Betty Blue Eyes

This musical has only recently been released for the Amateur Stage and this Company must be one of the few to bring it to the North West.
The story is based on the Alan Bennett screenplay “ A Private Function”.
Ron Cowen and Daniel Lipman have written the book and the music is by George Stiles and lyrics by Anthony Drewe.
The well constructed, open set, was an appropriate austere background for the ensuing scenes which started at the Arcadia Cinema and moved to the Parade, Metcalf’s Butchers, Sutcliffe’s Farm, the Grand Hotel and Chilver’s House. Congratulations for the introduction of a turntable, which was used to great effect and enhanced the playing area.
The opening scene certainly captured the correct era of the show, after the 2nd World War, when belts were tightened and measures were in place to cope with the food shortage.
Costumes, accessories, hair styles and make up were appropriate to the late 40’s, early 50’s and had obviously been well researched and the whole cast looked at ease in their outfits.
This was a challenging task, to introduce a new musical to local audiences and Directors, StephenBlundell and Lily Armstrong together with Musical Director, Paul Stanley and Choreographer, Pearl Williams, had only eight weeks to prepare the musical.
There had clearly been a great deal of rehearsal in order to capture the atmosphere and bring out all the humour from this quirky piece.
The central roles of Gilbert Chilvers, Graham Cohen and his wife Joyce, Liz Blundell were well supported by an eclectic mix of eccentric and amusing characters who all worked well together.
I particularly enjoyed the song “ Magic Fingers “ beautifully portrayed with lovely harmonies from the three housewives, Mrs Roach, Mrs Lester and MrsTurnbull, three ladies with different hopes and dreams.
Liz Blundell as Joyce the domineering and controlling wife, was a perfect foil for her obsessive chiropodist husband Gilbert and she commanded the stage at all times and was completely immersed in her role. I was very impressed with Judith Armstrong’s portrayal of “ Mother Dear “ who showed great comic timing, especially with many of her one-liners and congratulations must go to Lily Armstrong for her agile and sensitive handling of Betty Blue Eyes and for bringing her convincingly to life.
I did feel that more attention should have been paid to light and shade of some of the musical numbers. It appeared that quality had been sacrificed for volume.
The Orchestra, appeared to enjoy playing the score and certainly enhanced my enjoyment of the evening and the Sound and Lighting Crew, so often ignored, succeeded in creating the correct atmosphere of the piece.
Thank you for your very warm welcome to my wife and myself.

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