Grease

Grease is the word! And my goodness it was heard far and wide from the super talented youngsters of Crash Bang Wallop at the Forum,, Northallerton.

Yet again, the set filled the stage and looked great. I particularly liked the opening credits on projection. Very cleverly done tweaking them from the original film to fit with their production. The cross from screen to stage was seamless and worked a treat. Excellent use of the stage extensions and floor spaces either side of the orchestra pit.

Costumes worked well and helped to establish the characters as we know and love them. The lighting worked well and befitted such a bright show. Never underestimate how the use of effective lighting can increase the impact of the different scenes.

It was great to hear a live band accompany this show as Societies are turning to backing tracks more and more now in efforts to keep costs down which is such a shame but I can see and understand why. The band was under the baton of Mr Alan Owens, a regular conductor both for this company and at the Forum. The instruments blended well together and never once did they overpower the actors.

The stage was filled with lots of enthusiastic youngsters and I really enjoyed the full company dance sections. The clever, and quite difficult, choreography was well rehearsed and performed. All the principal performers really got into character and worked well together.

There were some lovely vocal performances in the show, particularly Georgie Rose as Sandy who sang with such confidence and style and Joe Morton, once again taking on a lead role. This time as the ever iconic Danny. The chemistry between these two grew throughout the show and I could tell they were loving every minute of it on that stage.  I also have to give a special mention to Daisy Pitts as Rizzo. Her style and performance really drew the audience in.

Chloe Richardson as Frenchie, Robyn (Esther) Lane as Marty and Holly Hilton as Jan along with Ethan McGee as Kenickie, Reuban Grossett as Doody, Tony Davidson as Roger and Sam Thorpe as Sonny all played their characters superbly. Great vocals and great energy between them all. Well done!

I would like to echo Gordon’s words in his report below with regards to Blanche, played by Molly Mason. Every time she was on stage, she was infectious. She had the audience eating out of her hand! Superb.

Grease was a show full of energy and one to be proud of, it was certainly enjoyed by the audience and my congratulations go to the cast, crew, musicians and production team. There was not one weak link in this entire production and I cannot wait for Les Miserables!

Bravo!

 

From Mr Gordon Richardson:

CBW are a very talented group that nurtures their youngsters, and the youngsters respond accordingly for the group in producing some of the best youth performances in the region. No more so than Grease which I saw on their last performance with the ‘Red’ cast of Pink Ladies. Because of the plethora of talent on show at the auditions they were able to double cast this group of girls.

With this background I’m delighted to share this show report with fellow representative, Dan, who saw the ‘Blue’ team. Even though double cast, the double casting meant both sets of girls had the unenviable task of learning two sets of dialogue; two sets of movement; two lots of choreography. They accomplished this without breaking stride.

Abi Robertson was worldly wise beyond her years and made the most of the ‘edgy’ character of ‘Rizzo’ with her jaundiced view of the world and her initial first impression of puritanical ‘Sandy’. ‘Sandy’ was played by Lucy Strong whose initial naïve demeanour in the role contrasted well with her much raunchier end-game persona. Both teenagers sang beautifully with powerful voices.

Each remaining Pink Lady of ‘Frenchie’ (Laura Burns), ‘Marty’ (Lauren MacDonald) and ‘Jan’ (Grace Crawford) excelled in their respective roles and singing and enhanced the production with their fully rounded characterisations which they developed over the course of the production.

The T Birds will no doubt have been covered in Dan’s report but from my perspective each character was oozing with 1950’s charm and swagger.

The whole cast produced a wonderful experience for their ‘sell out’ audiences and should be exceedingly proud of their performances, including the cast members situated throughout the auditorium in the seating to start the show off. I do wish to single out one character and that was Molly Mason who made the small role of ‘Blanche’ ‘her own’ with her superb facial expressions and comedic timing in her dialogue – well done Molly.

I have over the years watched many of these youngsters grow, not only in years but in confidence and stature into the accomplished practitioners of the dramatic arts they are today. Well done CBW who are indeed a superb example of excellent youth theatre.

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