Sunset Boulevard

SUNSET   BOULEVARD

BARNSTAPLE MUSICAL COMEDY & DRAMATIC SOCIETY

FRIDAY 2ND NOVEMBER 2018 – QUEEN’S HALL THEATRE, BARNSTAPLE

Once again I would like to thank Sue and members of B M C & D S for their kind invitation and hospitality extended both to myself and Cathy Lamb, committee member of CODS. As I grow into this role I would like to make you aware that following my next paragraphs I will be coming on to the many positives that were evident in the performance.

I would wish to start by saying that I must review a production as seen by an audience at a particular performance. I would also like to add that if a company takes over a ‘professional’ theatre then they must either be certain that they have trained individuals to work the technical apparatus available or if using the theatre staff be certain that they will be giving their 100% support to what they may perceive as an amateur group. Finally whether I like what the show is is immaterial as I feel it important to comment on what the society has done in its production.

I would like to congratulate Jake Goodenough as Director, Gillian Ashcroft as Musical Director and Lauren Tithecott as Choreographer on the overall look and presentation of your show. The set design and use of the levels were extremely well used. All the hard work done during rehearsals could be seen on stage but despite this the overall production was affected with technical difficulties.

It was a shame that on the Friday performance there seemed to be many issues with microphones and I felt the overall lighting effect was lost through the continual use of one or two follow spots, the second of which, from my seat, never seemed to capture the person successfully. My understanding is that there was not a great response from the company to perform this show and this led to the chorus not being as energetic as I would expect and their numbers were often made more difficult by many of the microphones not being turned on at the right time or at the right volume. There were also times when chorus members seemed to upstage the action of the soloists with their actions going on upstage. Be careful not to overact at the wrong time! 

So now let’s concentrate on the many positives.

As mentioned earlier the set was very clever with the integral staircase carefully concealing the very accomplished 15 piece orchestra. Sunset Boulevard is not an easy score and there is very little downtime for the musicians but they kept the pace extremely well.

All scene changes were handled very professionally and accurately proving that the occasional sight of stage hands does not detract from a performance.

The two chorus numbers involving either the male chorus or the female chorus showed the chorus more positively. Martin Youngs as Manfred led ‘The Lady’s Paying’ with great style and the ladies all performed well in ‘Eternal Youth Is Worth A Little Suffering’.

John Nash portrayed Max Von Meyerling very well. He kept in character throughout and the strong bond he had with Norma was clear for everyone to see. It was a shame the high notes seemed to challenge the range of his voice.

I could have listened to Maddie Warren as Betty Schaefer all evening. This may have been her first solo with the group but she is surely destined to have many more. Her tone and delivery were both excellent and she shone as an actress too. ‘Too Much In Love To Care’, the duet she sang with Joe, was probably the highlight of the evening for me. Maddie is certainly a member of the group who audiences will be looking forward to listening to again.

Debbie Ely-Gillbanks as Norma Desmond gave a masterful performance and she coped brilliantly with the continuous changing of costumes and gowns. She is to be congratulated on staying in character with all these distractions being thrown at her. At this point I would like to congratulate the Costume Department for all their hard work which went so smoothly from an audience perspective whatever nightmares may have been going on backstage!

Five weeks before the show Ian Goodenough wasn’t even playing the role of Joe Gillis. He may well have had some knowledge of the character through his theatrical interest but it was an amazing achievement to put across an outstanding performance in such a short time. I believe it could well have been Ian’s microphone which had a continuous crackle throughout the performance but while irritating to the audience could not detract from his polished rendering. He was the glue that kept the production together and deserves great credit for this.        

On arrival at the theatre Sunset Boulevard was described to me as a ‘Marmite’ show which was bound to divide the opinions of audiences. It was a shame that Box Office looked to be about 50% for the run which may or may not affect the overall work of the Society but hopefully a successful run of Chitty Chitty Bang Bang just around the corner will correct this and I look forward to seeing you all again at this production.

Mike Canning

NODA representative 

© NODA CIO. All rights reserved.