Kipps the New Half a Sixpence Musical

I have to say that my previous experiences with Kipps the New Half a Sixpence Musical had not been the most enjoyable, so I was not sure what to expect when I went tonight to the Theatre Royal to see this Carlton Operatic interpretation.

It is no exaggeration to say that I was completely blown away by the sheer quality, energy and smiles from every cast member while delivering high energy choreography and I now understand that when produced by a team who understand how to bring out the best in this musical what an exhilarating experience and a triumph it can be!  Rachael and Christopher Rees have, with their talented cast, production team and orchestra, created a magical experience for their audiences and converted me to be a big fan of this musical.

Starting with the cast, in the title role of Arthur Kipps was Lu Anthony.  I have worked with Lu on stage before in a production of Jesus Christ Superstar that was stopped by Covid so knew the talent they had, but tonight Lu delivered a staggering performance, the complete triple threat in their Dance, Vocals and Acting.  Lu was on-stage in virtually every scene and for every second they were completely believable as their journey from junior draper to monied Gentleman and finally Theatre Angel played out across the night. Bravo!  Sarah Thompson was perfect as Ann Pornick, Kipps’ childhood sweetheart. Sarah managed to bring out the despair and patience of her character as she went through life as a working servant until the smile of joy lit up the stage when she finally agreed to marry Artie.  Lizzie Fenner was perfectly cast as Helen Walsingham the “other woman” in Artie’s life and succeeded in making Helen a very sympathetic character and not a cliched wealthy toff.  Lizzie won the affection of the audience and so when Artie finally chose to marry Ann you could feel the admiration and sympathy for Helen all around the auditorium.

Dan Armstrong was on fine form as both Foster the Butler and Chitterlow the theatre impresario and in the latter role injected every scene he was involved in with fun, energy and dynamism.  Lindsey Jaycock was also great fun as Mrs Walsingham and her reaction to losing Artie as a monied potential son in law was priceless.  The Drapery team of Jonathan Jaycock, James Sikora, George Young and Alison Watkins were always on point.  They provided a very believable set of “oppos” for Arthur both serving in the shop and when off duty with “Money to Burn” being one of my highlights in Act One.  In fact, Alison Watkins was a revelation throughout the night and her duet with Sarah in “Just a Little Touch of Happiness” had me metaphorically out of my seat.

It's always invidious to just single out some of the key performers in such a fantastic all round cast so believe me when I say that every single cast member put all their heart, soal and talent into their performances which spoke volumes for all the work Rachael and Chris must have put in with them in the rehearsal room.  So many many congratulations to James, Helen, Claire, Adam, Darren, Celine, Stacey, Danniella, Rebekah, Wendy, Hannah, Eleanor, Frank, Brogan, Sarah, Alice, Coragh, Helen, Katie and Bekki. 

The production was completed by two very talented sets of junior performers who I was lucky to see giving it everything during the week so again congratulations to Henry, Emily, Megan, Jacob, Grace, Eloise, Sophia, Eliza, Caitlin, Ruby, Sophie, Harley, Lottie, Leo, Hermione, Isabelle, Hemi and Betsy.

Now a word about the Orchestra.  Chris has a reputation for being one of the best MDs around and the sheer quality of sound, dynamics and balance with the on-stage performers in this production were second to none.  The Banjo playing was outstanding when it needed to be a focus and every member of the Orchestra delivered their part of what was both a wall of sound that never dragged in the high energy numbers and a delicate underscore of the more poignant moments.  The orchestral climax that was Flash Bang Wallop will remain in my memory for some time.

Finally the movement throughout the show.  It’s hard to capture the quality of the technical precision and smile inducing energy that came through the full cast set pieces and various small cast numbers throughout the show.  The choreography was fast and dynamic when it needed to be, and gentle and heartwarming when that was called for so huge respect to Rachael and ALL the cast in this respect.

Costumes and Setting supported the overall production and were moved with great speed by the backstage team to ensure that the action moved from scene to scene seamlessly,

As I’m sure you can tell this production was one of the finest I have seen in all my time as a NODA reviewer and the whole team should be suitably proud of what they achieved.

Review in a nutshell?  CLASS.

© NODA CIO.  All rights reserved 

© NODA CIO. All rights reserved.