Bugsy Malone

‘Bugsy Malone’ is a great choice of show for a youth theatre group and as usual with the dynamic young performers from Weston Super Mare Oppitts, there was a profusion of talent. 

The Blakehay Theatre lends itself to small musical theatre productions both adult and junior, the audience is close to the action and feels involved and everyone has a good view of the stage area. Because of this closeness one might assume that a good sound system might not be necessary, but when you add a brassy sound from the band and young children, some who are unused to projecting dialogue, being able to hear the performers, or as in this case not being able to hear the performers, can make or break ones enjoyment of the show.

The older and more experienced girls had no problem with being heard, the problem came with the less experienced boys and girls, even when they had a mic. There was music over dialogue and with the addition of rushed lines, thick American accents and cameo roles with no mic’s, sound became a problem, which I commented to some of your production team during the interval. This was a shame because the show itself was very entertaining and poor sound meant we could not follow comic lines and many humorous moments were therefore lost.   

The small stage had been cleverly designed to incorporate all the scenes without scene changes which could have slowed the pace. In fact the pace at time was so fast we almost couldn’t enjoy the high moments, as it all moved on so quickly. The adult crew performed sterling work in bringing on and off large properties, also ensuring the huge amount of ‘splurge’ was wiped from the stage… there were still one or two slippery moments though! My biggest concern was Fat Sam’s Office which was built as a raised section. Access stairs with a rail to the side were good but I assume to allow for sight lines, the platform was open to the front and when ‘the gang’ all crowded into the office, my husband leant across me and said ‘no safety rail, there could be a problem if someone falls!’. I am sure the cast were well drilled to stay back and they did, but sightlines or not I couldn’t see any of the gangsters in the office (apart from ‘Knuckles’ at the front) from where I was sitting.

The small band provided a nice, well played, excellent sound, perfect for the small theatre and the production.  The singing from the whole company was very good, but the two leading young ladies Mollie Benny playing Tallulah and Freya Perrins playing Blousey Brown must be congratulated as they excelled in their performances both in singing and acting, very well done.

The Speakeasy Singers gave a really polished and glamorous performance both in singing and presentation and the dancers demonstrated talent and skill.

The young men in the production were put in the shade by older, very talented and experienced girls, but Jacob Thomas as Bugsy Malone, showed great promise for the future and was very appealing in his narrator/character role, as did Daniel Walker as Fat Sam. Daniel worked really hard to get into character, his heavy American accent was hindered by his too fast delivery of lines making him difficult to understand, but his characterisation was excellent, experience will make him an asset to any youth theatre group.

Others who performed well included Kelly-Anne Magbanua playing Fizzy… she was amusing, touching and had a good sense of timing, Cagey Joe ( don’t know name)  did well in ‘Do you Wanna Be a Boxer’ as did Dandy  Dan  (Jack Tarleton).

This was a difficult show to review. The young people all gave of their best, the choreography was energetic and entertaining. The band was excellent, the costumes spot on, the set worked well and yet I came away disappointed that I hadn’t enjoyed it as much as some previous Oppitts productions, probably for reasons already stated.

The finale was complete chaos, too much splurge and too much ad lib movement, it spoiled what could have been an impressive ending…. But the cast enjoyed themselves enormously as did the very appreciative audience… perhaps it was just me being over critical. Best wishes to everyone 

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