The Yeoman Of The Guard

Preston Gilbert & Sullivan

The Yeomen Of The Guard

6th March 2020

Tonight's visit to The Preston Playhouse was to see Preston Gilbert & Sullivan’s presentation of The Yeomen Of The Guard.  This is one of the more humorous of G&S shows with some great comedy throughout, in the script and some entertaining musical numbers.  However as is usually apparent in G&S there is plenty of tragedy and heartbreak also.  

The infamous Overture was included in tonight's production and those that know their G&S will know that it is a monster of an overture, that could have its own interval!  Robin Stopford - Musical Director, taking the massive task on, did so with expertise giving the audience great dynamics and a solid, coherent sound.  A 13 strong orchestra was “shoehorned” into this little theatre, but it made for a warm and engulfing experience.  Great job by the band throughout the whole production to not over power the cast and soloists during their arias and Robin did well to control the mix beautifully.  The set work from Philip Walsh, Ann Cooper, Peter Wright and Michael Stott for this show was excellent, with some lovely painted scenes and clever use of levels.  The costume throughout was absolutely impeccable and suited the performance perfectly.  To go along with this visual spectacle, the choreography was simple but effective for this cast on a small stage.  The Direction from Merle Winstanley and Sue Hurrell was obviously well thought out and planned as the work on diction and characterisation was well noted.  Good use of the space during all scenes drew the audience in and kept them invested in the story.  With longer shows, it’s difficult to maintain the interest in the full audience but I have to say whilst looking around the auditorium, the whole audience seemed transfixed on the action on stage and I tip my hat to the direction team for keeping the audience's attention.

Obviously the production team had produced some excellent work, but without a strong cast their work wouldn’t have been enjoyed to the same level and I have to say that the casting team for this show……Nailed It!  What a great cast!  Strong vocals and secure harmony throughout.  Some slight hesitation on the vocal entrances in the group numbers, but that was overcome once the voices hit their stride.  The male harmonies were excellent, deep and rich in all the groups numbers with the obvious G&S high notes being handled with, what seemed like, ease by the ladies.  Well Done!

There were some obvious stand out performances in the cast namely: Philip Walsh as Sir Richard Cholmondeley  With great projection and good timing for his delivery, Chris Dodd did a great job as Colonel Fairfax delivering strong vocals in both this script and his singing.  David Twizell gave his usual comedic performance as the funny Sergeant Meryll and Robert Feeley seemed to be permanently on stage throughout this production as Jack Point and as usual, he delivered a very entertaining performance with a strong character and en pointe vocals - Good Job.  Not to be outdone - the ladies of the cast certainly turned in some great performances also, with Jennifer James giving us some great characterisation and Phoebe Meryll and also the strong vocal talents of Amy Hardy showing us pretty much every note invented as Elsie Maynard!

This was a triumphant success of a show and I was glad to be invited to see such a strong cast provide us with this entertaining and well rehearsed show.  Well done everyone involved - enjoy the rest of your run!

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