Scrooge, The Musical

~~Well nobody can say it was an uneventful evening at Goole Academy this evening, the cast had got off to a great start for their opening night when the house tabs had to be brought in when a lady in the audience was taken ill, thankfully the ambulance arrived and she was taken to the hospital.
We had a twenty minute break from the show and then we were able to start again where they had left off, to some people this may have fazed the cast but like true professionals they rose to the challenge and got right back into the action, well done.
The leading character of this show is hardly off the stage and calls for an actor who can not only sing and act the part but also dance and get changed at the same time, well Goole AOS need have no worries over casting Matthew Clarke in the title role as Ebenezer Scrooge, he was perfect and although he is only a young man he was able to develop the stature and mannerisms of someone much older than himself, I did think, however, his makeup could have been a little in keeping with his character to give him a better start.
I particularly enjoyed the duet between Scrooge and the young Ebenezer played by Michael Shaw, You, You. They were both able to complement each other and get the most out of this song as did Scrooge and Christmas Past in Love While You Can, again both proved to be good foils for each other.
We all know the story of Scrooge and how he sees the three Christmas’ in his dream, all the three characters, Judith Turner as Christmas Past, Wayne Smith as Christmas Present, who played the whole part on stilts and Maya Tether who played Christmas Yet to Come, who appeared floating on stage, gave very convincing roles and were able to get the develop their respective parts as did Matthew Hillam as Jacob Marley, the deceased partner of Scrooge. Matthew as Jacob appeared to tower over everyone and gave a chilling performance right up to the point when he disappeared into the chair.
The end of Act 1 we have I Like Life, a full on chorus number with a full cast on stage giving a rousing end to a great first half. There are many parts in this show, far too many to mention all by name but I did enjoy all the Cratchit family especially Jason Revell as the downtrodden Bob Cratchit, scraping a living to bring up his family. Jason gave a very good performance and it was very easy to be drawn into his weary life working for Mr Scrooge, of course in the Cratchit household is the young Tiny Tim who was played with a big smile on his face all the way through by Zoe Collins, I thoroughly enjoyed Zoe and Jason’s  performance of  Beautiful Day.
One of the highlights and well known number of this show is of course Thank You Very Much, this was led by Tom Jenkins played perfectly by Christopher Adamson and joined by the full cast as well as Scrooge who is totally bemused as to why they are all thanking him.
Well done to all involved in this show who were able to produce a great opening night under very difficult circumstances.
 

© NODA CIO. All rights reserved.