| Anyone 4theatre? – High School Musical |
| Director/Producer/choreographer/Musical Director – Amelia Regnante |
| Conductor/Musical Director – Marc Yarrow |
| Venue – The Pavilion, Worthing. |
| The main praise for this incredible production goes to this young director for her ability to control and choreograph 70 people under the age of 18 to such a high standard.. What a great afternoon’s entertainment she gave us. I would like to single out Gareth Williams (Troy) and Rebecca Lee (Gabriella) for really excellent performances. All the principals were good, and the chorus and dancers were polished and smiled and reacted at all the right times. The scene changes were slick and effective, the lighting worked 100% and the sound was well controlled enabling the voices to be heard even at the back of the theatre. |
| Bury Players – Habeas Corpus |
| Director – Cathy Haigh |
| Venue – Bury Village Hall |
| I had no idea what this Alan Bennett play was about until I arrived and read the programme. This play for adults made us smile and laugh from start to finish. The dialogue is so well written but it takes great timing, and good direction as well, to make a show out of good dialogue when there is no scenery to fall back on. This society had all the requirements to produce a great evening’s entertainment. My congratulations to the members of the cast, who all gave of their best. The costumes were correct and the boxer shorts certainly stole the show!!!. |
| Warninglid Players – My Mother Said I Never Should |
| Director – Richard Winton. |
| Venue – Seaforth Hall, Warninglid |
| Everything about this production was remarkable. How the cast remembered where they were in the script was a miracle. Frequently a play will jump a number of weeks or even years but this one jumped back and forth, like a yoyo, in act one. In fact, that is my only criticism of a brilliant production. Without a programme I would have been hopelessly lost. The three ladies were all excellent and Alicia Anckorn quite remarkable for a 13 year old girl. She held her own brilliantly. I came away not sure whether to laugh or cry and found the whole production most thought provoking. |
| Stage Door Theatre Company – There’s Always a You in Useless [Part of a double bill with Blue Remembered Hills] |
| Director – Vic Moss |
| Venue – The Windmill, Littlehampton |
| “There’s Always a You in Useless” was an interesting play requiring a minimum amount of space. The dialogue was exceedingly funny and well spoken by the various cast members but I would like to have seen more variety in pace and more movement as the whole show was a little static. |
| Stage Door Theatre Company – Blue Remembered Hills [Part of a double bill with There’s Always a You in Useless] |
| Director – Carole Davies |
| “Blue Remembered Hills” was a brilliant production from start to finish. I have nothing but praise for the director and the cast were all so true to life in their various roles. I must congratulate the technical members who produced the wonderful film back cloth which worked to perfection on every scene change and Chris Davey for the fight choreography. |
| Worthing Light Opera Company – It’s Showtime |
| Director – Joan Edwards |
| Musical Director – Helen Emery |
| Venue – The Barn, Field Place |
| I have never been keen on concerts as I tend to get restless on village hall chairs but this production was so much more and held our attention from start to finish. It was so well put together with excellent choices of songs with great variation. The simple choreography fitted well onto the stage area and the singing was polished. It was nice to see some regular chorus members being given the chance to perform on their own or in duets but I did feel that some of them were not quite ready for that task. |
| Littlehampton Players Operatic Society – The Gipsy Baron |
| Director – Bridget Pyle |
| Musical Director – Laura King. |
| Venue – The Windmill |
| As usual this society’s high standard of singing and beautiful costumes helped to make this production as one expects from any Johann Strauss operetta. However I did feel that the orchestral backing for the performance was lacking some of its musicality. Perhaps the trombone could have been replaced by strings for a lighter effect. Simon Smith gave a good performance as Count Kareska and Gudrun Lehmann-Shanks sang superbly as Saffi, well supported by Simon Long as Sandor Barinkay. All the other principals portrayed their characters well but I would have liked the director to have set more dancing, movement and variety of pace for the chorus. |
| HAODS – The Boyfriend |
| Director – Jose Harrison |
| Musical Director – Mags Fisher |
| Choreographer – Jackie Shepherd |
| Venue – The Capitol Theatre |
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Report by Peggy Jordan:- This company have a beautiful theatre in which to perform, and they do it credit. The opening overture set the scene well, with an audience singing along. The set was very colourful with good lighting and superb costumes. All the ‘young ladies’ were suitably frivolous and Alison Shapley as Hortense was charming along with Judi Weaver as Madam Dubonnet. My favourite two characters were Tony played by Oliver Rolle who has fantastic stage presence for one so young and Lord Brockhurst. This was played by Howard Collis who made me love the ‘old boy’ from the word go. Well done to everyone. |
| Worthing Musical Comedy Society – Oklahoma |
| Director – Andy Roberts |
| Musical Director – Marcus Martin |
| Choreographer – Terri Geal |
| Venue – The Connaught Theatre, Worthing |
| Andy Roberts should take a bow. His part in Irene was one of the best I have seen from your society. The other was in Mack and Mabel. Now he has proved himself to be an excellent director. This was an great production from start to finish. Terri and Marcus did a first class job and the whole cast were quite exceptional in every sphere. John Chambers’ interpretation of Ali Hakim outshone any other I have seen and Mark Newnham as Jud Fry was so different and so realistic. All the principals performed with conviction and the chorus and dancers shone with professionalism. |
| Bolney Players – Cinderella |
| Director – Chris Tonkinson |
| Musical Directors – Albert Clifford & Oli Jacobs |
| Venue – The Rawson Hall |
| Once again this society produced an old fashioned Pantomime with all the right ingredient. The fairy and her assistant provided the good factor and the ugly sisters were nicely different and unpleasant enough for the boo factor. I would like to congratulate Amber Middleton for her efforts as Dandini. She is certainly a young lady who shows great potential for the future and Brenda Sands deserves a medal for facial expressions and body language. The Giliberti dancers looked lovely on stage and were obviously very well trained. They had beautiful pointing feet and they all smiled. |
| The Regis Players – Steel Magnolias |
| Director – John Covey |
| Venue – Felpham Village Hall |
| This was one of the best plays I have been privileged to see since I became the NODA rep. My congratulations go to John Covey for some really brilliant direction and to the back stage team who managed to alter the sets very efficiently between each scene. The cast were all so good that it is difficult to single out any performances but I am going to mention two for very opposite reasons. Abi Holdsworth probably had the least lines of all the ladies and yet hardly ever left the stage but managed to maintain her character through-out and Liz McNally who held her audience riveted for the final scene which was long and incredibly moving. My congratulations to everyone for a wonderful evening. |
| Crawley Operatic Society – 42nd Street. |
| Director – Heather Kemeys. |
| Musical Director – Steven Bean |
| Choreographer –Amanda Masters. |
| Venue – The Hawth, Crawley |
| There was a great start to this show with a wonderful row of legs all tapping to perfection as the curtain was slowly raised. The choreographer produced a very high standard which was well danced. Macey Cherrett must be commended for a very proficient performance as Peggy Sawyer. Both these young ladies showed great talent in their respective fields. All the principals performed with polish and confidence and the chorus sang with enthusiasm and were obviously well rehearsed. At times I found the dialogue slightly difficult to follow partially due to the accent but also due to lack of projection from some cast members. However, the show was excellent and a pleasure to watch. |