Honk Jr

Thank you very much for inviting me to your production of ‘Honk! The Musical’.

Honk! is a musical adaptation by George Styles and Anthony Drewe (of Betty Blue Eyes fame) of the well-known Hans Christian Andersen fairy tale The Ugly Duckling. It highlights the issue of being different and incorporates a message of tolerance. Honk! Jr is a slightly reduced version of the show, which is ideal for performance by younger groups. The show is essentially a lovely story of accepting individuality of everyone around you.

Set

Upon entering the theatre the audience were greeted by a wonderful pre-set of a woodland backdrop with barn doors set on stage. Other scenic items were added as required throughout including a set of oversized eggs which folder down to reveal each duckling as they hatched one by one. A dining table was added to the home of the cat complete with many various kitchen items to help provide clarity of location and the intentions of the cat.

Sound

As is very typical for the MTI jr shows, this production was staged using backing tracks throughout. The music was well balanced with the vocals onstage and this was further supported by the use of radio mics for many of the principle cast. All of the songs were well delivered.
Ida had a really lovely, sweet voice which was full of clarity and clear diction. The Ugly duckling did exceptionally. It takes a great deal of confidence to plant yourself on stage without shuffling around and just deliver your song with real thought to every movement made. ‘The joy of motherhood’ was nicely done and well delivered. The entire cast were well rehearsed in the music and had good timing throughout.

The average age of the cast in this production is much younger than the usual Wranglers Youth shows. The Wranglers minis did so well to deliver all of their lines and deliver all of their dance moves without anyone there to prompt them or lead them. They bring such an energy to the stage and is fantastic to see Wranglers fostering a real family to secure the future for amateur theatre.

There were many fabulous performances on display throughout the evening. The Cat was a good performer and delivered a good level of characterisation for a sly sneaky cat attempting to befriend the ugly duckling to secure an easy meal. Maureen was also very good and had a good singing voice to go with her character. The Ugly Duckling was strong and worked well to build a convincing relationship with the various characters around her. The transition from. Ugly Duckling to Swan was well handled. The frogs had excellent comic timing that ensured all of the jokes and humour hit every time and garnered a good reaction off laughter from the audience.

The costumes were effective throughout and provided just the right level off detail to suggest each animal character throughout. The choreography was very suited to the cast and was well rehearsed to ensure every single member of the company could deliver the choreography well providing an effective visual performance.

Congratulations to everyone involved on an excellent performance

Thank you once again for an enjoyable evening. Kind regards

Ryan Procter
District 3 Representative 

Any observation made by the reviewer can only be based on what he sees at the performance in question.
The reviewer may have received information in advance of the performance, and it is inevitable that his
assessment will be effected by that knowledge.

The N.O.D.A. Representative’s intention is to give an objective critique of the overall production and in
particular the performance viewed. It should be remembered that any review of this nature can only be
objective as far as the techniques used during the performance observed. Any criticisms expressed may
not have been valid at other performances, and are only made to encourage higher standards in Amateur
Theatre.

It is hoped that the audience’s appreciation of your efforts will have given everyone a lift and encouraged
you to greater achievements in the future and that the observations made by the reviewer will prove helpful
in improving future productions.

 

 

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