The Railway Children

New to NODA District 8, Must See Musicals produced their 2019 production this week at Shavington Academy with a musical version of the hit play, The Railway Children.  Must See Musicals were formed in 2008 and are admittedly (from the programme notes) an all-inclusive society who like to perform without the pressure of feeling they need to have amazing acting, singing or dancing skills.  With that in mind, I was pleasantly surprised with all aspects of this production.  This must be a very hard musical to envisage as it contains SO many scene changes, complete with a train station and even a steam train but Director, Angela Snell and her team did very well to combat this.  The clever use of curtains, printed with excellent looking photographs, quickly established the various locations such as the garden, Three Cottages kitchen and London street.  This meant that scenes changes were minimal, and the pace of the whole piece was kept up.  The printed curtains really did look great and is a great directorial decision to have them.  Equally good were the costumes.  They helped set the time period and helped establish character, so a special mention has to go to the costume team for their hard work.  The static set of the train station and hillside looked fantastic and was used well throughout also, as was the steam train.  There were many other good directorial decisions too such as the transitions from scene to scene as well as the split scenes – which worked really well.  The cast were also very well-rehearsed.  The diction, articulation and projection was very strong which meant that the storyline was clear for all. 

Sadly, the same cannot be said for the choreography which was more movement than stylised choreography.  Even though this society are not trained dancers I felt that there were more opportunities to enhance the choreography as the cast seemed very able dancers.  The movement seemed a little repetitive and jarred a little with the songs.  Perhaps it might work better in a bigger musical?

The small band were made up of drums, keys and percussion.  I felt that the band did well and were very sympathetic to the various changes in rhythm and tempo within the songs and from cast members who rushed ahead of the music from time to time.  Lovely use of wind chimes throughout.  Having the band dressed as they were and surrounded by their white picket fence, complete with authentic looking posters was a brilliant choice and made the band feel very much a part of the musical instead of a separate entity.   Well done Daniel Rushton and his team.

Lights were very simplistic but did their job and lit each area of the stage accordingly.  Even to the extent of lighting parts of the stage when the cast missed their marks and stood outside of the pools of light.  The sound dept had a job in their hands with the vast stage mics and for the most part, did well to execute the cues etc.  There were a few times when cues were missed, or a mic was broken or not turned on.  The sound cues were spot on though, the dripping sound effect in the tunnel was fab!

The main family, the Waterbury’s were made up of Tracey Carter (Mrs Waterbury), Bethany Carter (Bobbie), Josh Moulton (Peter) and Imogen Campin (Phyllis).  All of these actors had a lot of dialogue and told their story well.  The three children in particular were very strong in their roles and it is clear to see why they were cast in their roles.  Bethany showed some lovely vocals in her songs and was a good big sister to Peter and Phyllis.  Imogen was suitably sassy as Phyllis and looked very much the part in her pigtails and authentic costume.  The star of the show, for me, was Josh Moulton as Peter.  This is Josh’s first role in a musical and I’m sure it won’t be his last.  He was very strong as Peter and displayed a confidence that was great to watch.  Tracey Carter played a good Mrs Waterbury and had a nice rapport with the three children.  Some of the emotions seemed a little forced rather than truthfully felt but Tracey had wonderful projection and storytelling.

The supporting cast were made up of Gareth Roberts (Perks), Eddie Bell (numerous roles), Gary Blackman (The Old Gentlemen) and Adam Fallon (Jim).  Again, each were good storytellers and played their part well.  Gareth Roberts seemed a little nervous and unsure as Perks, especially with his vocals but he certainly looked the part.  Eddie Bell was strong as Mr Szczenpansky and I look forward to seeing what he does next. 

There are far too many other cast members to mention by name in this review, but it looked like each one were enjoying themselves.  The youth cast were strong in energy and commitment, something that the adults should look to portray in the future; sometimes our fear holds us back a little in life.

Overall, I was entertained throughout and enjoyed this performance.  I was also very well looked after by the society.  I thank Must See Musicals for their hospitality and wish them all the very best for their 2020 season.

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