Home Again

Home Again  -  Ashbeian Musical Theatre Group  -  May 2023

The Production

Described in the colourful and informative programme as a Musical Showcase, this was a well-constructed compilation of songs from musicals; some well-known, others less so. Old favourites included Oklahoma! and Oliver. More recent well-known productions were Billy Elliot, Six and the film The Greatest Showman; while Newsies, the story of the 1899 New York Newsboys strike and Come from Away, about the forced landing of 7000 airline passengers in Newfoundland in 2001 as a result of the 9/11 emergency, represented two shows which few would yet know well.

While circumstances may have prevented the group presenting a full-scale musical this year AMTG are to be congratulated on putting together this showcase and presenting it so effectively. The production team of Director and Choreographer Nic Conn, and Musical Director Catherine Matthews (who, together with her son Tom compiled and wrote the show) deserve particular recognition for devising and presenting an enjoyable entertainment, supported by Stage Manager Simon Turton and his team Griff & Ollie.

 

The staging & orchestration

It was courageous to include two shows new to most audiences. And it worked! The numbers from the factually-based 9/11 production were staged sensitively and dramatically, with echoes of the staging in the London production. The songs from Newsies, similarly, gave a real feel of the professional production still running at Wembley Park Theatre.

The more established and recognised shows were equally entertaining and thoughtfully staged. The small band, led by MD Catherine, kept the music moving, and accompanied the many individual vocalists and ensemble numbers with sensitive support. A feature of every section was the organisation of the larger ensemble numbers, where it seemed the positioning of every member was organised to avoid blocking or masking, and to ensure consistently pleasing pictures. Due, no doubt, to the well-managed choreography.

Every section involved the whole company, all in character for the respective numbers. To cover the costume-change gaps the Narrator, Keith Reynolds, engaged the audience with interesting introductions to each show. Clearly a popular local performer, Keith’s rapport could in a more rigid format have seemed slightly over-familiar and in contrast to the slickness of the overall production, but he knew his audience and his relaxed relationship with them was well received.

 

The shows and the songs

Essentially, Home Again was a company show, with individual songs, or parts, performed by just about every cast member. It would be impractical to mention everyone here. Important to emphasise, though, that everyone involved, individually mentioned or not, contributed musically and visually to the very entertaining production.

The show opened in rousing style with Jed Smyth, Karen Jamieson and The Greatest Show from The Greatest Showman. It’s always a treat to see emerging talent, and we had that pleasure in A Million Dreams, sung by two of the youngest members of the company, Abi-Rose Tomlinson-Croxall and Ava Jenkins as Young Barnum and Young Charity, both of whom can clearly look forward to many years of theatre enjoyment.

Oklahoma! is generally regarded as having ‘broken the mould’ of the stage musical and opened up a new world of musical theatre. An early song in the evergreen show is the duet in which cowboy Curly and farmgirl Laurey try to pretend they aren’t falling in love. People Will Say We’re In Love was presented by David Sturla and Katie Roberts with just the right level of tenderness and tongue-in-cheek coyness.

The show currently in performance professionally in London, Newsies, was given a useful promotion in the selection of songs performed here with energy and enthusiasm. A feature was Lily Walker’s journalist’s song Watch What Happens, sung with dramatic conviction, seated at her typewriter.

 

Act 2 of the entertainment opened with Ex Wives, the song sung by all six wives of Henry VIII, who are themselves the subject of the show Six. Together they gave us a visually pleasing and lively vocal description of their respective fates.

I’ve already described the subject-matter of Come From Away. Naturally, such a sensitive topic needs careful handling if it can be in any way entertaining. That this was achieved splendidly in the ensemble numbers and in Menna Harley’s dramatically-performed pilot’s song Me And The Sky, is a credit to the entire cast and production team.

Billy Elliot is well-known as a film and a successful stage musical. It was a great opportunity for young performer and co-compiler of the Home Again showcase, Tom Matthews, to demonstrate his considerable vocal, dramatic and dance skills. The Letter scene, with Mum (Bethan Burton), and dance teacher Mrs Wilkinson (Karen Jamieson), was movingly performed.

Also deserving mention in this Billy Elliot extract was the vocal work of the chorus, in which the North-East accents were accurately and clearly portrayed throughout the two ensemble numbers. Lovely attention to detail.

The final section of the Showcase was from Lionel Bart’s delightful Oliver. Entertainingly opened by Keith Reynolds’ Fagin, this section provided opportunities for several of the company to give solo lines, particularly in the well-known Who Will Buy? sequence. An apparent, and understandable, shortage of mics meant that some voices were slightly less easy to hear clearly. But their costumes and the visual portrayal of their individual roles helped us to appreciate fully their parts in the well-choreographed and constantly moving scene.

No presentation of Oliver is complete without a rumbustious performance of Nancy’s Oom Pah-Pah! The rousing delivery of this song showed Lily Walker’s skill and talent as an entertaining and watchable dancer, singer and all-round performer.

The section, and the show, closed with the whole company’s performance of Consider Yourself, a lively and joyous finale to a thoroughly enjoyable production.

My wife and I were pleased to have the chance in the interval for a brief chat with the Ashbeian’s President, Karen Walker, and to thank her for inviting us to this entertaining production. We hope to see Karen, and the company, when they present Sister Act next year.

Colin Blackler

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