomime for every society yet despite the original story being very dark and sinister, Hawes under the expert direction of Amy Cockett made this production anything but dark. A perfect choice for a young and vibrant cast with a great youth section and allowing every single cast member an individual role.

The stage in the Market Hall looked amazing with a huge tree filling the extended stage front and creating an arch over the whole production. The use of secret doors through the tree, multiple entrances and free standing scenery created a colourful setting assisted by excellent lighting and effects from Tony Wilcock, Colin Bailey and Blueboxt Creative & Performing Arts. A strong costume team added real glamour to the show, from a full wardrobe for our Dame, lovely animal costumes for the children and excellent spiritual and woodland styles for the many creatures of the Woods. A huge team effort from the members to give the show a great visual appeal to the audience. 

The story itself tells of an Evil Uncle determined to kill off his brother’s noble children and inherit their titles and wealth. This plot takes us on many journeys from Castle to Enchanted Woods all the way to a Torture Chamber. After a comical safety brief from our loveable Hollywood the Rabbit It was in the Enchanted Woods where our story began with the wordy Narrative of Rob King as Sprite. With a great skip in his step and lovely vocal inflections he brought a sense of magic to the story. Sprite would become an important part of the tale, often being called upon with his magic to help our principals when in distress. I loved his connection with all of his Woodland Animals (the Junior Chorus) and he built up a great rapport with (for me) the big stars of this production.

Every single member of the Junior Chorus not only had their own individual animal character but they also had solo singing and speaking lines and none of these were throw away token lines. They were all delivered with great conviction, real confidence in delivery and every word added to their characterisation. The voices in the songs really impressed too, most notably in Freak Flag, the Act One and Two Finales. A huge well done to the talented Eva Cockett (Fox), Scarlet Calvert (hedgehog), Cicely Baranasic and Layla Gregory (Butterflies), Olivia Blades (Mole) Dylan Pickard-Guy (Squirrel), Lily Alderson (Owl) and the cheeky Frog played with a huge smile by young Jack Cockett who also doubled up as a young Sprite. A special mention must also go to Christa Fagg-Rawlence who not only played Badger but also gave us some beautiful vocals in her solo, Schnee Wazler at the Prince's Birthday Party.

With a quite underlying dark plot to the story it was vital to have a strong baddie presence and in experienced Hawes performer Graham Di Duca they had just that. With a menacing glance Graham controlled a lot of the scenes in the show, not only working on his evil plot but the script meant he narrated and kept us on track of the story at all times. His scenes were brought to life by 2 comedy side-kicks in Nark and Ruff played really well by Freya Hulley and Julia Di Duca. Freya gave us a lovely dry and cold persona with a creepy Crow response and sarcastic repetitions at every possible moment. Meanwhile Julia was a complete opposite as a loveable yet dim-witted pooch, following The Baron’s every command like a lost puppy until finally seeing the light at the end. The three of them worked well together giving us both evil yet also slapstick moments throughout the show.

Standing in the way of The Baron’s fortune stood the Two Princes, Who and What, played with great conviction by Alex Donaldson-Coates and Gillian Alderson. The pair of them brought some lovely comedy, whether through the who and what routines with fellow characters, the complete stupid snobbery of their characters and also giving us great physical performances. With a large stage to fill they gave us good presence and movement to keep the scenes active, even with an on-stage full costume change they managed to keep the scene lively and entertaining. Alex’s funny looks and reactions really stood out.

The great comedy of the performance belonged to Emily Pickard-Guy and Millie Spink as Amber and Willow respectively. The daughters of our wonderful Dame, Nurse Goodnight, they had so much life and energy about them it was great to watch. From their giggling flirting with the Princes to their outrageous facial expressions throughout these two were perfect for the role. Millie Spink also gave us the vocal performance of the night with a beautiful version of One Day I’ll Fly Away, delivering not only a gorgeous tone to the song but adding real emotion to the story of a poor girl hoping for a better life. The whole picture of the number enhanced by the outstanding solo dance by Jack Dobson behind. Adding professional ball-room moves yet not once overshadowing the story or the song. 

The show was full of fun characters with extra roles being played by Matt Alderson and Paige Banks doubling up as Guards and the Castle Gargoyles. Their lines were really clear and the Puppet arms on the Sculpted Gargoyles were a great touch. Act Two saw the loveable Bear introduced and Tim McQueen really brought this character to life as he became an integral part of the plot. 

Overall the vocals for the whole show were of a really high quality. With music provided by backing tracks and a small band of 3 (Colin Bailey, Michael Yare and John Keeler). The sound balance was perfect and allowed the singers to shine with extra mention for Amy Cockett as Woodland Fairy providing lead vocals on Freak Flag, more than ably supported by Lilly Ferguson who herself also has a stunning voice to match her lovely energetic, warm and bubbly characterisation of Boris The Rat, one of my favourite characters in the show.

Two of the big showcase songs in the show belonged to our loveable Dame Nurse Goodnight played by the ever-impressive Dan Cockett. Going from Noda winning baddie last year to Dame this year showing off his versatility in performance. Throughout the show Dan not only provided glitz and glamour but also some lovely comedy to the scenes. The awful collection of Dr Dr jokes really setting him up for a masterclass in deadpan comedy and facial expressions. His costuming was first class from a cheeky Nurse outfit to a Girl Guide/explorer leader and at times Dan almost resembled a mannequin with some outstanding make-up mixed with great posture and holds in his stances. Once again Dan also showcased his great voice with 2 huge numbers in Hollywood Gala and a lovely routine of A Woman's Touch (Calamity Jane) combining with the Princes.

The direction and choreography throughout the show was very slick and showed that a lot of work and rehearsal time had gone into putting this show on. Amy Cockett not only directed the Panto but also led lots of areas from set design to the music and helped by Lisa Dobson also choreographed the show. The dancing and staged movement was really well put together with everyone heavily involved and every big number delivered the fun factor.

I will be honest and admit at times during the solo wordy scenes the pace did drop (this could have been due to it being the last show of a long week) however little interludes from Alison Wade as the energetic Hollywood The Rabbit and some later great audience participation pieces in the Snowball Fight and The Macarena sing-along ensured that the evening had entertainment right at the core of this great Community Production.

What really stood out for me in this production was the great talent within the youth ranks, from members taking on leads with great success to a really charismatic youth ensemble, this is not a local Society clinging onto past glories but one with a really bright future. A huge well done to everyone involved and I can’t wait to see more shining stars rising through the ranks next year.

 

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