If You Can

Once again, Woodfield have come up with an amazing, original concept...and have made it work so well. This time, it’s a fictional game show with music and dance, the brainchild of Neil Edwards.

The hall and the tables were beautifully decorated, the atmosphere was buzzin’ and the stage was set for a tv game show.

Tim Waters played the quizmaster in typical ‘60s style. It’s a tough job to front an entire evening. He worked hard to stimulate the audience, interrogate the contestants and link to the various songs and sketches.

Tanya McArthur and Trisha Groden were the two finalist contestants. They were fun and articulate; and handled the questions adroitly. Placing them at the side of the stage enabled the action to move quickly from quiz to musical routine. The lighting needed to be stronger on the contestants; but, otherwise, lighting was good & glitzy and enhanced each scene.

The Greatest Show was an excellent opening number, with people dressed in blacks and whites, singing and dancing in turn. It was beautifully staged. The Russian Dolls scene was a funny presentation on gender reassignment. Lulu’s Shout was well performed.

Name Droppers was another cleverly constructed sketch, that ran along the lines of those marvellous works of  Ronnie Barker. Survivor was well choreographed, but the singing voices were a bit overwhelmed by the music.

Kenny Menet-Hawkins led a stunning Sweet Caroline that was supported by a hyped-up audience. This was followed by the Automated Cinema line sketch and ACT I finished with the Boney M medley. It was well executed, but again, some of the singing was too faint.

ACT II opened with Love Shack, a really good number with vigorous dancing and colourful costumes. There was a lovely selection of costumes throughout the show. These certainly lifted the production. The Irish Jockey sketch was next. It was superbly presented and the duo were fast and very funny.

Mother and Daughter, Jenny and Amalee Gamache sang a delightful Jolene together. Then came Holidays…a hilarious piece, set in a travel agency and full of wonderful wordplay…“parachuting” to “parrot shooting” !

Tipsy was a nicely executed line-dance and Hearing Aids Salesman was a triumph of slick delivery.

The finale number Stop moved with great precision; and the show closed with an encore of The Greatest Show.

Good to see such a large and enthusiastic cast at Woodfield…may that continue. Mel Elgar had arranged a fine selection of songs, with strong recorded backing music; and the enjoyable dance routines were choreographed by Amalee Gamache and Laura Hillier. Neil has created an extraordinary entertainment; and it worked brilliantly, thanks to everyone’s whole-hearted participation.

© NODA CIO. All rights reserved.