Sunset Boulevard

It is always  a pleasure to visit Melyncrythan MTC, however this time it was to a different venue as the Princess Royal Theatre is undergoing refurbishment. For this production the company Performed Sunset Boulevard at the Nidum Arts Centre in Neath. It is a much smaller venue than their usual one but lent itself well to this Production.

Anthony had a clever set which I liked with treads and rostra portraying the different settings in the Desmond house as well as the Theatre Lot. He also had two distinct areas dsl and dsr to portray, offices, canteens etc. The gauze worked ok for the projections however they were lost somewhat in the lighting.

The small ensemble worked well together as well as playing all the supporting roles.

The Musical by Don Black and Christopher Hampton with music by Andrew LLoyd Webber has recently been revived in London and has led to a flood of groups all over the UK performing it. The company used backing tracks for this production and I must congratulate Danni and Matt on the standard of the vocals, not an easy score by any means but the balance worked well on the evening I was there.

This show requires four good lead actors to carry it and Melyn were fortunate that this was the case.

Emily Bateman gave a good portrayal  of Betty Schaeffer, the young assistant who is desperate to get a script written. She played the young girl who is engaged to Artie Green played by Ben Bateman but falls for Joe Gillis really well, with some lovely vocals.

Joseph Robinson played the role of Joe Gillis the out of work writer, and from his first entrance gave a strong performance both vocally, and acting wise. Joseph is a very experienced actor and this showed in this role. Well done.

The role of Max von Mayerling , the faithful butler with a secret which was revealed later in the show , when he revealed that he was once married to Norma, was played by Rhys Hyett-Ferrier and I really liked this performance. He stayed well in character throughout and had a lovely singing voice. Congratulations on a very good performance.

To be a success this show requires an actress to really grab the role of Norma Desmond and I must say Leah Collett certainly did that. It really was a fantastic performance by her, her facial expressions, vocal performance and characterisation was exceptional. It thoroughly deserved the standing ovation received on the evening I was there.

I would like to thank Katie , Liz and everyone at Melyn for their warm welcome once again and look forward to joining you for Charlie and the Chocolate Factory later on in the year.

 

© NODA CIO. All rights reserved.