Bugsy Malone

Bugsy Malone – a musical staged by Waterloo and Crosby Theatre Company Youth Section at Merchant Taylors Boys School, Liverpool Road, Crosby on Saturday, 13th July, 2024

Bugsy Malone the stage musical is based on the 1976 gangster comedy movie written by Alan Parker with music and lyrics by Paul Williams. It welcomes us to New York in the early 1900’s … a city full of mobsters, showgirls and dreamers. Rival gangster bosses Fat Sam and Dandy Dan are at loggerheads. The ‘custard pies’ are flying and the new-fangled “splurge” gun is causing absolute mayhem.  Enter Bugsy Malone, a penniless one-time boxer and all-round nice guy. All he wants is to spend time with his new love, Blousey, but can he resist seductive songstress Tallulah and stay out of trouble long enough to help Fat Sam defendhis business… the storyline is loosely based on events in New York and Chicago during Prohibition era, specifically the exploits of real-life gangsters like Al Capone and Bugs Moran.

Production Team… this was the first time I’d seen this musical and knew little about the storyline if I’m honest, but having now seen it, I can only imagine how difficult it must have been to both stage and direct.  The musical is littered with so many ‘small scenes’ which I did feel broke the show up, not allowing it to flow. Scenes ended abruptly and often switched between different times, places and characters … making the storyline a little blared at times!  But, having said all that … I can only give credit to those in charge … Nicci Henshaw (Director), Sarah Henchskelt and Gerry Harrison (Musical Directors), Sarah Henchskelt (Choreographer) Colin Wilson (Stage Manager/Scenery + Props Wizard) for taking on this production and doing such a good job with it!  What wasn’t hard to understand, follow or see was the enjoyment being had by the thirty odd young cast members. The huge smiles on every cast members face told us that they were all having the time of their young lives … especially those armed with the ‘splurge guns and/or custard pies’, which was something that I reiterated at the post show meet with the cast … THIS IS WHAT AMATEUR THEATRE IS ALL ABOUT … and that doesn’t just apply to the young cast members, it applies to everyone involved in amateur theatre!

The Cast …there were some great characters created, some great performances produced … but once again I find myself saying that the success of this production wasn’t down to an individual (although I will give a few shout outs later), but down to ‘team togetherness’, to a cast of young people working together for the benefit of the whole … a ‘family affair’ and when that happens, it’s difficult to start suggesting that someone was better than someone else for fear of doing an injustice … so, where to start! Our two leads were Daniel Housley who played ‘Bugsy Malone’ and Grace O’Rourke who played ‘Blousey Brown’. Jack Johnson played ‘Fat Slim’; Jonah Hargreaves played ‘Dandy Dan’; Freya Maddock  played ‘Tallulah;  Jessica Travers played ‘Fizzy’; Izzy Robinson played Lena; Samuel Lai and William Dowrick played ‘Cagey Jo’ & ‘Leroy’ respectively; Caitlin Jones played ‘Louelle’;  and Florence Dowrick and Isla Worrall played ‘Smolskey’ & ‘O’Dreary’ respectively. 
Fat Sam’s Gang … included Chloe Todd, Nieve Marshall, Oscar Henry, Daniel Bagot, Scarlett Roberts, Leon Davies, Micah Edwards, Toby Thistlewaite, Ben Simpkin-Watkinson.
Dandy DAN’S GANG …  Ana Garner, Nathan Hesketh, Nancy Dickman, Krystal Davies, Nieve Marshall and Aaliyah Chopra.  
Dance Captains/Dancers: Jessica Dearden/Heidi Saunders. Dancers… which included the captains, were Alice Dearden, Georgie Wilson, Grace Pearce, Amelie Porter, Alice Edward and Emily Wall.

‘Shout Outs’ … ‘Bugsy’ and ‘Blousey’ aka Daniel Housley and Grace O’Rourke led the show really well. Both looked the part, were well matched and provided us with two believable characters who worked together ever so well.  Both had good stage presence, the chemistry between them was good; I liked the way Daniel was able to show the vulnerable side of Bugsy and I thought Grace provided us with some lovely vocals.  Well done you two! Jack Johnson and Jonah Hargreaves took on the roles of ‘Fat Slim’ and ‘Dandy Dan’ respectively, our two ‘nasty pasties’ the ‘warring factions’ of this musical!  Again, two good characters created, both seemed comfortable with the gangster roles and seemed to enjoy the gangland rivalry … well done guys!  Freya Maddock who took on the role of ‘Tallulah’, the seductive singer dancer… Fat Sam’s gun moll and Bugsy’s ex. Freya looked ever so comfortable with this role. Good stage presence, good dancer, worked ever so well with all the cast… well done Freya, be proud!   Finally … I can’t move on without highlighting the ensemble…. the gangs, the dancers … these young people really did give us their all!  OK, I had my reservations about the script and its many scenes … but what I had ‘no reservations’ about, was the effort, energy, enthusiasm that just oozed over those footlights from this cast of young talented actors… be proud all of you on a job well done!  

Staging/Set/Tech …  when you have a production with so many small scenes requiring scene changes, it can and does slow a production down. I see it so often with plays that have been created out of TV series, where the writer has ‘pulled together’ several episodes from a series and made one play… it becomes bitty, sometimes hard to follow and you end up sat in blackouts and the flow of the production is dramatically affected. It’s difficult for me to start saying anything detrimental about the staging of a WCTC production when I know the amount of time, effort, energy they spend creating/building in house sets and props, so I really do hope I don’t offend anyone, when I offer some solutions and considerations, this is never my intention, I only want to offer some constructive advice that may help in the future… I’ve suggested this before to other societies and I know it’s worked in many instances … the term‘less is more’ is something I use regularly!  The more you bring on stage the more you have to move or take off!  The question(s) to ask yourself when planning scenes, especially if there’s a lot like in Bugsy, is … “Is everything on stage necessary”?  “If the answer is NO, then what could I have done without”?  I felt the sheer amount that had to be moved, taken on/taken off became a little overwhelming at times, especially when you’re asking cast members to get involved!  For future shows, instead of spoon feeding your audience, why not let them use their imagination … for instance, from Bugsy… the ‘telephone flat’ … brought on/taken off on numerous occasions and which did cause a few issues… “Was the flat needed” … I’m going to say ‘No’ …. let the telephone user bring a telephone on with him or her and speak into it, there was no real need for the flat.  There were lots of tables and chairs brought on and taken off at regular intervals, where they all needed?  Again, I would say no… less tables/less chairs, frees up space, free up cast members, prevents people bumping into each other in a rush, which did happen on a couple of occasions ... set people stood up in the nightclub as they would normally do, again let the audience use their imagination.  This is just me thinking out loud, just looking at a couple of issues from this show which could have saved time and energy!  Again, I really hope this doesn’t offend, it’s purely me thinking out loud and trying to offer constructive advice that I’ve used myself and that has worked for others.

Lighting was good and helped to enhance the show …under the watchful eye of Nathaniel Sinclair. 

Sound was very much hit and miss … slow mikes, quiet mikes, mikes that didn’t come on at all … this made following the storyline and understanding the dialogue that much harder, and when you don’t know the storyline as I didn’t, then hearing and understanding the storyline is vital!   

The Band … led by the ever lovely and ever so experienced Annie Dickinson (MBE) included Gerry Harrison, Ian Robinson, Jai Edwards and Mark Jones.  Situated on stage, they accompanied the cast/singers ever so well, never overpowering always assisting… congrats folk’s good job!

Costumes were amazing, effective, of the era and enhanced both the characters and the production ever so much … designed and created by Louise Dearden and Nicci Henshaw.

Props/Stage Furniture … was, as always, first class … loved the in house designed and built car (Designed and built by ‘the wizard’ that is Colin Wilson). The car moved freely around the auditorium on a truck, ever so effective!  The ‘splurge guns’ were also very effective and obviously loved by all the cast members who got to ‘splurge’ their mates along with the custard pies … never seen a cast look so enthusiastic with a prop!  The newly acquired ‘multi staging/rostra’ was used effectively to afford access to and from the rear of the stage.  

Thank you so much for inviting Susan and I to your production and for allowing me to speak and then sing a reprise of ‘Fat Sam’s Grand Slam’, back stage with the cast … pity we, the assembled VIP party didn’t know all the words, but I think we made it count, especially with the assistance of a still enthusiastic cast. Thanks you so much, hope to see you all again for ‘Grinch the Panto’…

Stay safe, Keep well
Stronger Together

Jim Briscoe
NODA NW
District 6 Rep

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