WODYS at the Wood

The warm welcome bestowed on me from the President Ann Hasnip and other members of WODS, set the tone for the afternoon ahead with the Worcester Operatic & Dramatic Society Youth Section (WODYS). It was remarkable that until 11pm the previous evening, the stage had been set in the grounds of Nunnery Wood High School for an outdoor event. However, with the weather forecast of heavy rain, at that late hour, everything was moved indoors changing the dynamic of the performance completely. Did this throw the young cast? Not at all, like absolute troopers, their performance was slick, polished and of the highest standard. WODYS had rehearsed under social distancing guidelines, in groups of six, which must have been incredibly challenging, but under the direction of the excellent production team, the result was outstanding. The last-minute lighting plot was a bonus too.

From the opening number of ‘Footloose’ the cast’s smiling faces made the audience feel good. It also set off a few tears of pure joy and pride from several members of the audience too. The choreography was phenomenal with impeccable timing and precision from each member of the cast. Nice solo from Carter Chilton too.

The link between songs was provided by Kit Windows-Yule as compère, a role he relished, and he kept the momentum flowing at a nice pace. All of the songs in the first half came from WODYS award winning productions and what a treat they were… Grace Done was outstanding singing ‘Holding out for a Hero’ and showed real maturity when she later became Miss Hannigan from Annie, with a comical rendition of ‘Little Girls’. The female cast were faultless with ‘It’s a Hard Knock Life’ their sharp moves and expressive faces were fantastic.

Soloist’s Ben Sears and Georgia Hathaway-Timms sang numbers from Seven Brides for Seven Brothers, and both were beautiful; Ella Holland sang the title song from ‘Whistle down the Wind’ with a subtle power that was very moving. Likewise, Lydia Dimmock sang ‘I Dreamed a Dream’ without falling into the stereotypical trap of singing it like Lea Salonga; her interpretation was gentle and strong in equal measure. Alfie Rudd wowed us with his superb and effortless version of ‘Stars’, it was simply stunning.

The second half was narrated by Kit giving a brief synopsis of the story of Shrek the musical. which will be WODYS next production. Unfortunately, some of the lead characters will not be able to perform the roles they had already learnt pre-covid as they will be heading off to further education, so this was their opportunity to show us what might have been. Ben Darby and Alfie Rudd proved that you don’t need to be green and dressed as a giant and a donkey to get into character. Ben gave us the whole package as Donkey; his comic timing, moves and great singing was an absolute joy, and he and Alfie worked so well together. Ben Sears acted Lord Farquaad on his knees with stuck on legs and jazz shoes and moved in a completely believable way, it was well choreographed, and with great versatility. The three Fiona’s Molly Phillips, Olivia Lee and Elizabeth Radford delighted us with their harmonies and impressed with their poise. Molly, Alfie, and Ben then sang ‘Who’d I Be’ which was quite poignant as they head off to their future lives away from WODYS.

The ensemble raised the roof with the finale from Shrek ‘I’m a Believer’ which we all loved and left us in anticipation for their forthcoming show. The final number was ‘One Day More’ from Les Misérables. It was an emotional ending to the first live production most of the audience had seen in over a year and what a way to end this first-class production. We were on our feet before the last note to show our appreciation to the very talented group of young performers.

Well done WODYS, the future of theatre is in safe hands!

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