White Christmas

Who says Christmas can’t come in April? Well certainly not Chapeltown AOS and although it was not performed to a capacity audience the ones who were there really got into the spirit of things.

The opening scene with Bob Wallace and Phil Davis, played by David Clayton and Jonny White, went perfectly and David had the audience singing the title song with him. Both David and Jonny were perfect for these parts and were able to get the most out of them, Bob’s duet with Betty, Love and the Weather, played by Kerry Masson-Wilson was excellent and the audience enjoyed every minute of it. There was also a brilliant number from Phil and Judy played by Olivia Fisher who were joined by a Quintet to perform The Best things happen while you’re Dancing, again this was enjoyed by everyone present.

One of the big numbers in this show is of course Sisters which was performed not only by Betty and Judy but also by Bob and Phil much to the delight of the audience. I would think most people know the whole show is played around the task of getting General Waverley’s company to his Inn in order to perform for him at Christmas, anyone who knows theatre will know the original title of this show was in fact Holiday Inn which is where the story comes from. The General in question was played with great style and passion by Michael Parker; he was also joined at the Inn by Lynne Pilkington as Martha Watson and Poppy Croydon-Smith as his granddaughter Susan. Both Lynne and Poppy were exceptional in these parts being able to deliver two great characters, Lynne had the perfect voice for Martha, a sort of corncrake type which was pitched exactly right and Poppy was equally good especially when she sang and danced the reprise of Let me sing and I’m Happy.

There are many characters in this piece all of which were played to perfection by members of this society to produce this extremely enjoyable show and it is a great pity that more people did not come to see it as they missed a real treat. One member who is worth a mention is Lee Brammer who played the extremely frustrated Mike who was constantly trying to rally the performers for the various shows within this show. It was also good to see the introduction of the younger members in this show who were also able to join in the fun. One of the highlights of this show is the opening to Act 2 when Phil and Judy were joined on stage by the entire cast to perform I Love A Piano, this was nothing short of brilliant and I am sure Gail Renshaw must have been very proud of the efforts of the entire cast as must Jan Jackson who directed this show.

Congratulations to all involved.

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