The King and I

On their 75th Anniversary, Ferryhill Stage Society celebrated this special milestone with their production of “The King and I” at the Mainsforth and District Community Centre.

This is the first time in my role of Regional Representative that I have had the pleasure of attending a production by the society, and I was not disappointed, this being one of my favourite musicals. ‘The King and I’ remains an ever-popular and spectacular musical, although it can be a very difficult show to stage.  The cast and production team need to ensure that the characterisations are believable, the costuming and sets need to be lavish, and the music faultless. This production certainly had all this and more, and the production team and cast should be very proud of their interpretation and staging of this, their 75th anniversary show.

This was an immaculate production under the direction of Joan Milner. The set looked fantastic, and the costumes were excellent, giving an authentic look throughout the production. The lighting was good, as was orchestra in the capable hands of the musical director Meg Childs and assistant musical director John Childs, with the orchestra perfectly balanced to ensure every word of the lyrics could be clearly heard.

There were some excellent performances; Neil Fisher delivered a nice interpretation of Captain Orton.  Daniel Steward, the interpreter, and Geoff Clifford-Brown, the Kralahome, both gave an imposing and confident presence in their role.  Lun Tha was ably portrayed by Steven Berry who gave excellent line delivery and lovely vocal work, and was well partnered with Donna Steward, as Tuptin, who again gave a polished performance. Andy Steward, who played Anna’s son, Louis Leonowens, on the evening of the performance I attended gave a first class performance and is a star in the making with a great deal of talent which is great to see from younger members. Ryan Evans, as Prince Chulalongkorn, also gave a strong performance, as did Meg Gibson, as Princess Ying Yaowalak, and Ken Simmons as Sir Edward Ramsey.

The King of Siam was excellently played by Joe Makepeace who looked splendid as the King with his strong character and stage presence.  Anna Leonowens was played by Rosemary Jones who gave an outstanding performance with her beautiful voice. The magnetic chemistry she had with the King was evident throughout, and she delivered a believable, moving performance, especially in her ease in the way she worked with both the Royal Wives, who all gave excellent performances, and the Royal Princes and Princesses, who were all great. All of them kept to their character in their little cameo performances, and it is so nice to see such talent in one society. Deborah Wilson, who played Lady Thiang, gave an outstanding performance. She brought deep emotion to her role, and has a beautiful vocal range which enabled her to sing “Something Wonderful” with great sincerity and emotion.

One remarkable scene in the show was ‘The Small House of Uncle Thomas’.  This was superbly choreographed by Joanne Banks and danced by her dancers from Studio 10 and Leanne Evans, and was a tremendous professional piece of work, well delivered and a pleasure to watch.  A special comment to the technical team, managed by Neil Fisher & Wayne Robinson, who ensured slick and seamless scene changes which enabled the performance to flow well.

Without exception the whole cast worked well together, each going that extra mile to deliver a remarkable performance. Well done Ferryhill Stage Society on an excellent performance, and I would like to wish the society’s Management Committee and members all the best for the next 75 years of musical productions and entertainment.

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