Jack the Ripper

I was really looking forward to seeing this, one of my favourite shows, and I wasn’t disappointed as your production was very well presented, rehearsed and sung.

The set design and construction was effective and of course had to represent both the street and the music hall. I know the show inside out but suspect that it took some of the audience a while to pick up that the raised area was a music hall stage. Possibly a property or two or even a draped curtain would have reinforced its purpose. The different levels afforded attractive group settings.

Company singing was great - ’Saturday Night’ was full of gusto as was ‘Sing Sing’ and ‘There’s a Boat Coming In’ was filled with hopefulness only to be replaced by the utter misery of ‘Look at Them’. (The moment was broken by laughter from a group in the audience who recognised a soloist – sadly something that occasionally happens in the amateur world.)

Samantha Finch gave a very good performance as Marie. She was tough but also showed a sensitive side to her character and she sang with emotion. I enjoyed the poignant rendition of ‘Goodbye Day’ with June Saich (Annie) and Louise Elliker (Lizzie). Poor Annie, not the brightest of the girls and it’s inevitable that she’ll be a victim - June made a really good job of the character - this was the second time I’ve seen her play the part. Louise Elliker was motherly and yet unbending as Lizzie Stride and her ‘Step Across The River’ with Marie was full of pathos.

As Dan Mendoza, Andrew Culley was excellent - I saw him play the same role in WAOS production in 2004. He strutted around full of confidence as the leader of the gang of men. He was rough and tough and regarded the girls, who were his source of income, as his property.
Jonathan Paynes gave a strong performance as Montague Drewitt; very correct and elegant as a man of his class would have been, but also sinister enough to hint at the possibility of his being The Ripper.

The Chairman has to engage the audience from the start and James did this very well. His horse riding was hilarious and the audience loved all the innuendo in his scene as Charlie Warren. He was splendid in the role. The men in Dan’s gang wanted so much to be like their leader but weren’t made of the same stuff. Ashley played Bluenose as a gentle soul who was constantly pushed around by Dan and surely was black and blue by the end of the week! Mark gave a relaxed, confident performance as Slop as did Mathias Kayser as Dinky. The gang worked really well together and all three of them added much to the comedy of the piece.

Lord Overcoat was pitched just right by Iain, and his letter-writing scene (where did he learn to write I wonder?) was one of the most entertaining in the show. All the men pulled out the stops in that scene.

Lianne Dempsey appeared to enjoy the role of Queen Victoria, which provided a wonderful opportunity to be a posh cockney. She did it well. As Polly Ann Nichols, Claire Leonard gave a good performance and there were many other named characters who all added to the staging of the musical.

The audience were transported back in time to the hardships of life in Whitechapel in the late 1880’s, with characters who would have lived and struggled to survive there. Woven in amongst all that darkness was their spirit of fun, and of course the bawdiness inherent in such a story.

The Policemen’s Chorus was hysterically funny– I loved it and I liked the way that Janet used most of the men to make it a bigger number. The fact that they weren’t completely dressed as women added to the hilarity.

Costumes, hair and make up were suitable for the era but one or two of the chorus ladies looked rather too clean and wholesome.

The lighting was especially good, I did compliment Steve afterwards, and really added atmosphere to the show. The sound was fine.

A small band was all that was needed for the musical and under David Perkins direction it was nicely balanced and accompanied the soloists sensitively.

Your programme is well set out, the cover is eye-catching and I like the dark grey/black centre pages listing the musical numbers.

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