Oklahoma

A really  good set complete with an authentic looking Aunt Eller’s house and a lovely backcloth set the scene for “Oklahoma”  by The West Cliff Theatre Youth Group.

There were some new faces in leading roles and a good strong line up of Chorus boys and girls.

The band led by by Nik Graham opened into “Oh What a beautiful Morning” and Curly’s entry on to the stage played by Jackson Warner, who did very well in this lead part with some good singing and acting.   Jackson grew more and more into the character as the show progressed.

Playing opposite him as Laurey was Gabrielle Turner.   Gabrielle had a very good range and a pleasant singing voice, looked good in the part and her dance routine was beautiful.   I would have liked  to see more movement in some of the songs and using her hands to convey emotion, but a really good performance from Gabrielle.

I liked Will Parker played by Daniel Jackson and Ado Annie played by Fiona Chatten.   Both fun parts and the light relief in the show.

James Hooker as Jud was quite menacing and had one of the best voices in the show. The number”Poor Jud” with Curly and “Lonely Room”  were both well sung and acted.  My interpretation of Jud is of a really scruffy unkempt farm hand and this Jud really needed to look far more down at heel in the part.

Samuel Thompson as Ali Hakim, which is a great character part, spoke his lines very quickly and not always out front so at times it was difficult to hear.  I did however like “ It’s a Scandal” and well done to all the boys in this number.

The important part of Aunt Eller played by Ellie Ellis needs a lot of depth which is always hard to convey when a young person is playing this part, but Ellie did well and again got more into the role and the feeling of the words as the show went on. I am sure that Ellie’s singing voice has a lot more to give as there was a good range in it which is important with Aunt Eller.

Generally all the dialogue needed to be slower.   It is so important for the audience to be able to follow the story line so always make sure the projection whether singing or speaking is really clear.

Chorus numbers generally went well, I would have expected a little more harmonies here and there coming through especially from the girls as in “Many a New Day” and “Out of my Dreams” perhaps?

The tempo’s were rather fast but the balance of sound I found very supportive.

My thanks to you for looking after us, it was good to see again this year how the group are getting new members to join and become part of this well established group within Clacton.

Congratulations to Chris and Nik for all their efforts which paid off, and I look forward to your next production.

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