School of Rock

As usual, when you go to see a Spot On show at the Point Theatre in Eastleigh, you are always given a very warm and friendly greeting by Sally, Richard and the rest of the front of house team. Suitably programmed up and with raffle tickets bought, I made my way into the auditorium. Sold out. And that included the day before (Thursday) and both the Saturday shows. That is such a fantastic indictment to Spot On Productions' ever growing reputation for delivering superb shows. This certainly was the case here. School of Rock is the stage show based on the very popular Jack Black film of the same name. 

The set included three triangular flats on both stage left and stage right with a bricked wall back cloth and a set of drums, on wheeled steel decking. The set layout was also cleverly lit, with dry ice to add to the effect and we were greeted by Dewey Finn's band, they made a terrific sound, and LOUD, loved it! The stage lighting, designed by Tom Pearce was very effective and enhanced the set design to its fullest. The orchestra, under the guidance and direction of MD Martin Bennetts made a great sound even more so considering that there were only seven of them, you'd never know!

The children were split into two teams (as is the way these days) and I was priviledged to see the Blue Team in action. It is quite obvious, from my standpoint (or seat if you will) that all the cast, children and adults alike had been given some great choreography to learn, and the combination of Alick Leech as Director and Abbie Jennings as choreographer had rehearsed them hard, and well, but its quite evident from their performance that they had retained all that they had been taught, all in time and in step. All together. 

The vocal prowess of the cast was also of a very high standard, along with great musicality and great diction, both sung and spoken meant that we were fully understanding of the plot and where it was going. Here, I'm sure, was evidence of great work from Alick and the MD Martin Bennetts. I am also told that the "kids" in the band played the instruments on stage, WOW! didn't appear to put a foot (or should I comment Drum, Strum and Bass) wrong. Impressive.

All of the leads were confident in their delivery, no sign of nerves or dropped lines, again a testament to a show that has been well rehearsed. Each individual (Hayley Joy and Rosalie, Josh McDonald as Ned Schneebly Emma Manning as Patti and the rest of the childrens leads) knew their own individual characterisation, played it to the full and were all totally believable. However the lead character, Dewey Finn, was played by Jim Smith and his performance was of such high standards that you would be forgiven in thinking that Spot On had hired a professional from the West End, but no, his timing, his character, his ability as a rock guitarist were all extraordinary and held the show, as the principle lead, brilliantly.

I have been very fortunate to watch Spot On grow over the last few years and with each show, they seem to get better, more confident, more adventurous and more fun. School of Rock was no exception. Bravo Alick, Abbie and Martin. A triumph.

 

© NODA CIO. All rights reserved.