Our House

OUR HOUSE is a jukebox musical based on the songs of ‘Madness’ with a story concocted around them.   The plot is rather convoluted. At age 16 the central character, Joe, has to decide between right and wrong and the story follows each version: one good and one bad, via different coloured doors.   

The costumes were on a red/black/white theme which was very effective.   Each character had relevant outfits ranging from Joe’s smart suit to his sloppy track suit, Egyptian Fez and garb for Night Boat to Cairo and my favourite were the dancers with fan style dresses for ‘Wings of a Dove’.  The school kids were uniformed and a good deal of attention had been paid to creating the feel of the period.

The main backdrop was the house on Casey Street, NW1 with the doors swivelling to change scene and objects brought on, office chair and other items to create office scenes, court scenes and so on. The orchestra pit was surrounded by stage, creating a quadrangle and enabling performance on four sides.      Props were good and well used, bridal bouquet, balloons and gift boxes and the umbrellas under which Joe did a quick change!

The sound and lighting were very good.   The voices were clear, tuneful and in time.    Particularly impressive was Maddie Hope Coelho, as Sarah.  She stood out with her convincing acting and impeccable singing. Olly McLaughlin’s voice was great for the Madness songs.   The lighting was well executed from the opening use of the mirror ball, lots of red and very clever use of effect of bars for the prison scene.    

From the opening song – with the use of balloons and gifts in the choreography - to the final song, this production was full of vibrant energy and memorable songs.    The catchy songs of Madness are just begging for dance routines: sometimes the story is very loose with scenes created solely to slot in a song, such as ‘Night Boat to Cairo’ but that doesn’t make the show any less enjoyable!   There’s a lot to pack in, with all the Madness songs, but this production did justice to the Ska/Pop legends.   With relatable characters and fabulous ensemble songs and dance pieces, under the direction of Zak Negri, choreography by Georgie Glover and with Chris Winslet as Musical Director, this was a massive achievement for HMOS.

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