Bugsy Malone

Bugsy Malone takes us back to the 1920s and gangster warfare is rife in New York City.  The musical follows the story of gangster rivals, Fat Sam and Dandy Dan in their battle to control the city.

It was a real privilege for me to attend the first ever full scale, youth musical for this society in a year when the main society is celebrating its 100th anniversary.  How fitting that this was also my first outing as the District 4 rep!

In the title role of Bugsy, Gabriel Jenkins gave a suave and mature performance, with a cheeky character shining through.  Opposite him, Esme Dickinson as Blousey Brown showed off her mature vocals throughout the performance.

Ollie Clevett played the dancing janitor, Fizzy.  He had great character and a voice to match, with a superb rendition of ‘Tomorrow’.

Fat Sam and Tallulah, played by Noemi Paci and Amy Lewis, worked well together, bringing real energy and strength to the stage whenever they were on it.

Austin Beasley gave a good performance as Fat Sam’s nemesis, Dandy Dan, ruling over his gang with an iron fist!

Meryl  Smith caused quite a stir in the audience with her excellent entrance as Lena Marelli and kept us entertained during ‘Show Business’.

I must congratulate the ensemble cast on their energy and vocals, especially in ‘Fat Sam’s Grand Slam’ and ‘Down and Out’,  two particular highlights on the night for me.

From a technical standpoint, the set was well structured which created different levels for the performers to use and transported the audience to various parts of the city. Occasionally, some technical issues meant that the dialogue was difficult to hear and the performers were unable to be seen, which was a real shame for the cast and audience.

All in all, I had a lovely evening and I look forward to visiting many more times and watching this young cast develop into future superstars.  Thank you PODyS for a ‘splurgetastic’ evening!

 

This report is solely the opinion of the author.

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