Top Hat

Now that I have been a rep for a while, I have recently found myself making some pretty sweeping statements about the societies I visit, a trend I thought I would continue in this review.  This is my fourth visit to Yeovil and I have learned that there are certain things that I can expect from a Yeovil show, first of all you guys could teach other societies a thing or two about how to put on a musical, secondly the numbers and energy that you can put into group dance numbers must be second to none, in the local area.  Both of these things obviously should fit well with your latest production Top Hat.

Sitting in the auditorium, the first thing that you noticed was the amazing projection of the Top Hat logo on the curtains, this was a great effect and really helped to give the show an impressive start.  Such a shame that the night I came, the auditorium was only about half full, it is hard to tell if this was down to the weather or selling an older show, either way it was a shame and I hope audience numbers picked up during the rest of the run.

The show started with “Puttin’ on the Ritz”, a very entertaining song which proved what I had expected that you definitely know how to choreograph a large dance number, it looked impressive and really started the show off on the right foot.  Every time there was a group dance number it looked great and everyone seemed in perfect time with each other, so a massive well done to Sheila Driver.  The singing was good throughout the production and it was obvious that Gill Merrifield had worked hard with the cast.  The songs were all good, especially “Outside of that, I Love You” which was definitely a highlight, as it was not only well sung, but also very funny and incredibly well acted by Jay Westaway and Ali Enticott.  The tap dance routines were effective, if a little repetitive at times, however it has to be appreciated that there is only so much you can do with tap routines.  The orchestra, under the control of Gill, did a great job of filling the auditorium with sound however, occasionally their volume was just a little too high making it difficult to hear the singing, this was most noticeable in the second act, especially during the Entr’acte.

The sound for this production was managed by Scenic Projects of Great Yarmouth, and they did a great job of maintaining the sound levels.  I have, unfortunately, realised that the sound quality at The Octagon can vary widely between productions and often can be very ropey, though pleasingly not in this production.  The sound was crisp and clear, although there were a few occasions that you could hear the sound levels being tweaked during the show.  On the subject of sound, a couple of things that did puzzle me were the few occasions where there was just quiet on the stage, most notably in the lobby scenes, these could have been easily rectified by allowing the back ground actors to make some “background noise” to fill the gaps or having the actors talk before they reached their destination.  I also thought that the lack of rain noise, in the park scene, or indeed any reaction to the “rain” was a little unsual.  Not confusing but a little irritating was the fact that one of your actors had a habit of scraping his feet when he moved, making distracting noises throughout their time on stage.  These things are very minor but, we are invited to make any comments which may be help benefit your future productions.

The lighting was handled by the technicians and staff of The Octagon Theatre and, again as is a pattern with this production, fitted the era so well.  I loved the use of the “birdies” which had an old time feel to them and produced some beautiful shadows on the scenery, lovely colours too.  Although, a small point, in the second half the spot light operator did put the spot on the wrong actor.

The scenery for this production was magnificent, hired from Scenic Projects of Great Yarmouth, it not only fitted the production well but it was also incredibly practical fitting together in different ways to make different scenes, without having to change a plethora of flats and backgrounds, much in the same way that you adopted for 9-5.  This worked well and did speed things up a bit, unfortunately some scene changes were still a little long and several of them were rather noisy and, even at the back of the auditorium, I could hear moving noises, far too clearly.  However, as mentioned, the scenery was amazing and particularly impressive was the park background, the plane and the carriage.  Although, the best piece of the set had to be the lift, which looked great but did cause a few technical issues by not opening on cue, opening too early and not beeping.  Losing the curtain and replacing it with the old fashioned sliding panels was a great idea and they completely matched the feel of the production, it really felt like we were in a theatre in the 1930’s.

The costumes from Costume House, Isle of Wight, again were fantastic and, yet again, fitted the era and the production so well.  Everyone looked amazing with the highlights being the lovely sparkly outfits worn by everyone in the opening number and Madge.  Also, every costume that Zack Welfare wore, as Albert, was very befitting of an Italian fashion designer, superb boxers!

The casting for this production was spot on and every member of the cast was ideally suited to the role they were playing, even the minor background characters.  All the background actors kept in character at all times, even when a beach ball managed to bounce off the “sea” at the back of the stage.  Everyone looked like they were enjoying themselves and there were massive smiles all round.  Picking out individuals in the background ensemble is tricky, as everyone was on it but, I was particularly impressed with James Derrick and Sterling Wilder-Gay (who I always think are great in every performance I have seen them in), also standing out from the crowd were Antony Leadbitter and Matt Parker.

As already mentioned, the casting was superb and all of the main cast were great and fitted their roles well.  Jay Westaway, as Horace, had some very funny lines, which he delivered with skill and with a real ear for comic timing, which he also showed in 9-5.  Ali Enticott, made the most out of her character Madge and was genuinely funny to watch, her put downs were delivered with pure venom.  Naomi Lawton played a very likeable Dale Tremont and played the part with plenty of old school charm.  The comedy stakes were definitely upped by both Zack Welfare and Nick Mountjoy, in their roles as Beddini and Bates respectively.  Both these actors played their parts so well and milked every inch of humour out of their roles, they were a genuine joy to watch and were definitely audience favourites, in any other show either of these two would have easily stolen the show but, in this production, that honour has to go to your leading man Shaun Driver.  Shaun played Jerry Travers and, as in White Christmas before, showed that he is just perfectly suited to playing lead characters in these old fashioned 30s-50s based musicals.  He just fits into these roles like a glove and looks like he could just step into any of these type of roles.  Shaun is obviously a born crooner and was so likeable in this role, I could have watched him all day although I would be interested to see Shaun in a more modern contemporary production.

Overall this was an another really enjoyable performance from YAOS.  I have never seen either the stage show or the film of Top Hat before, believing that it would not be something I would enjoy and I am happy to say that I was wrong, although I definitely preferred the second act to the first.  Well done YAOS, another winner, I take off my (top) hat to you.

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