Princess Ida

Wednesday 22nd May saw me visit to The Leyland Methodist Church Hall to see my first official G&S production.  This one was the 8th of the G&S shows - Princess Ida.  This was produced by the previous winners of the best G&S show from last year so I was looking forward to hearing some great singing and some great music.  I have to say that I wasn’t disappointed!  This sizeable group has the most wonderful age range for a G&S society and it is great to see an experienced group working hard to bring in new life and young performers into this more niche area of theatre.  

I was welcomed by a warm and friendly front of house team and given free reign as to where to sit and I chose the front row, as in so many of these shows in a church hall, technology is minimal and most aren’t mic’d, so to hear the singing over the fairly large live band I wanted to be at the front.

The band were beautifully directed and in complete control under the expert baton of resident MD Margot Wright and what a great job she did to control all the aspects of the music, in great connection with her performers and musicians she effortlessly swept the entire production in great tempo and expressive dynamics, good job.

I needn’t have worried about the projection of the singers as the group numbers were fantastically rousing with great volume and fantastic diction and the solos were sang beautifully. In fact I even moved to the back row for Act 3 to see if it was just my positioning but I was really glad to hear everything from the back too.

My first mention is for Princess Ida herself played by Amy Hardy.  Amy had a captivating voice with lots of control and the right tone for a leading lady.  I always worry when watching non-professional performances that the lead soprano may not quite hit the mark, but i’m so glad to say that Amy’s diction was exquisite and breath control was a delight to hear.  Hilarion, Princess Ida’s long time betrothed, was played by Andrew Gardner.  Andrew did a great job in this challenging vocal piece, it was at times a little difficult to hear the full lines, which I believe were down to early nerves but they quickly subsided and Andrews projection improved throughout the show.  Hilarion’s friends Cyril and Florian were so entertaining to watch and had some fantastic lines in the script as well as the songs they had to sing.  Both playing their parts so well, Chris Dodd (Cyril) and Robert Feeley (Florian) commanded the stage with strong characterisations of their roles and definite stage presence.  Robert’s comedy timing was fantastic and his facial expressions caught me chuckling a few times.  King Gama, the angry and quite evil father of Princess Ida was played with strength and very effectively by Arthur Baines who certainly had one of the more wordy roles in his singing.  He definitely warmed his face and voice up well as I heard every word - well done!  I’d like to mention the supporting roles of Lady Blanche (Caroline Waring), Lady Psyche (Lynn Alman) and Melissa (Becky Dyson) for their great performances.  Becky had a beautiful voice and her character and excitement was infectious.  Caroline, although a little pitchy again due to early nerves in her solo, settled into a strong performance and I WOULD like to say, if I SHOULD that she DID very well. Lynn’s version of Lady Psyche was just right.  She managed the comedic lines of her own as well as the 3 “ladies” very well.  

Notable moments in the show for me were the finales to both Act 1 & Act 2 as well as the trio I Am A Maiden which saw the 3 friends of Hilarion, Cyril and Florian dress in the maidens clothing and try to pass themselves off as school girls, very funny and good commitment by the three.  I feel that I must also mention the expert fencing performances from David Maddocks, John Stopford and Philip Mawson, who played King Gama’s sons. :-)  Their comedy songs and performances were great and well put together.

The show was very well directed by Lucy Bunce and her vision to bring out the comedy in this piece certainly hit the mark.  Well done to all the production and stage team for turning a church hall into a lovely performance space and making the night about the performances which is exactly what performing as a non-professional is certainly all about.  Thank you for your invite.

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