Once again I find myself at Manchester's 'hidden gem' Dancehouse Theatre to watch a presentation of their in-house company, 'Jazzgalore' - the Musical Theatre arm of the hugely successful and highly renowned Northern Ballet School which resides in the building. Once again, I sit back and relax to watch these young adults 'strut their stuff' in their latest showcase of their talent, a 'tiptoe through the barmy, bonkers and brilliant world of Musical Theatre'!
My evenings spent watching the Northern Ballet School (either the classical ballet side or the modern repertoire) are some of my favourites in my hectic calendar, and this evening was no exception. Sometimes the talent is a little raw (that's understandable) or I feel, as I did this evening, that one or two were perhaps miscast, again, understandable, as this is a training establishment, and you can only cast from what you have. But one thing is certain every time, the amount of commitment and dedication that these students (late teens / early 20s) put forward and just exactly how much unbridled talent is on display.
This evening's offering was in 5 distinct sections. The first of which, 'A Celebration Of The Witches Of Oz', took music and songs from The Wizard Of Oz, Wicked and The Wiz, and presented a short potted version of the story. The evening saw two of my favourite Musical Theatre songs performed, and one of them, 'No Bad News' was in this section. I liked the idea of using three girls in the style of 'The Ronettes' to fill out the chorus phrases and harmonies whilst the majority danced and Francesca Thompson sang the song, but for me the choreography was too happy and jolly and therefore didn't contrast enough with 'Brand New Day' which followed. The dancing in this section was wonderful, although personally I didn't feel the tap routine fit with 'Brand New Day' at all, despite it being expertly danced. Unfortunatley, the killing of the Wicked Witch, using silver strands attached to a bucket and watching while she walked off stage in a little smoke, came across as very amateurish.
The second section, a segue from a magical kingdom at the end of the yellow brick road to a magical kingdom down a rabbit hole, as we were 'Welcom[ed] To Wonderland' with music from Wonderland, as well as other sources, was generally much more solid; and two of the numbers were contemporary ballet pieces which were hugely enjoyable.
After the interval, and three shorter sections. First came a medley from 'The Witches Of Eastwick' which saw Rosie Carter, Emma Coupland and Hayley Maunder masterfully tackle the roles of the three board housewives who go in search of sexual excitement only to find they have shacked themselves up with the devil incarnate, Daryl Van Horn (Daniel Gooddy). 'Make Him Mine' was a particularly enjoyable moment in this section.
Next, a Musical which seems to feature in every showcase Jazzgalore do, although this evening's was totally different from previous shows; 'Little Shop Of Horrors'. There were some nice ideas in the opening montage and I liked the characterisations of both Seymour (Laurie Oliver) and Audrey (Cerys Salter) greatly. Again three well-chosen girls were used (although this time they are part of the show) as backing singers, and the dancing again was excellent. An extraneous 'pop' song was used for the appearance of the large version of Audrey 2, {Mean Green Mother From Outer Space} and sung once again by Francesca Thompson, this time looking and sounding very much like Grace Jones.
Finally, it was the turn of The Addams Family. A spooky but hugely fun Musical which puts the well-known cartoon characters in a quandary, as Wednesday, now somewhat older than usual, is in love and wants to marry a 'normal' boy. The opening sequence 'When You're An Addams' was excellent. The second of my favourite songs appeared next, 'Death Is Just Around The Corner', and I have to admit that sadly this simply did not live up to my (high) expectations at all. In fact, sorry to say, it felt a little flat. However the pace was soon picked up again as the full company came back to 'El Tango De Amor'.
There were some extremely quick costume changes this evening, and in general the costumes were superb, matching the moods, themes and characters. For some of the evening back projection was used to add or ameliorate parts of the narrative, and the lighting was generally very good. Only a couple of times, at the stage extremities, were dancers and singers caught in shadow. The choral singing was excellent, with some lovely harmonies, and all the solos were very good, but I would like to give special mention to Cerys Salter who proved to be my favourite songstress of the evening. And of course, the dancing was wonderful, exciting, and fabulous. I would have been not only dissapointed but also surprised if it hadn't have been! This is the area of Musical Theatre in which these students really excel.
Looking forward to seeing their next showcase in July, however there are still two evenings left to catch this one, and for anyone who likes dance and / or Musicals, then this is a real treat!
Reviewer - Matthew Dougall
on - 28/3/19
No comments:
Post a Comment