The Band

Being a huge Take That fan it was with great excitement and eager anticipation that myself and my guest attended Hyde Musical Society`s production of The Band. The auditorium was packed and I will admit that, I for one, was pleased to hear an announcement asking members of the public to not sing along.The stage was open with a single bed and bedside table on a raised platform, two sets of steps leading onto the stage from the two front corners of the platform, a large projection screen to the rear of the stage. This projection screen was put to great use throughout the production as were the sets of steps which were manhandled by cast to be further used as seating on a bus. It was a very well thought out and designed set, it certainly had some secrets which consisted of jets of fire and even cascades of water!

Lighting by Steve Oliver Grant was innovative and exciting  - in the roadie loading up scene after the concert it was filled with big flashing lights in all the right directions, it added another layer of atmosphere. In the scene where Rachel (Lauren Ricketts) tells husband Jeff (Matt Hepplestone) that she is using the tickets for her friends from school the lowered lighting plays a big part in creating tension between the characters. Sound by Daniel Oliver Grant was a little sketchy with quite a few gremlins, it was difficult at times to hear the dialogue being spoken or even to hear some of the vocals – you could see a characters mouth moving, but you couldn`t hear them.

John  Barry as Musical Director had the unenviable task of getting The Band (Liam Dodd, Tom Williams, Ben Drane, Michael Baines and Joe Draper) sing Take That songs exactly as they are written and not how the pop group sang them. He and they did a good job, it does sound a bit odd at first hearing the actual endings of the familiar words, but the melodies and harmonies were great. Musical pace was good, attack was solid, the balance between music and dialogue was nice and even. Jenny Arundale as Choreographer brought some realistic, vibrant life into this musical. I really enjoyed “Greatest Day” depicting at the airport and on the plane, there was  a lot of movement with purpose from the Featured Dancers (Clare Pascoe, Kathryn Shenton, Sarah White, Jenny Savill, Kirsty Smith and Leah Owens-Brown) as flight attendents which felt true to life, the ensemble worked well and filled the stage with intent, they executed dance moves with confidence.  Daniel Oliver Grant as Director allowed and encouraged The Band boys to come to life and have characters that the audience could see without letting it be too much that they took over the actual storyline, it was brave but definitely worked in this instance.

The costumes by Brenda Starkey, Claire-Louise Brown and Kathryn Shenton were eyecatching and very fitting to the era, the styles were carried through from the Younger Girls to The Girls well and every detail was thought out.

Mat Hepplestone as Jeff had some great chemistry on stage with Lauren Ricketts (Rachel), he played a very true to life character and he played it with honesty and an openness that made me want to hug him - in the airport scene with his flashcards, he made me believe in him. Andy Greenwood as The Dave`s owned the stage as soon as he appeared. He showed us his versatility in playing all the characters differently and he kept some good pace to move the story along. The Younger Girls (Rachael Coogan, Jade Wilbraham, Joella Andrew, Tia Marsden and Holly Knowles) all showed a maturity in their acting skills that made the transition to The Girls very believable and easy to follow, it appeared a very genuine group of girls laughing and living their lives warts and all. Holly Knowles as Debbie had such a likeable quality about her, she made a good connection with the audience, diction and delivery was good.  Lauren Ricketts, Alison Foy, Jennie Davies and Jem Marshall-Ayre (The Girls) all had great chemistry, their timing and tom foolery was spot on. Alison Foy`s facial expressions at the fountain were priceless! Her pauses and shrugs really lent worth to her dialogue. All the girls connected well with the audience and they all showed some excellent comedy timing in the police room scene.

The Band Boys (Liam Dodd, Tom Williams, Ben Drane, Michael Baines and Joe Draper) all showed us some strong vocals with well executed harmonies, they did well at involving themselves in the story without taking the attention from The Girls. It all came across as a solid story with no gaps, the audience were on their feet by the end.  

Both myself and my guest enjoyed your production of The Band. Thank you for inviting me, I look forward to seeing you all again soon.
 

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