Butterfly and Bat

First of all may I welcome you to the NODA family. It was a pleasure to attend your recent production, the first as members of NODA; and the theme of ‘something sad and something fun’ worked really well.

The seating in Claygate Village Hall has been updated since my last visit there some years ago and is now very comfortable. The simple but striking stage set raised the ambience even more and would not have been out of place in a much larger theatre.

Trevor Alexander’s narration was informative and well delivered from his armchair on a dais on the floor of the hall and his direction was excellent.

Madame Butterfly

The appropriate and attractive pieces of furniture, the blossom tree and the white flats created the required oriental feel. An extra touch of Japanese characters on the flats maybe would have added to the effect, although the plain ones were very classy looking. I loved the flowers strewn on the stage later in anticipation of Pinkerton’s return.

It’s many years since I saw this opera and some of the music was not so familiar to me but of course the aria ‘One Fine Day’ was the one we had all been awaiting and it was beautifully sung by Anna Slavina.

Matt Connolly made a good Pinkerton and what unexpectedly impressed me about the opera was the acting. The actors all had excellent voices, (some projected rather more than others) and their acting out the situation was really helpful for those not so familiar with opera. Thank goodness the days of just ‘delivering’ a song are long-gone! The duet between Pinkerton and Madame B was filled with emotion.

Anette Dumville had much less to sing but her actions throughout spoke louder than words in both this and the following operetta.

Rachel Jones made an elegant Mrs Pinkerton and Richard Milnes with Simon Wilson supported the two leads expertly in their respective roles of Goro and Sharpless.

Young Sorrow coped well with being in front of an audience.

The costumes were impressive.

Die Fledermaus

I love this operetta. The music selected, along with the story from Alex Crockford, certainly brought lightness and laughter to the evening. The misunderstandings and romantic entanglements centred around the wealthy Eisenstein couple were brought to life for the audience to enjoy ----- and we did!

Matt Connolly played Alfred, an Italian opera singer and the former lover of Rosalinde, strongly and as Rosalinde, Andrea Fishendon, was most impressive.

Simon Wison was superb as Frank , what a wonderful bass voice he has, and Rachel Jones played the posturing, bored Orlovsky with style and confidence.

Veronica Brooks almost stole the show with her mesmerising performance as Adele. She was clearly loving every moment of it and it was a joy to watch her doing so.

Richard Milnes was excellent as Einstein - how on earth he doesn’t recognise his own wife is beyond belief - but it is comic operetta!

As the scheming Dr Falke, Trevor Alexander was first rate and there was great fun with the invitation scene.

The ensemble numbers were enjoyable and an important part of the whole.

The set and furniture were adapted to create the more opulent setting of a villa/ ballroom with the aid of the glittery tablecloth and backcloth, whilst the splendid costumes were colourful and elegant.

Stage crew worked quickly and quietly.

The lighting plot and operation enhanced the production.

Musical numbers were in the experienced hands of Peter Crockford who accompanied the performers sympathetically. 

Your programme is interesting to read and the black and white cover is attractive and eye-catching.

Thank you for inviting me to see ‘Butterfly and Bat’. I thoroughly enjoyed the evening and look forward to your next production with anticipation.

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