Gang Show 2013

Ok, so I have to start with an apology. I came along to see The Gang Show in Barnstaple with a huge pile of pre-conceptions that led me to believe that it would be a tough show to sit through. But I couldn’t have been more wrong! I had a great night and thoroughly enjoyed the show.

Thank you North Devon Gang Show for teaching me the error in my ways!
Why did I enjoy the show so much? It was contemporary, funny, slick and clever - and if they could bottle the formula that makes 60+ children and adults able to perform choreography in unison, every society in the country would buy a bottle! That’s what won me over right from the start. I knew the company would be large, but to see them all performing so well in such a large group was a great spectacle. Ok, there were one or two who weren’t quite as in sync as the rest, but it really didn’t matter.

The style of the show was much as it has always been - different themed sections, full of memorable songs, performed as medleys. The choice of songs and sections were what made the show so refreshing. They were modern songs that we all know, with nothing too cheesy (maybe one or two of the tracks were a bit tired, but they were in the minority!). The thing they did well was not to overcomplicate the choreography on stage and allow for a range of abilities, which was why the effect was so strong when performed in such large numbers.

But it wasn’t all about filling the stage with as many people as possible and the mixture of smaller numbers and sketches worked very well to break it all up. The sketches I mention were very well done, clever and witty. The one that stuck in my brain was set in a cinema with a row of seats facing out into the audience and required no dialogue at all. Lit very well. Performed very well. We laughed a lot!

Another clever example that stood out as an individual piece was a short piece of choreography in which several dancers were joined together in costumes that were half white and half black. The bizarre effect was that because each dancer’s costume blended onto the next (black half to black half, then white to white etc.) our eyes were tricked into thinking the dancers were able to lift both legs off the stage at the same time. Hard to explain. You had to be there. I’m still trying to get my head round it!

Vocally there were some very talented soloists who got the chance to shine in a few numbers with great effect, including one chap who took to what seemed like a suddenly huge and empty stage all by himself to sing ‘Electricity’ from Billy Elliot - I was hoping he’d leap into a cool dance as well, but we were all more than happy with his great vocal performance. Similarly the soloist performing ‘Goodbye My Friend’ in the Spice Girls section was fantastic - the thing that worked for them both was a real connection with the music rather than just singing prettily (or, at least, they convinced me they did!).

I would say my biggest criticism (come on, I have to give you places to improve!) is that the powerful numbers would have been even stronger with a larger band. I was listening to ‘Sing’ and starting to get goosebumps and thought that some strings and brass would have made the audience explode (in a good way!). Similarly I would like to have seen some of the large unison medleys broken up with more solos and groups. For example in ‘Spice Up Your Life’ the song is written to be split and so when sung in unison it gets a bit messy trying to get all the phrases out. Of course, I know that kind of arranging takes more time and the priority here was to get the basics done well.

The other part of the show that seemed out-of-place was the audience participation and singing. I loved the opportunity to give shout outs to the visiting troops, but somehow the format seemed a bit dated and the song a bit obvious - yes, we all know the words to ‘Happy and You Know It’, but I’d have rather seen a more current song, with projected words, to keep in with the style of the show. It just seemed to be less slick than the rest of the production.

We all laughed when the poor chap dancing in the bumble bee section who, to his credit, was really throwing his all into the movement, was being continually hit in the face by the ‘deely-boppers’ they were all wearing as antennae. More unfortunate was the young bride left without a groom, one must assume because he was ill, who persevered amongst all the other couples dancing by herself, at the front. Last minute issues like this happen, it’s a fact of theatrical life and as amateurs we don’t usually have the luxury of a last minute stand in. This was uncomfortable for us as an audience to watch though (simply because we felt for her doing her best). If the same situation were to arise again it might be preferable to swap her with a dancer more capable of improvising as a soloist.

Visually the productions was stunning. With so many bodies on stage it was kept quite bare to make room, so the costuming became the main tool. Incredible! My hat goes off to the team that stitched, hemmed, accessorised and acquired such a large wardrobe for so many cast. Highlights were; The Punks (awesome wigs!), the colour co-ordinated brides and grooms and the Spice Girls. The latter were based on 5 different costumes duplicated throughout the cast, which in their choreographed groups was striking enough, but then suddenly they all shifted to form a fan-shape which was visually stunning.

I’ve gushed enough. Suffice it to say I really enjoyed my night at the Gang Show ’13 and hope that, perhaps with some marketing and publicity assistance, more people will have their opinion changed about this talented bunch.

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