The Manchester Musical Youth are back again at their adopted 'home' of Manchester's Z-Arts Theatre in Hulme. This time with their junior company (augmented by some of the older ones) in what I believe to be the North West premiere of the Junior amateur performance version of this perennial classic favourite based on the stories of P L Travers and the magical Walt Disney film.
With only one weeks' rehearsal this was quite an incredible show. If they had had a longer and more complete rehearsal period with time (and budget) for further set, props and a live band, it would have been utterly stunning. As it was we were presented with a very minimalist utilitarian set (which seemed to take forever to change each time despite its simplicity), and a show that would greatly have benefited from more props. Poor Mr. Banks was left to look busy at an empty desk, a sweet shop with only one jar of sweets, and letters were mimed. I think this is also the first MMY show I have seen where they have used pre-recorded music tracks, and there really is nothing better than live music to bring that extra oomph dimension to a production!
However, what was presented this evening was extremely good and highly entertaining, from a whole plethora of creative, supportive and indeed talented individuals on stage, backstage and behind the scenes completely!
In this production the role of Mary Poppins went to one of the older girls, Kathryn Stephenson. A very pleasing actress to watch and her acting and singing abilities are undeniable. Quite rightly she strove to find her own way through this all-too-well-known character, finding different nuances and bringing forth a slightly different characterisation which is all to her credit, and indeed the characterisation she was striving towards was actually a more interesting and fully-rounded character than the way it is normally portrayed. Stephenson though, perhaps due to the short rehearsal time, didn't quite, for me at least, 'find' her true characterisation, the one which she was obviously striving for. Perhaps, if the show were to run longer than just three performances, she would find it during the run, but that luxury was also denied her.
The actor to steel the show completely for me was Reuben Williams. This young man will certainly go far if he continues in this vein. Playing Bert with a cheeky confident air, his attitude and gait perfectly placed, and he proved to be not only an excellent actor and singer but a brilliant dancer too. Wow!
Jasmine Kennedy and Seb Downing played the two children, Jane and Michael, with ease and were a joy to watch; whilst their parents were played by Harriet Robinson (Mrs. Banks), with an air of despair and resignation, and Chris Bache (Mr. Banks) with determination and both brought more dimension to theses roles than the normal mono-dimensional caricatures of the pro Musical.
With an assortment of other smaller cameo characters coming and going, and a busy and well-used chorus - with, as is usual with MMY, excellent choral singing - the show was peopled with an array of talented and keen young performers, giving their all and benefiting greatly from the experience to the delight of us, the audience.
There were a few technical problems evidenced this evening, such as lighting being off-cue and actors performing in the dark until it was sorted, whilst stage-hands changed the scene fully lit! I do also think that some lines were forgotten and some ad-libbing had to be done too. I did not hear a prompt nor did I see one listed in the programme, but perhaps it might have been prudent to have had one.
Directed by Emily Clarke and Cameron Hall, who have both had the privilege and pleasure of performing with MMY's past shows, are now showing talents in the production side of theatre too, and Clarke's choreography, especially the Step In Time sequence and using both BSL and semaphore to inspire Supercalifragilistiexpialidocious, was lovely; not too difficult or complicated that they were pushed beyond their limits, but exciting and original all the same.
You can next catch the MMY company performing Aladdin, again at Z-Arts, in October. A highly talented and creative group of youngsters who deserve to have full houses every night!
Reviewer - Matthew Dougall
on - 31/8/18
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