Blitz!

Having not been performed for many years, this show is now having a welcome revival.  I suspect largely due to the recent anniversaries of the two World Wars but, whatever the reason, it is a lovely show to stage and TOPS have done it proud.

All the main characters are, of necessity, larger than life and the Principals produced some good performances.  Vanda Mercer played the lead role of Mrs Blitzstein and, although she was a little tentative in some of her songs, it is a huge part which she performed well.   Rob Morley played her nemesis Alfie Locke and his performance was just the right balance of east end aggression and humour.  Harry Doyle played the old contemptible Ernie Nearmiss and he found every bit of comedy in this great role, another terrific performance.

Jess Pether was excellent as Elsie, great characterisation and terrific singing and dancing.  Sean Hynes played Georgie Locke and his characterisation was perfect, Josh Handley produced another good performance as Harry Blitzstein and Nicola Smith completed the principal line up and her portrayal as the blind Carol Blitzstein was spot on.  It is very difficult for a sighted actor to reproduce the mannerisms of a blind person but Nicola had, clearly, worked hard to get it right.

The ensemble worked very hard in this production and many actors played several of the smaller parts,  This show does give plenty of opportunity for small dialogue parts and the characterisations by these actors was very good.

I must compliment the children without whom this show would be the poorer; they showed great energy and confidence on stage.  I only saw one of the two teams but they were credit to the youth programme that TOPS have initiated and I am sure that the other team were just as good.  I must give a special mention to George Lane (Tommy Blackwell) Samuel Westrop (Siddy Blitzstein) and Olivia Shepherd (Francis Locke) all of whom displayed great stage presence and confidence.

Overall the production was lively and the cast displayed terrific energy in the song and dance numbers.  I did find it a little odd that the ‘Ladies’ stripped to their underwear in the middle of Victoria Station!  I also thought that it was a shame that one song, Magic Doorway, and the accompanying scene seem to have been cut from the show.  In my opinion it provides a welcome respite from the hectic action of the blitz but I can understand that it can slow the pace of the show down.  It’s always the Director’s personal opinion in these circumstances and the pace of the show certainly did not flag at any point.

The scenery was, of necessity in this theatre, limited but served to portray the scenes well, the costumes were lovely and, in the main, of the period.  The band, under the direction of MD Alan Watts provided a good supporting sound and enabled us to hear all the dialogue and songs during the show.

Overall another great show from TOPS on Stage.

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