Pirates of Penzance

 

I was delighted to be invited to review this production of Pirates Of Penzance.  

The overture played by the well balanced band under the direction of Heather Kynnersley set the standard of the show.  The simple set was perfect for the size of the theatre and complimented the scenes. 

The show opened with the overture and cast of pirates doing cartwheels and leap frogs across the stage which set the scene perfectly.

The pirate KingJames Newlandwas portrayed perfectly with his clear diction and good singing voice.  

Frederic, Shay Lowden, was a delight to watch and gave a good performance with clear diction and nice singing voice.  I liked his connection with Mabel. 

Samuel, Robert Gendron, gave a solid performance, he was an absolute joy to watch always giving 100% in everything.  This young man has great comic timing with clear diction and good singing range well done.

Ruth, Izzy Everitt, was a joy to watch giving a wonderful portrayal of this character with good singing voice and clear diction.  I liked her telling of ‘When Frederic Was A Little Lad’ I feel that she told the story very well.

Edith, Freya Cocks, Kate, Neve Murdoch, and Isabel, Lula Peacock, were well cast and each gave a good performance in acting and singing. I was delighted to see the daughters attire as colourful dungarees giving it a good modern touch and I feel the costumes rather than the usual crinoline dresses helped to give each of the girls their own characters.  

Mabel, Lucy Cook-Allen, gave an outstanding performance from her first vocal entrance which she sang beautifully hitting those very high notes to perfection. I really enjoyed her characterisation of Mabel and her connection with Frederic was spot on. I am sure that this young lady will be playing many leads in the future, well done. 

Major-General Stanley, Simon Latter, this experienced performer gave an outstanding performance of the father of many and his connection with his daughters was spot on. I thoroughly enjoyed his ‘Modern Major-General’ which he sang to perfection with clear diction helping the audience understand every word. Fabulous. 

Sergeant Of Police, Robert Driver, was in character throughout giving us a strong comedic performance leading his band of police in ‘When A Felon’s Not Engaged In His Employment’. I really enjoyed when they hid behind the tree branches well done all. 

This production was a joy to watch and was performed perfectly by this young cast. I must say that I was delighted to hear the wonderful singing and credit goes to the musical director Heather Kynnersley who has obviously worked hard on the whole cast. The singing was outstanding and I was very pleased to hear it as often youngsters tend to give a pop voice to most songs, but this was not the case. Finale of act one was a pleasure to listen to and was very moving with tight harmonies. 

This production directed by Mary Driver was spot on and I could see that a lot of hard work and thought had gone into this production even down to the lighting and sound which complimented an enjoyable evening. 

Congratulations Young Arcadians on this production and thank you for inviting me. I hope to see further productions in the future. 

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