Bugsy Malone

Bugsy Malone is one of the ideal productions for a young cast giving everyone a chance to sing, dance and learn the art of acting with a story line appealing to both the girls and boys of Walberton Players Youth Theatre. The foyer at Walberton Village Hall was packed with family and friends and well manned by volunteers so we were warmly welcomed and escorted to our seats for what proved to be an excellent evening’s entertainment.

The open set was predominantly on one level with Fat Sam’s nightclub as the backdrop, his office was forward stage right and on the left a flight of stairs went down into the auditorium which was a small area of open floor used for external scenes as well. The set was very well constructed with plenty of use of a roll on truck depicting a wall and endless tables, chairs and other props, well handled by the efficient stage crew. The colours and art deco style was vibrant and perfectly suited to the era of the show, the costumes were absolutely fabulous, with great attention to detail, the sound was evenly pitched and clear throughout, and the lighting was cleverly designed.

Josh Main as Bugsy Malone gave a great performance as the streetwise ducker and diver, however his delivery was a little hurried, but this may have just been first night nerves. Emily Hunt was terrific as Tallulah, commanding the stage with every entrance. Eve Holland was perfectly sweet and sang beautifully as Bugsy’s love interest, Blousey Brown, and Jonny Chambers made a good job of Sam’s arch enemy the smug Dandy Dan. For me the outstanding performance of this production came from Nathan Lynch who gave a confident performance as the blustery club owner Fat Sam. He shone in every scene with good facial expressions portraying his personality incredibly well for a thirteen year old.

The Chorus were well rehearsed and delivered some well executed numbers with plenty of energy and confidence. ‘We could be Anyone we wanted to Be’, ‘Bugsy Malone’ and ‘Speak Easy’ were my three favourite numbers really well performed in each case.

In fact this was a good all round production and deserves my praise. Well done to the Cast and Crew of this fun show.

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