Honk!!

This was the first time I had seen a production of this musical telling of the story of the Ugly Duckling performed by adults and I was not disappointed. Tim Neill’s portrayal of the central character (Ugly) was excellent and I loved the awkwardness of his whole performance. Another excellent portrayal was given by Stephanie Seal as the mother duck (Ida). Without a doubt, the talent and charm of ‘Mother Duck’ held the whole show together and she worked hard to achieve a believable story of a lost ‘duckling’. Her scenes with Ugly were both touching and funny. Her excellent voice added charisma to her role. Tim Dawes (Cat) was well characterized but unfortunately there were times when the dialogue became too overpowered buy the accent and we lost the nuance of his delivery. However, his scene with Elizabeth Shaw (Queenie) had the audience in stitches! Strong support was given by Wesley Hughs (Drake), Jonathan Fletcher (Greyleg), Adele Walker (Maureen) and Mary Driver (Lowbutt). This was a slick, well-acted production with good pace. Lighting was good and the costumes were suitable for a farming community. The music was in the very capable hands of the MD and the well rounded orchestra gave good support to both company and soloists. The cast were well drilled musically with some excellent harmonies coming through. I suspect this music was not as straightforward as it appeared so the excellent company singing was the result of hard work. This was a good company show, made possible by excellent teamwork and shared aims. Congratulations to you all.

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