Bad Girls the Musical

Bad Girls was a hugely popular television series which has been transformed by Kath Gotts into “Bad Girls the Musical”. Personally this is not my favourite musical score, but the Theats have this evening done great justice to the work with the enthusiasm that I have grown to love from this group.

Mark Walker’s direction was excellent, with great casting and staging, much attention to detail and very good interpretation of the story. Musical director, Tim Brewster has worked really hard with the company, most of the principals had good vocals and the harmonies from the company/prisoners were a joy to listen to; a seven piece band ably backed the company throughout the evening. Choreography from Katrina Rufeea was of a high standard with good musical interpretation, I loved the inmates' tap number. Well done to all the production team.

All the principals played their roles well, backed with a strong ensemble who worked hard all evening. There were good solid performances from Peter Giles (No 1) and Susan Moloney (Helen Stewart). Gordon Richie in the role of Jim Fenner was extremely good and at times quite chilling, particularly during his number “The Key”. I enjoyed Dawn Hall’s portrayal of Sylvia “Bodybag” Hollamby, she was very funny but still allowed the nasty side of her character to come through. Phil Mills gave a very sympathetic and likable performance as Justin Mattison. David Cooke the Prison Officer, although a non-speaking role, performed and reacted well throughout the show. Emma Williams gave a strong performance as Nikki Wade, with good vocals during her number “One Moment”. Kate Clennett gave a feisty performance as Shel Dockley with some lovely vocals too. Lydia Rogers (Denny Blood), Leanne Nadal (Crystal Gordon) and Bianca Harker (Rachel Hicks) all gave good, strong portrayals of their characters. Jenny Haynes was a sweet, funny Noreen Biggs. Jane Walker and Jennie Bacon worked really well together as the two Julies, bringing lots of humour to their roles and their number “Sorry” was one of the highlights of the evening. Alex Underwood played Yvonne Atkins with plenty of menace but was able to show the softer part of the character too, the number “All Banged Up” which she performed with the two Julies was a real “Show Stopper”. All the other inmates worked well, had good vocals and clear characters throughout. Well done to all the cast.

The scenery and sets were very good and I must mention Alan Galway and his crew who did some of the slickest scene changes that I have ever seen! The costumes were really good and well made as were the props. The lighting and sound was good throughout the show. Well done to all the backstage workers.

Thank you Theats for sharing this well performed and highly entertaining production of “Bad Girls the Musical” with us. I sincerely hope you all have a happy and successful week.

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