Showcase & Into The Woods Jr

When I am invited to go and see a Chorley Youth Theatre production, I am always very confident that this talented young company will produce something very enjoyable and this visit was no exception, because their latest show was an excellent piece of entertainment divided into two acts with something different in each act. The first act was a Showcase of Musical Theatre Songs, based on fairy- tales and other children's books and the second act was the Junior version of Stephen Sondheim's "Into the Woods". meaning both were based on the similar theme of fairy-tales.

The colourful very enjoyable showcase included lots of well-known songs from different shows which all ages could enjoy. The shows included Beauty and the Beast, Mary Poppins, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, Shrek, Tangled, The Princess and the Frog, Peter Pan a Musical Adventure, and Matilda. A few different young Directors were involved in producing this part of the entertainment, each taking responsibility for an excerpt from a show. I thought about mentioning names in this part of the review but as many of the cast were given a chance to shine, showing off their talents in directing and performing I would probably have to name them all to be fair. They all sang the well-known songs excellently with lots of confidence and vitality, as well as performing the innovative, fun and sometimes graceful choreography by Lucy McManus with Rebecca Moran as choreographer for the number “Lost Boys Gang”, splendidly with lots of passion. All the cast in this section of the entertainment appeared to be enjoying themselves immensely as did the audience.
The second offering of the evening was “Into the Woods "Junior, which is a wacky take on all those well-known fairy-tales that we know and love. The show has music and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim from a book by James Lapine and it comes to life in this abridged version of their original groundbreaking, Tony Award-winning musical directed by James Lapine, where the sophisticated score has been designed to be more appropriate and accessible to young performers. The show features everyone’s favourite fairy-tale characters including Cinderella, Rapunzel, Little Red Riding Hood, Jack with his beanstalk and a Witch in this retelling of classic Brothers Grimm fables and it teaches us to be careful what you wish for.

There was a very good production team made up (with one exception) of members from Chorley Youth Theatre, who were able to manage this musically demanding show skilfully which resulted in a delightful quirky production. The team included Director Rachel Offord who was assisted by Eleanor Anderton with choreographer Lucy McManus, Musical Director Paul Carr and Producers Abigail Sallery assisted by Scarlett Gorman. The show has many principle roles and here the cast all produced confident and assured performances with very good diction and projection, showing of their good comic timing, and singing the songs beautifully with a great deal of vigour to a backing track accompaniment which worked very well. They all worked together with no weak links and performed the first-rate choreography with flair and lots of confidence. The musical centers on a Baker and his wife, played excellently by Lucas Burns and Alayna Collison who are longing to have a child; then there is Cinderella, played beautifully by Lucy Aspinall who wishes to attend the King's festival. We have Rapunzel who was nicely played by Alice Charnley, she has been imprisoned by the Witch in a tower and is desperate to escape to see the world.  Luke Eburne was just right as Jack, who wishes his snow-white cow would give milk so he would not have to sell her. His mother was confidently and believably played by Charley Burke, and Lucy McManus was sprightly and moved around the stage with style as Little Red Riding Hood, who was off to see her grandmother but unfortunately, she had been eaten by the Wolf, played by the wonderfully comedic Max Porter. When the Baker and his wife find out that they cannot have a child because they have been cursed by their neighbour, who just happens to be a Witch, a lovely strong mature performance from Charli Bradbury, who promises to lift the curse if the couple can retrieve specific items that she needs to make a potion: which include a snowy white cow, a red cape, some yellow hair, and a golden shoe, which are all familiar items that can be found in our favorite fairy-tales. Scared but resolute, the baker sets off on a journey into the woods to retrieve the objects to break the curse, he is followed into the woods by his wife, however, strange things happen when all the fairy-tale characters go into the woods at the same time and all the classic stories intertwine resulting in clever plot-twists which throw up lots of challenges for the Baker, but with the help of his wife he manages to collect all the items the witch requires. And with the help of the Narrator Callan Grimshaw-Brown who spoke clearly with conviction to the audience we could follow the plot as it unfolds. We also meet many other interesting characters associated with these stories as the action progresses, which included two splendid self-absorbed princely brothers, Rapunzel’s Prince -Mikey Coleman and Cinderella’s Prince -Christian Broad, their song “Agony” was a hit with the audience and we also meet a Mysterious man well played by Leigh Palmer. Other roles important to the plot included Cinderella’s Stepmother (Olivia Chandler) Florinda (Naomi Cook), Lucinda (Amelia- Jane Bowles), Cinderella’s Father (Jack Titherley) Cinderella’s Mother ( Leisl Cook), Granny (Rebecca Moran) and the Steward (Emma Manley). The principle cast were supported by a very enthusiastic Ensemble who sang and performed very well, all the cast enjoyed themselves and entertained the audience at the same time.

The scenery was once again excellent with beautifully painted carousels which made the stage look like a magical forest and each carousel opened to reveal the different smaller dedicated sets for each fairy-tale story included in the show. This all resulted in efficient use of the stage area which enabled smooth and quiet transition between scenes and along with very good technical input made an excellent stunning platform for the cast to work on. A big well done must go to Stage Manager Jack Titherley and all the backstage crew, props and technical crew. The lovely costumes arranged by Sandra Dickinson and Sue Kennedy must have aided the cast in their performances and were very colourful and just right for in both acts, it was obvious a great deal of thought and hard work had gone into getting them just right.

Both acts were very enjoyable which resulted in a dazzling overall show, enjoyed by the audience very much and was a testament to the broad spectrum of talent within the membership of Chorley Youth Theatre. Congratulations to all involved in bringing this production to the stage thank you very much for inviting us we had a magical evening.

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