The Witches Of Eastwick

The Witches of Eastwick is based on the novel by John Updike about three bored and unsatisfied women in a smug New England town, the three unfulfilled singles are seduced and empowered by the demonic Darryl Van Horne. The musical was originally produced by Cameron Mackintosh not once but twice, first in 2000 and then in a revised version the following year. Written by American writers John Dempsey and Dana P Rowe, the show never did stipulate virtuous business and failed to transfer to Broadway. For Mackintosh, this show was deemed a flop, despite both of his attempts to make it work as a musical.

Carolyn Farrish Mayer , Jacqui Moreland and Lisa McDonald play the three “witches” of the title - respectively repressed, tongue-tied and stroppy until they meet Darryl (Michael Daws) and are transformed  into sleek, vampish femmes fatales. Alex, Jane and Suki are like the scarecrow, the tin man and the cowardly lion: the writers allow them one characteristic each. Like their Oz counterparts, they finally learn, in a ghastly closing number, that "everything I needed was there inside of me".

Darryl Van Horne is a role that, since the 1987 film, will always be associated with Jack Nicholson, but Daws certainly adds his own interesting flavour to the role, not with a blend of wolfish charm or sardonic wit but with a flair of ‘camp devil’ – making the many sexual references read a little unclear.

I adore the concept of scaling down big musicals to a more intimate performing space, it demonstrates an entirely new feel for a show and forces the production team to get creative with the productions presentation - however, the reoccurring problem I've not seen accomplished yet at MMTG is the limitations of the pit space at the MADS little Theatre. From experience, vastly reducing orchestrations can seriously hinder the quality of the intended sound associated to a show - with certain parts of the score sounding empty or incomplete. Having someone with the skill to re-orchestrate a show for a smaller band is not easily accessible (nor affordable) in amateur theatre, therefore I would always advise against opting for a smaller orchestra than what is written unless the group has access to such a skill. I fully appreciate that this adds more of a strain on selecting which shows to stage, though where you position your musicians to accommodate more of them could be rethought. 

This society certainly does not shy away from putting the hours in during the run up to a show. The set was a DIY job, constructed entirely in house, the ‘look’ clearly inspired from the original production with its animated, picturesque beach hut style buildings and picket fences, the crew coped well with set changes in this slightly awkward venue given the bulky furniture they had to struggle with.

Carolyn Farrish Mayer had strong moments as Alexandra which translated effectively via speech and song, it was clear she understood her character and communicated the qualities to good effect, equally so was Jacqui Moreland as Jane who brought a lovely voice and demonstrated a mature characterisation and understanding of her role.
The first impression of Lisa McDonald as Sukie was her age, she not only looked too young (which in many cases can be forgiven) but presented her character almost as though she were a teenager, more attention for Lisa to appear older (both visually and using characterisation skill) would have benefited the telling and understanding of this story.

Nice moments were also presented from some of the supporting / cameo roles, Luke Clayton was well suited to ‘Michael’ with some nice moments, as was Lauren Spiers who kept popping up as ‘Little Girl’ who sweetly, with a sense of ‘troublemaker’, linked transitions together with a layer of intrigue.

‘Eastwick’ (in so many ways) isn’t an easy show to tackle, though this society certainly gave it a good shot!

Congratulations MMTG.

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