Stepping Out The Musical

I have seen the play Stepping Out a few times so I was  very interested to see whether it had been changed much for the Musical.  I am glad to say that it has not; in fact the songs added to the production, and, in particular, to the characters individual back stories. The lyricist Mary Stewart-David and composer Denis King, were not credited in the programme but they have written some poignant and telling songs which the cast performed strongly and with great passion.

This show is all about the individual characters and their stories and the cast were terrific throughout the whole show.   They had created their character and had clearly given a lot of thought and work into presenting their particular story. 

Mavis (Katerina Ayres) was the archetypal dance teacher but her demonstration of the personal side of the character was impelling.   Julie Markey played the character, Maxine, well, wheeling and dealing with costumes and then revealing that her perceived strong character was, actually, completely lacking in self confidence.  A nicely portrayed characterisation.   

Sylvia (Louise Paton) was terrific, she showed us a lovely and loveable character.  Vera, played by Carly Cousins, got the character spot on, her compulsive cleaning and constant interference was very well played and the subtle revelation that her marriage was not as perfect, as she had indicated, was very well done with excellent reactions from the rest of the cast.    

Andy (Helen Mulligan) was completey immersed in her part, her facial expressions, in particular, were extremely expressive.   Although I did find it a little difficult to hear her dialogue, and I was in the second row!.  In that theatre, with no mics, it is essential to project, even when the dialogue requires less.  Her singing however, was well projected.  Dorothy was an absolute hoot, Dawn Travell had this character spot on, she was endearing and comedic at the same time. 

Rose (Sadie Wood) gave an impressive performence, her facial expressions were a joy to behold.   Kaitee Robinson was excellent as Lynne, a caring and compassionate person with very little self confidence.  Jonathan Underwood played the sole male in the group, Geoffrey, with great panache, he never lost the character and his performance was compelling.  Mary Goodfellow played the pianist Mrs Fraser, beautifully.  She was Maxine’s ‘chorus of disapproval’ and she was a constant delight to watch.  I particularly liked her tea tray moment in front of the curtains at the end of the show, thoroughly entertaining.

This was, very much, an ensemble production and the cast were clearly enjoying the team performance.  The singing was outstanding, clear diction and strong projection ensured that we understood the underlying story.  Director Sami Underwood should be very proud of the production, it was a thoroughy enjoyable performance.

The set was simple but very well thought out with all the right touches.  Lighting was spot on, always in the right place at the right time.  Costumes were great fun and enhanced the performance.

Altogether a very enjoyable evening which the packed audience fully appreciated.

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