Grease

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What a wonderful evening’s entertainment this was, well sung, well acted and well danced throughout.  The choreography was simple yet effective and everyone knew what they were doing and when. Do I expect any less from BYP? – frankly No!!  I always know that when I go to attend a BYP performance, of whatever age, I am going to be well entertained, and these youngsters were, on average between the ages of 11 and 14 with a few exceptions.
My only criticisms of this performance were that, at the opening, the libretto was rather gabbled and therefore not easy to decipher or understand but quickly settled down as the show progressed.  The sound, throughout the evening, was a very on and off affair which, quite frankly, if it had been turned off would have been preferential to the intermittent sound that was reproduced as the performers produced a very reasonable sound by themselves without amplification.
The set was very simplistic, costumes on the whole, well fitting and appropriate, make up and hairstyles were very much of the period.  The band led all the rhythms and moods of the show and accompanied the performers perfectly.  The production brought out the best of the players capabilities and the changes of groupings, particularly in ‘Freddy my love’, well sung by Marty (Jessica Ssettaba), were deceptively simple, very clever and a joy to behold.
The characters – where do I start on such a talented cast??  Patty (Ellen O’Keeffe) gave her all into this, not very popular character: Rizzio ((Abbie Sears) held her character well throughout: Frenchy (Gabrielle Zychal) was an outstanding friend to all: ChaCha (Megan Elsegood) was memorable in her performance. Vince Fontaine (Reece Raymond) , a very extrovert character who gained a great amount of laughs from the audience, Doody (Joey Wilby) – this boy exudes his personality over the footlights and gave a very creditable performance: Eugene (Elliot Broadfoot), a superb performance that belied his years, held the audience’s attention  and had them laughing at his many antics.   The main characters, Danny (Jimmy Mistry) and Sandy ((Emily Gilpin) held the show together beautifully from beginning to end.  I particularly liked Sandy’s ‘perfect’ English accent which stood out very well from all the American, her shoes for the finale were perfect as was Danny’s hairstyle.  All the other characters and the chorus were very ably portrayed and were a credit to Rydell High School and BYP.
 

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