Highlights of Matilda and Chicago

I was back in Rhiwbina for night two of my visit to see NODA newcomers, the Suzanne Scale Performing Arts Academy.  This time to see two mini productions of Matilda and Chicago, split over two acts.  Each act gave the audience selected scenes and songs from each show.  It was enough to tell the whole story of each for anyone who hadn’t seen them and it was a lovely way to enable the large cast to perform in their groups.

The set was the same one I had seen the previous evening whilst watching Fame and it worked well in both productions. 

Matilda

The production is based upon the famous story by Roald Dahl, with some excellent musical numbers thrown in for good measure.

As the title character, Maisie Farnham was absolutely superb.  She was Matilda.  Great character, excellent singing, lots of energy.  Very well done!

Persephone Constantinou was great as Matilda’s friend, Lavender.  She had a lovely character and great singing.  Well done.

Tanwen Jones did a lovely job as Miss Honey.  She had a great character and I really enjoyed her singing.

Mr and Mrs Wormwood, played by Celyn Windsor and Nia O’Halloran were an excellent, larger than life, comedy duo.  Full of energy every time they were on stage!

The nasty Miss Trunchbull was played by Esme Pike.  She did a great job with a really strong character.

There were also good cameos from Beatrice Dixon and Codan Gelder-Hamilton as Amanda Thripp and Bruce Bogtrotter.

The rest of the cast shone every time they were on stage and as a collective, they did a fantastic job.  A performance full of great singing and bags of energy.  The future’s bright in Cardiff.  Well done!

 

Chicago

This well-known musical, that was also a film famously starring Catherine Zeta-Jones and Renee Zellweger follows two rival murderesses in 1920s Chicago.

The well-drilled cast produced a fantastic opening with ‘All That Jazz’.  The choreography was extremely well delivered and very tight.  Not an arm or leg out of place!

Cerys Tyler did a good job as Velma Kelly.  She had a great character and good vocals.  Her dancing was very good.  Well done.

Roxie Hart was played by Megan Rummings.  She had strong vocals and a nice character.  Good work!

Evie Hart kept the show moving as the Master of Ceremonies.  I really liked her energy when she came on stage.

Amelia Harris played lawyer, Billy Flynn.  She did a good job and sang and moved well.

Emma Batchelor gave a strong portrayal of Mama Morton.  I really enjoyed, ‘When you’re good to Mama), well done.

The cell block tango was well performed by Lara Norman, Ffion Bestwick, Iola Richards, Caoimhe Lewis and Ava Scale.

The ensemble cast all provided good energy whenever they were on stage and I was impressed with their movement.

I must congratulate the sound engineer for both shows who enabled both casts to be heard at all times. 

Overall, this was an enjoyable night of entertainment.  Thank you everyone.  I look forward to seeing you again.

 

The views in this report are solely of the author.

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