Once Upon A Time

It is fair to say that the latest production from Darlington Academy of Performing Acts has been a long time in the making. Originally written by Joanne and Paul Mason in 2019, Once Upon A Time had to be put on hold with lockdowns and Covid delaying its Premiere. Well the moment had finally come to deliver, and deliver it most certainly did, the clever script and concept really giving all of the DAPA members their moment in the spotlight and chance to shine.

Once Upon a Time tells the story of 2 rival Pop star sisters in a battle with the Queen of Diamonds determined to ban all music except her own and her sister, the Queen of Clubs, teaming up with numerous favourite Fairy Tale characters determined to bring the Queen down and restore music to the world.

The script was cleverly written and the show well directed with lots of visits to well known Nursery Tale scenes as Red Riding Hood teams up with The (not so big) bad Wolfie on their travels to a final stand off with the Queen. Lots of fun jokes were used with clever choices of songs keeping the energy and the pace moving at all times.

Camryn Mason was well cast as the “baddie” Queen of Diamonds, demonstrating great stage presence with some powerful songs and script. Being one of the older cast members worked well as she truly dominated not only the scenes but also her subjects who she clearly took great delight in bossing and ordering about. She took on some huge songs demonstrating a real strength to her voice, I particularly enjoyed the Moulin Rogue Diamonds medley and her powerful sing off with the Queen of Clubs in Hit Me With Your Best Shot/One Way or Another. 

In complete contrast to Camryn was Phoebe Carr as her shy and quieter sister the Queen of Clubs. Phoebe portrayed the character perfectly demonstrating a soft and vulnerable bullied about sibling yet finding more and more strength in her character as the show went on. A lovely actress and performance with a beautiful voice to match showing off some stunning vocals shown off in numerous songs and especially in Into The Unknown where her range and control was faultless. A lovely performance and with growing confidence definitely a young actress to keep an eye on in the future.

DAPA has some incredible youth in its Academy and I was gobsmacked to hear just how young 2 of the main characters were to be playing such pivotal roles in the show. Penny Kilping as Red and Jude Rees as Wolfie looked like seasoned Pro’s despite both being just 10 years old. These 2 young stars literally never left the stage taking us on a journey to bring down the Queen. They both stayed in character perfectly with Penny giving us great sass and attitude and Jude really nailing some great comedic moments. I loved the constant interjection of The Travel Song from Shrek taking us from scene to scene and Penny showed not only her stunning voice but also some great courage in opening the whole show with Good Girl Winnie Foster. These 2 young actors have brilliant futures ahead of them.

Along their travels they pick up numerous well known characters to join them and although minor principal roles every one of them gave great performances. Mia Scott was a wonderful bundle of energy with a beaming smile as the Candyman, opening Act Two with a great version of the well known Wonka hit. Amber Wraith was a perfect Bo Peep, really capturing a soft and gentle side of the well known Nursery Rhyme character and Chloe Gowling was sensational as Maurice, the leader of the the 3 little pigs (Sophia Liddell and Ella Leece). Her stage presence was fabulous and even the big pig nose couldn’t hide the cheeky grin and funny facial expressions. She really got the audience rocking as she led the hit song I Like to Move It from Madagascar. 

Other minor roles were played with great effect by Leah Sorrie as the slightly bonkers Madhatter, Deinnar Andriu as Elsie the eccentric witch and Rohan Kerr as Red’s mum in the opening scenes.

Of course a great character such as the Diva Queen of Diamonds needs someone to stroke and inflate her ego and in Vanity played by the splendid Jake Shaw we had the perfect character. Acting almost like her Music Manager and stylist Jake strutted across the scene in true catwalk style (and some outrageous heel management) really owning the stage. His version of Work of Art was slick and punchy and it really was a knock-out characterisation.

For a Junior show there were some really big songs for them to tackle yet as individuals and a full ensemble they really delivered these well with pace, projection and power. Notable vocals from within the ensemble were Leah Sorrie and Sophia Liddell who really stood out for me from within the main numbers.

The ensemble had a busy night on their hands and were heavily involved throughout. From large chorus numbers with clever and fun dance routines (Wonderland and Candyman especially stood out for me) to so many quick scenes. They were constantly involved and looked like they were having the time of their lives whether charging across the stage as playing cards or delivering great moves to All That Jazz every member brought some great individuality to the scenes. Clever little touches like the, all dressed in white, with bar stools boyband and Jailhouse Rock scene added lovely variety and humour to the big numbers.

With such a lovely concept and whizzing around the Nursery Rhyme world the show had to be visually effective as well as performed well and the DAPA Tech team did a fabulous job in creating a set of bright and colourful showcase costumes. Everyone looked the part from some lovely over the top crowns to stunning showgirl outfits every costume was perfect. When you use well known characters the costumes have to convince the audience as much as the dialogue and they did just that backed up by some lovely lighting, great props, clever use of smoke machines and well balanced audio. The Techincal side certainly matched the perfromances.

Jo and Paul should be so proud, not only of their cast but also of their own writing and direction. Everything came together perfectly and although 5 years must have seemed a lifetime to finally deliver their show, it was absolutley worth the wait.

A lovely way to end 2024 for me and I can’t wait to rejoin you all for your Pantomime in January for my 1st show in 2025!

 

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