Beauty and The Beast

So, I finally get to see a Melodramatics’ pantomime since the splitting up of District One and welcoming them to District Two. Then, annoyingly, being unable to see their now NODA nominated Rumpelstiltskin back last July. As the final holder of the District One Production Shield, I knew they must be pretty good, but didn’t realise quite how good they are! And oh boy, they are straight out of the top draw, a class act!

First of all, this is entirely an in-house, home-grown production and starts with an absolutely cracking and very tightly written script by Director/Musical Director, Rowan Alfred and Huw Nadin, with a brilliant and, as far as I know, totally unique twist. Co-Director and Stage Manager, RaeAnna Hammerbacker converted the written script into an amazing production. No sooner had the chorus got into their opening number than an officious character called Wayne, representing the ‘WD’ company (I’ll let you figure out who that is parodying) jumps on to the stage brandishing a ‘Cease and Desist Order’ on the grounds of copyright infringement, which forces just about everyone and everything in the show to change their names. Every time a character even begins to use a word that might infringe copyright, Wayne is there to pull them up or even confiscate a cuddly toy rat on the same grounds. Very clever and very, very funny! The rest of the plot, loosely based on the original fairy-tale tells the story of a young, lonely woman living in a gloomy chateau with some very eccentric staff. Add a failed salesman, the father of our heroine who comes to call selling ‘hot tubs!’ Got it so far?  Yea, well I did say loosely!

Then you have the talented team that put the show on the stage! The excellent fairy tale set was designed by Ken Smith and constructed by David Alexander, Neill Pleasants, Kevin Rawlins and Bill Wetzel Jr. It consisted of  a detailed, beautifully painted set of flats depicting  a brick wall with central Iron Gates leading to the gloomy, eerie looking castle on the Hill, upstage rear, a painted wood, stage left and a cosy looking thatched cottage, stage right. All the other scenes played out to this backdrop by using some well positioned lighting and washes, which worked very well indeed.

Sound and lighting by Matt Oram and Dan Cooper was cleverly atmospheric with some appropriate washes and, as I said above, setting scenes using lighting effects and ‘intelligent’ lighting, The sound balance between band and performers was pretty much spot on. A rare treat these days!

Costumes by Lucy Napthine were extremely well thought out and were very specifically character related, but with an interesting mixture of historical periods of dress. For example, Wayne looked like somebody out of early 20th century America, sporting a  Paisley waistcoat and bowler hat, whilst two other characters, with the wonderful names of Clockston and Chandeler, were very much Regency period, with the added extra for Chandeler of what looked like a silver object for snuffing out candles being permanently attached to her head, whilst Clockston had a fancy pocket watch on a chain round her neck.  Or a lumberjack looking character called Paxton in a cowboy hat and puss-in boots footwear, with a gormless sidekick in a boilersuit, wearing a red Beanie and sleeves that were far too long, which very much defined the character. And a character called Snap who had a camera permanently fixed to her shoulder. Clever!

Stacy Callier did an excellent job on the Dame’s makeup, I particularly like the face stubble covered in silver glitter, very appropriate! Props were supplied by Phillipa Patel, Sue Dixon and Penny Lusha.

Rowan Alfred was also the Musical Director for this show. So, with him on keys and Lewis Dunmore on percussion we had a very hardworking and effective band. With the MD and the Director being one and the same the songs and actions dovetailed into each other seamlessly, which also enhanced the pace of the show.

The actors attacked this sharp script with confidence and gusto. There was hardly a pause between scenes, or a wasted joke and so the pace positively cracked along. The delivery was just sublime, never for a moment did the pace drop, or our attention wane. This was panto on steroids and highly infectious from the audience point of view.

Anna Crompton was the over officious Wayne splendidly enforcing copyright infringement with total authority. Tom Monkhouse was the narcissistic Paxton hell bend on securing Rose for his bride and obviously heading for a fall, with Emma Driscoll as his gormless sidekick, Legume whose portrayal was absolutely first class. She aimlessly waived her over-sleeved arms about and her bent posture and facial expressions were just hilarious. Mel Wilcox as the Cook, Frites, was the audience connection as we had to say “squeak, squeak, boom” every time she came on. Frites it turned out was also the ‘son’ of our Dame, Mrs Juggs, superbly played by Wolfie Hammerbacker, who came fully armed with OTT outfits and all the audience putdowns and quips, especially when picking on NODA reps!

The experienced Debi Sheridan commanded the stage as our traditional heroine and love interest, Rose, whilst Leah Sheldrick in an appropriate pair of horns and dark makeup gave us a moving performance as our Beast, Elsbeth.

Two stand out characters, have to be servants from the castle Kathryn Duncan as Clockston and Melanie Hamilton-Peck as Chandeler whose strange attire was so well backed up by their commanding performances.

Co-writer Huw Nadin played Rose’s father as the downtrodden failed salesman; a forlorn figure locked in the dungeon awaiting rescue. And our well drilled chorus of misfit servants consisted of Katherine Evans as Chop, Annie Marie King as Bun, Karen Rawlins as Wick, Tom Kirkbride as Stiff and Debi Hoepker as Snap. And last but by no means least we had the unseen Glenys Shaw as ‘The Disembodied Voice.’

This was a top draw production and thoroughly entertaining show, which had me saying as I came out, ‘I could sit through that again!’ Not something I expected to say after all the Pantos we’ve reviewed in the last few weeks. So well done to Director Rowan Alfred, Co-Director RaeAnna Hammerbacker and all of the backstage staff who helped produce what was effectively a masterclass in creating a pantomime from scratch! Welcome to District 2!

Finally, thank you to David and Julia Alexander and the rest of the FOH staff for their kind hospitality. Two tickets for next year’s panto please!

 

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