Putting It Together

Sondheim appears very much to be like marmite with people - they either love him or hate him. I am definitely one of the former, I love him. I love the intricacies of his music, I love his storytelling, I love the old time feeling to his work so it was with eager anticipation that I took my seat at Heywood AODS`s production of "Putting It Together". From the moment that the orchestra started their first few notes, I was swept in and enthralled.

The static set consisted of a chaise longue, a drinks cabinet and large light up letters spelling party. The hard working five piece orchestra were permenently placed onstage behind the lit up letters. The cast of eight people cleverly transported us to a party and showed us all it`s little extra conversations and under currents. The Director and Man 3 Nick Angus opened the show and set it off at a great pace, the Principals picked up the baton from him and certainly didn`t drop the energy levels, if anything - they ramped it up a notch. I must at this stage point out that this show was filled with pure Am Dram Royalty. Jon Crebbin played Man 1, he can certainly carry a tune and emote beautifully, his understanding of light and shade within a melody is second to none, his complete emersion into his character is incredible, he owns the stage yet is very humble at the same time. His counterpart, Woman 1 was played by Sarah Thewlis. This was, for me, a perfect pairing. Sarah isn`t afraid to get into the nitty gritty of a character, she doesn`t mind looking less than immaculate and pretty on stage. She shows us her characters face, warts and all - she is pure talent! Her vocals are fantastic with superb diction and projection, she opens her soul when she sings. "Could I Leave You?"  was delivered with such emotion, such passion and vitriol. I take my hat of to Sarah for her incredible rendition of "Not Getting Married Today" - she didn`t only sing and perform it, she totally owned it.

Man 2 played by Sam Reid held his own on stage with Jon and Sarah. His heartwrenching rendition of "Marry Me A Little" was beautiful, it showed a lovely depth of control . He used his stage space well and when acting with Woman 2 (Sophie Lord) he consistently kept great sight lines. "Unworthy of Your Love" sung by both Sam and Sophie was just fabulous, there was a lovely ease to their performance, they showed a youthful vulnerability. Sophie and Sarah`s rendition of "Lovely" had the audience laughing out loud, quite how Sophie kept singing while Sarah pulled all those faces and gurned I will never know. Sophie is a very competent performer and has incredible stage prescence, she has a fabulous tone to her vocals, she has a beautiful vulnerability to her performance, diction and projection was good . Sarah and Nick`s rendition of "Everybody Ought To Have A Maid" was delivered so deliciously tongue in cheek and they obviously enjoyed performing it, it was beautifully light and played perfectly to the audience - every eye roll, etc, was clear to see. Costumes looked very elegant throughout the show, I would have liked to have seen some coverage used over a tattoo in the ensemble - I don`t mind a tattoo, if it is show appropriate. I`m afraid here it wasn`t. Choreography was good, but execution a little sketchy in parts from the ensemble. A complete standout moment for me was when the whole company performed "Being Alive". They had their perfect moment, I can`t explain it but in that moment everything was perfect and they moved me to tears. Bravo!

Well done, Heywood AODS. My guest and I thoroughly enjoyed the performance. I look forward to seeing you all again very soon.

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