This year's in-house musical production from the young teenagers of North Manchester's Co-Op Academy in Blackley was the well-known spoof of the Hollywood horror B-Movie genre about an unsuspecting young man who loves plants, and, after coming across this "strange and ununsual plant" in the Chinese District, takes it back to the florist on Skid Row where he works, and tends for it by feeding it human blood!
The youngsters coped well with their understanding and portrayal of these characters with whom they have little incommon. The 1950s is ancient history to them, and the mores and dictates of the society in which the musical is set is literally quite foreign to them. Not only that but they all had to act much older than their young selves too!
The Academy is blessed with a large and professional stage, and so they also had the opportunity to have a realistic looking set, and set the whole thing off with a live band, lighting effects, and costumes. To be completely honest, the set was a little bit of a let down. The florist shop was omnipresent, but even in the lean years there was not a single flower on display at all, and then suddenly they were able to produce $100 worth of red roses - a single bunch of artificial white and red roses - which did not cut it sadly. The growth of the plant, named Audrey II however, was excellent, and worked superbly.
For a school production this was not a show which had much chorus work. In fact, the chorus appeared only once in each of the acts, which I found rather dispiriting. Surely there were many more places throughout where the chorus could have been and had a little more to do. This production was very much a small ensemble piece, and although the ensemble chosen worked excellently to create their characters and the story, it did not feel like a school show.
William Hall was a very secure insecure plant-geek, in love with co-worker Audrey, and handled his characterisation and stage time well. The put-upon "doll" Audrey was given a slightly more mature make-over then normal as portrayed by Leyli Khajeh. This worked in Khajeh's favour although her very dowdy and uninspiring brown dress was not fitting for the character of Audrey at all. The flower-shop owner, a New York Jew by the name of Mushnik is usually portrayed by a male, however here it was Mrs. Mushnik, and a no-nonsense, businesswoman she was too, played by Ruby Mills.
Noah Plaiter completely understood his character of the sadistic laughing-gas-loving dentist Orin, and he tried really hard to bring out the best (or is that the worst) of this person, however, due to his diminutive size, this was not an easy ask. What would have worked much better would have been to use his tinyness to the show's and character's advantage, and since Plaiter obviously had the ability to create humour, make the part a comedy role rather than the traditional bad-guy.
The Ronettes, a group of close-harmony singers narrate the show in a very Greek Chorus sort of way. Here there were four girls, Elektra Day, Gabriella Taiwo, Boluwatife Bello, and Leona Aghayere. Again working well together. Their individual solo singing was excellent, and it was clear that all four were good singers, however, this evening, their harmonies were not at all secure and would have benefitted from a little more rehearsal.
The voice of Audrey II was provided for by Victoria Oja, whilst the plant's movement was done by Darcey Allen. The three cameo roles towards the end of the show were played with real gusto and relish by Karter Brogan, Amelia Dominiak, and Harleen Sidana.
The live band was comprised of both school students and teachers, and the sound levels were good all evening, despite the occasional microphone hiccup. The lighting design could have been a little more creative perhaps, as indeed could the directing. But what was produced worked, and once again the school has shown that they encourage and support the Arts and provide a wonderful annual experience for their students.
Reviewer - Matthew Dougall
on - 15.2.24
on - 15.2.24
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