Honk

‘Honk’ is a joyous show based on the well known tale of ‘The Ugly Duckling’, I have seen the show many times and have always felt happy and well entertained, and I am pleased to say this was no exception. Many of last season’s young performers in CLOC Juniors have matured into confident and talented principal performers and together with a very capable company they presented a most enjoyable production.

The simple set of platforms, either side of a bridge with bulrushes and plants was attractive and allowed the company space with plenty of room for movement and dance. The opening of the show  ‘A Poultry Tale’ introduced us to so many characters I found it difficult to sort who was duck, chicken, turkey etc until I looked and realised their coloured legs, I found this disconcerting at first until they established their own characters in performance. The atmospheric lighting and ‘mist’ rising on the pond was very effective. The cool misty dawn and the blues and purples of dusk were excellent and the wintery chill in ‘The Blizzard’ was very good.  Ida’s nest was effective with her four smaller eggs surrounding the large middle egg. With a good setting, costumes lighting and props it was the production team’s responsibility to cast the principals and smaller parts. I don’t often make comment on casting, but ‘Honk’ was a perfect choice for the current CLOC J ‘talent’ on display.

Ida was the perfect mother duck; she sang well and acted with emotion and conviction.  Ida has a large role in the show with lots to remember and Kate Gilbert was ideal, and convinced us of her love for her ‘over sized’ ducking ‘Ugly’. Drake, her relaxed and uncomplicated husband was given life by relaxed and uncomplicated Ollie Broderick. There are many named parts and cameos and everyone performed well including the enthusiastic and energetic company. The four ducklings were delightful, the Greylags Squad were accomplished and funny and the squad routine was very amusingly led by Greylag and Dot…Talented and funny Ted Sheppard and Olivia Bird. Cat…Brandon Headford had terrific style… years beyond his actual age. He purred perfectly and was deliciously ‘catty’ and it was a delight to watch him perform.  Siamese cat - Queenie and Hen – Lowbutt must have worked very hard to achieve such a good double act, Bridie King and Liv Haly should be well pleased with their excellent performances.

The production team must have worked very hard to ensure this production lived, had excellent pace, good groupings, manageable dance and movement and excellent sound… the cast offering good diction ensured we could hear every word.

That only leaves me to rhapsodize about wonderful ‘Ugly’… Isaac Lewis. From the moment he hatched and uttered ‘honk’, he had the audience in the palm of his hand. This boy can sing dance, act and dance what a find… what a trooper! What a wonderful performance. But there was a cameo performance from Des Coghlan-Forbes as Bullfrog that was outstanding. Des was born to perform, his tap routine with Isaac was superb, he could easily have stolen the show with his bright, winning smile and his cheeky song, but he performed like a true pro with style and together with Isaac shared the outstanding routine of the show ‘Warts and All’. It was worth the trip up the busy M5 just for that ‘wow’ moment!

But we must not forget everyone else. This was a company show with excellent teamwork. Congratulations on a most enjoyable production … ‘Warts and All’.

Well Done!

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