Dick Whittington and his Cat

Thornbury Musical Theatre Group

Dick Whittington and his Cat

As seen by: Frankie Telford on February 14th, 2018

Director: Dorothy Wrench                                                                                                            

Musical Director: Roger Winter

Choreographers: Julia Edwards and Alice Walton

The Armstrong Hall, Thornbury

This is usually a popular choice of Pantomime and this version, written by Chris Denys and Chris Harris, was no exception, with most of the performances sold out.  It had a well-written script, which appealed to all ages, with plenty of opportunity for audience participation.

There were many well-painted and constructed sets in this technically, ambitious production.  Good use was made of the gauze during the Prologue from King Rat and in the second Act for the ‘Underwater scene’.  In the Prologue King Rat was in front of the gauze and we could see The Citizens of London behind in an excellent ‘freeze’.  The bedroom scene required precision timing, with beds shooting in and out, and the revolving bookcase through which the little rats kept appearing, it worked well.  The lighting had been well designed and there were some good effects.  I particularly liked the night scene on the deck of the ship.  The show had been well costumed throughout; with a lovely dress for Fairy Bowbells; exotic costumes in the sultan’s Palace and excellent finale costumes.  The sound balance was good, and effects well cued.

 

Julia Edwards and Alice Walton had provided the cast with varied and interesting choreography.  Everyone had worked hard to present the well co-ordinated routines particularly the tap routine to open Act 2, the dance at the bottom of the sea, and in the Sultan’s Palace.

The musical numbers had been well chosen and Musical Director Roger Winter had provided some interesting arrangements which were all well-sung and played, the length of each musical numbers was just right.

The usual lovable characters were to be found on stage, including the one we love to hate, King Rat.  Tommy the cat, can be challenging as all communication is through body language and meowing; but in this instance all the feline movements and characteristics had been captured to perfection.

Director Dorothy Wrench had obviously enjoyed coming out of retirement to direct this Pantomime, which starts the Companies Celebrations to mark their 50th year.   It was colourful, with good singing and dancing and very technical.  There were one or two places where there was hesitation and the timing were not quite right, but I am sure this would improve as the week progressed.  The audience had obviously enjoyed the evening and left with smiling faces. 

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