Carousel

A good start to this show with the “Carousel” horses on trucks rather than on the usual carousel ride we are used to seeing, and this set the scene for this show which had a good pace throughout and effective use of the scenery available to them.

The two leading girls of Julie and Carrie were played well by Naomi Gibson and Fay Hobson respectively, both able to deliver their songs and also act out their scenes with ease.

Liz Clay gave an admirable performance as Mrs. Mullins but I am not sure if it was the costume or the way she played it but I couldn’t’ help but see a Dolly Levi there, maybe this is a future part for Liz to look at.

The part of Nettie Fowler is a sort of mother of the show and this was well played by Debbie Shepherd, although only small in stature she was able to deliver her lines well and also gave a very good rendition of the big song of the piece, “You’ll never walk Alone”.

David Phillips gave a good performance as Enoch Snow and was able to get over the sort of bumbling personality called for in this part, Carl-Eller Rodrigues played Jigger well but I thought he did come over a little too comedic in some scenes rather than the more sinister character we have come to know, nevertheless he did an excellent job of the “Blow High, Blow Low” number with the men’s chorus.

This show rests heavily on a good leading man playing the part of Billy Bigelow, and I have to say Ashley Booker gave this a very good shot, his interpretation of the “Soliloquy” was just about perfect and he was able to deliver all the different emotions required for this complex part.

I really did enjoy the ballet which had a new twist on an old theme, instead of just having the “Carousel Ladies” they had a full carnival procession and this did work very well added to by a very good Louise and Enoch Jnr. in Rosie Clay and Jackson O’Sullivan respectively, they were able to bounce off each other both in the ballet and also the ensuing scene with their parents.

All in all a really good show with good pace and full of enjoyment for the audience.

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