Wind In The Willows

Firstly can I say thank you so much to WODS for introducing me to this almost  brand new musical version of WITW. I’d had every intention of getting to London to  see it but it was a short run and basically I never got there. Also well done on  making a brave choice to do it. None of us has the hindsight of ticket sales (sadly)  but you kind of know this one will never be an easy sell. I must say your promotion  of this show was excellent. It was forever popping up on timelines for various  socials ,so hats off to your marketing team.  

It was a small audience on opening night, but boy were they there to support and I  felt made as much noise for you as they could. At times when the stage was full  with every cast member I got a lovely warm feeling thinking this is more than a  family feeling, but a sense of real community with an awful lot of heart and love for  this production. This really came across to the audience.  

On taking my seat I was so pleased to see the orchestra out front of stage. I do  feel this makes such a difference to the sound we hear than when they are tucked  away and piped through. The opening set looked good. I understand this was  hired, the lighting effect was perfect, the ripples around the proscenium and the  light catching the sea weed hanging transported us as an audience straight to the  river bank.  

In act one I felt mostly we had a good pace the scene changes felt very neat and  rehearsed only one dead spot in act 1 and this was the setting of Badger’s den.  Could this have been brought on whilst the Fox’s were doing their reprise? These  are usually written to cover such transitions. We lost a bit of pace almost from then  right to the end of act one but I really enjoyed the trio A Friend is Still A Friend.  There was a nice formation of drapes for toads bedroom and thought the Judge  and Clerk added great comedy to The court scene and Toads conviction.  

Throughout some of the lighting was a little dark in places and sometimes cast  took a while to find their light, it was maybe a first night issue and I felt sound  wasn’t quite as balanced as it could have been just a few late issues with mics.  This is where every department needs to know the show as well as the cast and  when we have a swell of music within the musical numbers the mics should also  do the same. Sadly voices became lost in a lot of the dramatic parts of the music.  I’m sure this would have been ironed out by next night. 

Act 2 did feel a little more under rehearsed. It became quite patchy in its transitions  from scene to scene. We all know what it’s like, you put a schedule together and  time always runs away with you! Before you know it you’re in a rush to get it  finished, I must admit it did feel a little bit like that. But on the positive side it was  cast extremely well, everyone well suited to their parts. Well done to the the  casting team on this. You struck a great balance between casting very experienced  actors to also giving the youngster newbie’s a chance, very important for any club  to keep the baton running.  

Mr Toad  

What a great part for you. Incredible energy throughout and looked just right in  those very dapper costumes. You and the director obviously chose to bring a  “camper” element to Mr Toad. It’s a very fine line when taking this route not to go  “Panto”. Let’s just say the toe was just at the line but you didn’t cross it. Good  team work and again terrific energy. Well done.  

Ratty  

I really liked your performance. Beautifully underplayed and very believable. You  created such a caring rapport with Mole you showed real sincerity. Great singing  voice, your harmonies came through whether a duet trio or quartet. Gorgeous.  Good comic timing too. Costume just right. My only help I’d offer is be very careful  to include the audience just a bit more. An example when you had dialogue with  Mole you looked at him the whole time so we only saw half your facial expressions  but you still kept us engaged so just a small thing in what was a lovely thought  through performance. Great work.  

Mole  

Perfect casting. A real joy to watch. I felt your nerves at the start but they didn’t  take long to go and you were on your way. A really well thought out character. We  were with you right from the off. Just a little hesitant with lines now and again, very  important to keep the pace going but some strong high notes added beautifully to  the songs and harmonies. “Messing about” was a real highlight for me. You and  Ratty worked so well together. I look forward to more performances from you.  

Badger  

Of course a very experienced actor. Such command of the stage and very easy to  watch and feel relaxed watching. I felt if all fell apart around you you’d still be  standing there very confident and just carry on. A true pro.  

Great voice which suited the songs perfectly. “A Friend Is Still A Friend” was  another highlight for me. Brilliant team work. I just felt you could have gone to town  more with the make up and got the badger stripes much bolder. I could just faintly  see what you’d tried to achieve but the lights just washed it out. A very enjoyable  performance. Congratulations.  

Mrs Otter  

A great comedy actress. Just lovely. You had me smiling all through. Showed great  concern when Portia went missing and showed good team work amongst the  company. I do hope we see you do more. 

Portia 

Great to see you coming up through the ranks. Not an easy task to open the show  but you did and with fine confidence. “Spring” really did bloom. Well sung and  displayed nice acting qualities which will stand you in good stead for future parts.  Very believable mother and daughter with Mrs Otter. Really enjoyable performance.  

Chief Weazel/Cheryl Stoat/Lesser Weazel  

Great trio of villains. You all worked really well together. Headed up “We’re Taking  Over The Hall” superbly. That was a great number to watch. Fine skills of acting  singing and dancing. Wouldn’t want to meet any of you in a dark alley! Well done.  

Orchestra  

Headed up by Jack Millier. I don’t think I’ve come across you before but I hope to  in the future. A really good sound. To be honest not once did I notice the music so  to me that’s top marks. At times the music did drown out some of the  performances but that’s a fault from the sound as at no time did I feel your level  was too loud. As I mentioned earlier, lovely to see you front of stage and not  tucked away. Top notch.  

Choreography 

What a great show to get your teeth into. A big company to drill but you did a  grand job. “We’re taking Over The Hall” was particularly energetic and I’m sure  challenging, but you rose to that. No wonder you needed the help of two  assistants. “Spring” was a great opener and liked how each individual character  became the main attraction when it was their turn to deliver. Good use of the  whole stage and you created some great pictures and shaping with good story  telling in your choreography. Well done.  

Direction 

Well done on such a huge undertaking. Bringing your two clubs together was a  good decision, bringing in some youth and excited energy can never be a bad  choice.  

Really good casting. Your main characters all did an excellent job. You created  good pace from the off, which did sadly wain a little as we neared the end of act 1.  I always think it’s worth creating the scene changes (transistions) even before you  set the scenes just to ensure you’ve got good flow from one scene to another.  Audiences forgive seeing any moving scenery or props as long as it’s  choreographed well. Always good to use your cast for this too as so often  backstage aren’t at all rehearsals.  

I also noted not only did you direct but you had involvement in costumes, props  and the program! Goodness me I’m dizzy thinking about it all. Directing alone is full  on although I know it does get difficult getting people to fill these roles. No wonder  you now need a break. 

The lighting felt a bit dull at times. It became difficult to see facial expressions so I  felt some humour was lost because of this. I thought the LED lights at the edges  seemed a bit out of place when they were on almost a bit too jazzy for the setting.  Maybe they could have been saved just for the big numbers and finale to have  more impact. Just my opinion of course.  

But on a positive note, some good characterisations were achieved. Quite difficult  when you have humans playing animals but you gave us very believable  performances. I loved the comradeship between Badger, Ratty and Mole and the  cheeky fun of Mr Toad. What I love most about WODS is the wonderful  atmosphere you project to the audience that comes over in spades. I really hope  everyone had an amazing week.  

Congratulations.  

Special mentions to The Swallows, The family of Hedgehogs and The Wassailing  mice. Although none of these scenes moved the story along, for me they added  great entertainment value and I must say all were sung beautifully.  

Thank you for a wonderful evening and the chance to finally seeing Wind In The  Willows.  

Best wishes 

Mike Purnell. 

 

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