Stepping Out

It was a pleasure to be able to attend the second production by Starz and to receive such a lovely warm welcome. After the success of their inaugural sell out production “The Dolly Mixtures” Starz have followed up with the 1984 play “Stepping Out” in a new venue for the group. The premiere production of Stepping Out was directed by Julia McKenzie and the cast of the West End production in 2017 included Amanda Holden as Vera, there was also a notable film adaptation in 1991 starring Liza Minnelli and Julie Walters, it has certainly attracted strong performers in the past and this production was no exception.  

The original play was set in London but director Enid made the decision to keep the location local and the characters used local accents, by her own admission Enid likes to think outside of the box and this was also evident by the choice of music used between scenes and to cover changes, each one reflecting the personality or challenges faced by of one of the characters. The set design worked well and looked every bit the typical dingy church hall rehearsal space; initially there were a couple of sound glitches but these were quickly ironed out. The cast's costumes all reflected their character's personalities and the finale costumes had the required impact and sparle. Whilst the dance is a key feature, it is the characters and their background stories that are the most important part of the play.

The play opened with production choreographer Louise Masters as dance teacher Mavis performing a solo tap number which showcased her superb dance ability. Louise was strong throughout the production and the number she put together for the final tap performance was excellent. The class participants were a variety of characters as is typical of a group coming together to learn a new skill. As well as their dance teacher we meet Glenda Fraser the cantankerous pianist who feels undervalued. Catherine Lawes did a super job of portraying this character, I loved her stomps out of the room, and her participation in the final routine was hilarious. The snobby, abrasive but well-meaning Vera was well played by Rosemary Jones, perfect outfits and her whole demeanour suited this character so well. Shiela Rouse was perfect as Rose, the person who was just there for a good time, her years of experience in performance shining out, I’m in awe of her. The character of Sylvia was in the safe hands of Jade Carney who gave a strong, natural performance of someone who is down to earth and sometimes speaks before thinking. Wendy Church portrayed the astute and perceptive Maxine providing assistance with the class organisation and life advice, another assured performance. As the excitable Dorothy who works in social services Laura Wilkinson was very funny, her outfits deserved a curtain call of their own, a great quirky characterisation.  Kelsey Nikita White as Lynne made her somewhat quiet character still shine in the line-up and gave her lots of personality. As Andy, Izzy Chazot had the difficult job of portraying a character who was in an implied violent relationship and who had low self-esteem, not an easy task but Izzy did a good job and the relationship with the character of Geoffrey was very sweet and well played as was her contrasting “meltdown” in Act 2. The class of 8 had only one male participant, Geoffrey, a bit of geeky guy who is oblivious to Andy’s reaching out for attention. This super character was brought confidently to life by Stewart Williams who also showed good dancing skills. The final cast member was the production manager Guy Lawes making a cameo appearance as the very musical Caretaker who also got in on the finale performance!

All in all this was an experienced group of performers who had clearly worked hard to bring Enid’s vison to life and to give credible presentations of their characters. Well done Enid, Louise and the production team and I am looking forward to what Starz brings next to their audiences.

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