Shake, Ripple and Roll

Shake, Ripple and Roll is the story of a teenage boy, Joey Nobody, who has lost his memory. Uncle Angelo takes him in to work in his ice cream parlour giving him somewhere to live and a job he enjoys. Unexpectedly Uncle Angelo dies and nobody can find his will. Mr Cohen, the manager, Joey, the waitresses and all the regular customers search everywhere without success. They then become victims of Deanna La Domme a movie star who is trying to cheat them out of their inheritance by pretending to be Uncle Angelo’s only living relative. She intends to close the parlour leaving Joey homeless, the staff out of work and the kids with no place to meet. Dirk Manley, the narrator, is actually a private investigator whom they employ to help them prove that Deanne is a fraud.

The six principals Will Watson (Mr Cohen, the manager), Toby Sawyer (Joey), Luc Oratis (Dirk the Investigator), Rosie Griffiths (Deanna), Freddie Newman (the gang leader) and George Tester (Max) all gave convincing performances. The solo singing by Will, Toby, Luc and Rosie was surprisingly good and very moving. The four waitresses Abigail, Ella, India and Charlotte came over suitably as did the four ‘Boys’, Morgan, Charlie, Jack and Finlay. The other ten members of the Ensemble were all skilfully schooled in the chorus numbers, smiling and singing out well in the chorus numbers.

The costumes were good, being colourful, appropriate and right for the era and the simple but very clever choreography, which took into account the young age of the performers, all added to making a very watchable show.

The music, directed by James LeLean, was fantastic, the band playing with great enthusiasm but really supporting the young voices on stage and at no time drowning out the words. The lighting by Rob Henry and Julie Jordan was on cue. There didn’t seemed to be too many black outs for quick scene changes and what there were, were done smoothly along with the sound by Bryan Mercer, who had no issues with microphones or feedback. The scene changes were quick and quiet using a very cleverly designed and built minimal set, which worked well and effectively. Overall Julie directed an enjoyable show, which came across in the children’s acting, singing and dancing. Well done one and all.

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