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Honk! The Musical (Junior version)

Author: Tessa Davies District 10 Representative

Information

Date
12th July 2014
Society
Dunmow Players
Venue
Helena Romanes Secondary School, Dunmow
Type of Production
Musical
Director
Samantha Keys - Co-Director: Linda Keys

It was lovely to be invited to review this show on behalf of Sue Hartwell (NODA rep District 7).  I was looking forward to seeing many old friends and, especially, seeing how the children had progressed in the 18 months since I had last seen them perform.

Lots of new faces, which is fantastic, and several ones I (barely) recognised, they grow so fast in both size and ability!

I have always had rather mixed opinions of this show, but I felt it to be an ideal production for young people to do.  The 3DeeS proved me right, what a show!  Every single performer was focussed, projected well, looked confident on stage and gave brilliant performances.

I am only sorry that I cannot mention all of them but I will mention the Principals (and maybe a couple of others!)  Firstly Eddie Davis, playing the lead as Ugly; Eddie has a beautiful singing voice and his performance was just the right balance of attitude and distress.  Then Katrina Read (Ida) gave a truly delightful and mature performance as the mother.  She also has a lovely singing voice and great potential as an actress.  Richard Aspinell has matured into a very confident actor, he has a good stage presence.  Lucy Keys gave a singularly good performance as the cat; with plenty of opportunity to be bad, she relished in the role.

The ducklings, Emilia Anniss (Beaky), Benjamin James (Billy), Rachel Dalzell (Fluff), Poppy Wingar (Daisy) and Zachaeus Willis (Downy) were absolutely delightful, they looked good and spoke clearly and with good diction.  Grace Valks (Maureen) was confident and displayed strong performing skills.  Milly O'Connor (Dot) has matured into a lovely performer and her singing voice is definitely one to watch.  Aaron Cox made a great bullfrog, displaying a natural comedy talent and Josey Dayes (Penny) looked lovely and spoke her lines out well.  But for me, the one to watch for the future is Calum Banks (Greylag).  This young man is a truly natural comedian with a sense of timing and characterisation well beyond his years.  I am sure he has a future in the business, if he so chooses.

The main cast was completed by Seraphina Goodbody (Henrietta), Louis Ramsay (Turkey), Georgina King (Grace) with great singing potential, Olivia Letchford (Maggie Pie), Erin Archibald (Mother Swan) and Oliver Cave (Father Swan).  I have run out of space, but the remainder of the cast were excellent, playing a range of parts and enjoying every minute!

The scenery was brilliant, simple but very effective and the costumes were an absolute delight. Lighting and effects were also extremely good and the 3DeeS have an exceptional team, both back stage and front of house, to support them.  I look forward to seeing more in the future.

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