Zombie Prom

Choreographer: Victoria Harrocks

ZOMBIE PROM. SONG 12TH APRIL 2012

If we could bottle all the energy and enthusiasm from this show, wind farms would be a thing of the past. Although Regional Rep for District 4 I stood in on this occasion for Rep Wendy Newton and all I can say is eat your heart out Wendy you missed a terrific evening. Director Marilyn Fletcher-Hill captured all the style of a 50’s high school (shades of Rydell High) and extracted a wonderful performance from a diverse cast of young people aged between 10 and 18. This diversity of age, size and dance ability must have given Choreographer Victoria Harrocks pause for thought but by adopting simple yet very effective routines she overcame this problem. It was lovely to see some humour in the movement which complimented music and dialogue and when I spoke to Victoria I felt bound to congratulate her on way the cast used their arms during the dance sequences. It is never an easy task to get a large or small groups to do arm movements but except on a couple of odd occasions the unison of movement was exceptional. Paul Tafts musical direction was excellent. The singing was good and the music proved to be never too much and never too little. Now what can I say about the cast well it’s safe to say they carried no passengers. Whatever they did they all put their best into it and even when not in the immediate sphere of the action they maintained their characterisation, a tribute to both them and the Director. When comedy bits came their way they handled these very well and the general dialogue was crisp and clear. As for our leading players Marie-Claire Malone and Robbie Fletcher-Hill they were excellent. Their romantic moments and duets were natural and believable not easy for that age bracket and more so when you find out that Robbie had stepped in at very short notice to fill the part when his predecessor had to step down. Such a drastic change in casting must have posed a problem for the leading lady as well as the other members of the cast but if you hadn’t been told you would never have known. Having been told that Marie Claire was a trained ballroom dancer it was no surprise to see her and her brother perform a latin American dance to complement a later scene; what a quick change that must have been. Our two “adult players” (shall we say 19 +?) did their job very well. A good set design, simple but effective which allowed maximisation of the stage, vital when one considers the numbers and scope of the dancing: Good sound and lighting and you have all that was necessary to bring in a great performance. I spoke to the cast after the show and told them their performance showed that the future of the theatre was in good hands. Budge.

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