Carousel

This was an excellent show, well directed by Pauline Pope, with very strong performances especially from Caroline Ibbetson (Julie Jordan), Katy Maynard (Carrie Pipperidge), Jamie Hughes (Billy Bigelow) and John Allanach (Enoch Snow), who were all excellent, along with some great support from Pauline Woodcock (Mrs Mullin), Pat Hughes (Nettie Fowler) and Mike Rawson (Jigger Craigin).

Musical numbers, solos and chorus, were all beautifully sung with good diction and, at times where necessary, emotion, with excellent and sympathetic accompaniment from Geoff Allanach on the keyboard.

The sets and lighting were all used to great effect throughout especially at the beginning with the carousel sequence filmed on a real one and projected onto a screen and the clever way it rolled up to reveal the cast for the opening number.

Although the show itself is a very sad story of how Billy Bigelow is enticed to help Jigger Craigin to commit a robbery, and gets himself shot dead, there was enough humour in the show to change the atmosphere especially when he goes to heaven and then decides to come back to earth for a day to see his daughter which the audience seemed to appreciate.

Overall a very good show culminating in a tear jerking finale of “You’ll never walk alone“.

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