Cox & Box & HMS Pinafore
Information
- Date
- 15th June 2018
- Society
- Cambridgeshire Light Opera Group
- Venue
- The Barn, Downing Farm, Swaffham Bulbeck
- Type of Production
- Musical
- Director
- Lynne Bullen and Caille Peri
- Musical Director
- Angela Roebuck
- Choreographer
- N/A
COX & BOX
Cox and Box, an amusing farce, is a collaboration between F.C. Burnand (librettist) and Arthur Sullivan (composer). It is the story of a landlord who lets a room to two lodgers, a Mr Cox, a hatter, who works all day and Mr Box a printer who works at night, so doubling his income. All goes well until Mr Cox has a day off work and is in the room during the day and discovers the other tenant.
Before the overture we had the opportunity to absorb the excellent set (designed by Natasha Flores) for Sergeant Bouncer’s tenants Mr Cox & Mr Box which contained a large and very authentic looking pot-bellied stove for the all important cooking, a bed alcove a table and chairs plus many appropriate props.
The excellent orchestra once again was skilfully managed by experienced MD Angela Roebuck. Though not overwhelming the voices totally, unfortunately at times the audience could not hear some of the words of Bouncer and Box. Splendid casting had Gerard Chadwick as the cunning and quick-thinking Bouncer playing his two tenants off one against the other. A fine actor confident in and enjoying his role. William Hale made a splendid Cox. Mr Hale is an excellent singer who also has considerable acting talent. There was good interaction with Tim Winn as Mr Box. Another with a fine voice and confident in his role. The trio had all developed individual characters suited to their roles.
Cox & Box is basically an elongated sketch set to music and Director Lynne Bullen brought out the humour of the piece splendidly thus ensuring its success making an excellent “starter” to the evening.
A trip to Swaffham Bulbeck Summer Theatre never lacks interest from the moment of arrival. The transformation of Carol & David Turner’s barn at Downing Farm takes a lot of effort by a large number of dedicated people and Kay Ballard’s Auditorium decor is always well thought out and interesting. Plus, watching Stage Manager David Hincks and his team change the set in the interval is an entertainment in itself. It was ingenious and quite mesmerising.
So, the transition was made from the Cox and Box compact and bijou room to the deck of HMS Pinafore.
HMS Pinafore
We were treated to another excellent set aboard HMS Pinafore, with nice variations in levels. The lighting (by David Stubbings & Mark McDowall and their team) throughout the evening was outstanding given the amount of rigging which must have been involved to achieve the effects required. The costumes all looked suitably of the period and fitted well. The make-up was just right. The barn enjoys good acoustics so the production did not suffer from a lack of microphones and hence there were no crackles in inappropriate places (always a bonus in my book).
HMS Pinafore was the first major success for Gilbert and Sullivan and still delights its audiences to this day and, in the overture, the orchestra reminded us of the more familiar music which was in store for us. Once again MD Angela had worked well with the cast and the vocal talents of the company were shown to great effect in the solos, duets and the chorus work.
This ship had a rather mature crew but the opening men’s chorus was rousing and got the second half off to a good start. With a cast of about thirty the opportunity for choreography was minimal. This did give the impression that it lacked animation at times, particularly when the full cast was involved.
Director Caille Peri had assembled a good line up of principals especially the class divided lovers, Josephine, the Captain’s daughter, (Anna Murgatroyd) and her common sailor Ralph Rackstraw, (Stephen Lawrence) were both in superb form vocally. Good strong performance once again from William Hale as Captain Corcoran and Øistein Andersen as Sir Joseph Porter KCB (First Lord of the Admiralty), in charge of the "Queen's Navee” was in good voice too. There was a really nice performance from Little Buttercup (Helen Bryant) who sang and told her story well. In other roles Geoff Reed gave a good portrayal as the treacherous Dick Deadeye. Bill Bobstay, the Boatswain’s Mate (Caille Peri), was definitely in control at all times supported by the Carpenter’s Mate Bob Becket (Steven Aronson). The First Lord’s sisters, cousins and aunts were all on top form vocally, particularly Cousin Hebe (Sally Goldsmith) ‘Never Mind the Why and Wherefore’ being a highlight. All other characters of the cast performed well and there was good team work.
Swaffham Bulbeck Summer Theatre always present quality Gilbert & Sullivan productions and this year was no exception - both offerings fully deserved the accolade they received from the appreciative audience.
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