Little Mermaid

I was interested to see that you were to perform The Little Mermaid, a story based on a Hans Christian Anderson tale, as a pantomime and I wondered how the story would be incorporated into the expected format but I was not disappointed. You had chosen a well written script with some great gags and fish references which was ideal for your company. As always you are a brilliant company at choosing your merchandising and the flashing hair circlets and glasses were well received by the audience.

As every year you transform the hall into a well-equipped theatre for your enthusiastic audience with the stage set up at the front of the hall with steps on stage right. The sound and lighting were well provided by Dymond Audio.  The text could be heard both during the speeches and the songs, stage and events were well lit with appropriate effects during the scenes. The gobo’s added details before and during the performance.

It is always interesting to see how inventive you are with entrances and exits with members of the cast arriving between the audience, beside the audience, from the doorway stage right, the opening stage left and of course from the wings. These all add an interesting perspective to the performance.

The scenes were cleverly depicted by a variety of painted backdrops and legs both above and below the sea. The UV effect in Octavia’s home added to the menace. The additional scenery use throughout the show was well constructed an added to the illusion. The way the boat was wrecked in the storm was great. The personal props were carefully used by the members of the cast and enhanced their performances especially the guitars and mirrors. The moving of Mariel’s voice around was brilliant.

There were a good variety of songs used during the performance and it was useful to see they were listed with their performers in the programme.  The words that were changed in the songs did not detract from them and added meaning to the performance. The music that was played during the performance was set at a level that the audience could hear the lyrics. Time had obviously been taken to ensure all those involved with any of the vocal numbers knew your directors’ expectations and delivered with enthusiasm.

The costume department had worked hard to provide numerous costumes which were well fitting and enhanced the scenes above and below the sea. The scale like leggings, tie-dyed t-shirts with additional masks and fish accessories looked great and the seagulls lovely. The shape of the mermaids’ dresses gave the illusion of tails but still having the ability to move around. The transparent umbrella used by the chorus gave the feeling of jelly fish and Crusty and Corky’s ‘eel’ like costumes were very inventive.

Your choreographer certainly had a lot to work with 53 members in total in the cast but I feel she has perfected the art of using their innate ability to create a variety of different routines they could perform successfully. The routine the mermaids performed to ‘Six’ successfully encompassed some of the original dance movements. It was also a great move to have the dancers coming on in smaller groups with the younger members added to the numbers a little later in the number. Which meant they all got time to shine on the stage.

The performer portraying Merial, whose birthday it was, certainly looked the part in her purple mermaid shaped dress which was cleverly changed when she had legs. The product placement in the birthday cards of ‘Aunt Bessie’ and ‘Uncle Ben’ tickled the audience. She created a sweet character who believed what people said was correct. She delivered her lines with clarity, sang tunefully with feeling and created a believable relationship with the Prince Derek. ‘I Believe in a Thing Called Love’ was brilliantly delivered with the Prince, Bastion, Flipper and the chorus.

The young actor portraying Bastion the crab in a cleverly made red costume and make up was excellent. The lines that needed to be spoken contained many fishy references which if not delivered with clarity would not have had the desired effect but your player was on point with every speech. The call and response and interaction with the audience was brilliantly done and all the dancing and singing well presented. I expect to see this young person on stage again. An outstanding performance.

Flipper looked the part attired in yellow and blue with great make up and spiked hair. When Bastion was around Flipper was there also. He created a good character and moved and sang well.

Merial’s father Triton arrived on stage to give her birthday wishes and inform her she could now have her visit to the surface. His costume was created in shades of green and blue and his trident looked just right. He had a good stance and spoke clearly with authority. It was great to see his interaction when in Octavia’s lair.

Merial’s six sisters all wore dresses of the same structure as her but in a lovely variety of colours with hairbands with shells.  They all created very separate characters Aqua calming and studious, Briny was lively, Coral appeared to speak before thinking, Shell appeared unsure, Storm seemed to be continually angry, short tempered and ready for a fight and Sandy inexperienced. Ultimately, they all had one goal and that was to assist and protect their sister and save their father. Their text could be heard, they sang well and their choreographer routines were well presented. I really enjoyed ‘Six’.

The Prince’s nursemaid Dame Dusty was totally over the top which was ideal for a dame. She looked the part in wonderful outfits, her make up was good and her shoes were to die for. She created a believable character with lots on innuendo’s, gags and songs which were delivered with aplomb. She appeared to be suffering with a touch of ‘narcolepsy’ which led to interaction with the audience and found her man in the captain.

Captain Aargh appeared in his Captain Sparrow outfit, he had been brought up by pirates and had some great lines to deliver, I wondered what other words would be added starting with ‘Aaa’. He developed a great relationship with Dusty and ‘Swing the Mood’ was great. The scene on the ship with the poem and flying seagull ‘pooing’ was well received by all. The lab coat to make him ‘look smart’ was clever.

We then met the Prince who was regally dressed in frock coat, breeches, shirt, waistcoat and buckles. He was on a sea voyage with the Dame and Captain but little did he know that a storm was intentionally created to wreck the ship and ensure he heard Merial’s voice. He played his part well interacting with the other members of the cast but his standout skill of course is his singing voice which he used with great self-confidence.

Two very strange ‘eel’ like characters appeared through the crowd and we soon realised they were not on the good side. They weren’t the brightest of characters but wanted to work for Octavia the sea witch and in their ham-fisted way got employment. They gave great performances, although very inept at following orders, bounced off each other and reacted to comments from the audience. I was a little confused when Corky came out for the community song with glasses it might be worth learning the lyrics. Great cartwheel Crusty!

Octavia was a splendid evil character. Her costume was ideal and cleverly changed before she went to the ball. She had all the elements needed, an overblown character, a plan, dim lackeys, made the crowd want to boo, was a creditable threat to the heroine and a strong powerful voice. She was determined to succeed with the aid of her lackeys and unfortunate souls no matter what or who got in her way and it was great to see she was, as expected, usurped at the end.

Dusty and the Captain decided to help the Prince’s love live by employing professional matchmakers and so Dr Love in his white suit with hearts and Pedro in red trousers and heart t-shirt arrived with energy on the stage. They sang ‘Mr Boombastic’, ‘Can you Feel the Love Tonight’ and ‘Love is in the Air’ with the chorus spreading the love around.

The King and Queen both regally attired only had their son’s best interests to heart. They were concerned about his attachment to the mysterious girl and delighted when he proposed to Octavia. Luckily the spell was broken and all ended well. Well played.

The last-named character was the Herald who was not on stage very much but when ‘he’ did you knew he was there. He overacted as he had been taught in his GCSE drama class. A clear character.

There were many great moments in this show and your director added elements that ensured all the cast were well used. The seagulls with the ‘Nemo – mine, mine, mine’, the guitar playing, the ‘Drunken Sailor’ rendition were some.  Many congratulations to all both on and behind the scenes on an excellent pantomime.

Disclaimer 

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 affected by that knowledge. 

The NODA Representative’s intention is to give an objective critique of the overall production and in particular, the performance.  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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