Aline Waites for WhatsOnStage ****
"Joyous and fun.....full of atmosphere."
"This is a show great for children and entertaining for grown ups."
"Perfect Christmas Fare."
"The cast fill the multiplicity of roles with enthusiasm and versatility."
"Joe Fredericks as musical director has done a great job drilling the cast into Rebecca Applin’s beautifully arranged harmonies....as director he has created some memorable pictures."
Dominic Martin for The Stage
"This is unashamedly feel-good musical theatre, designed to kindle a warm, fuzzy feeling in its Christmas audience, and it does so to brilliant effect."
"The outstanding cast of 18 switches seamlessly between characters, flowing on and off stage as scenes, with their set-piece songs, rattle along at an enthralling pace."
"Phil Willmott’s entertaining adaptation breathes new life into the well-known tale, while the music is full of good humour and light-heartedness."
"What is captivating about this intimate show, besides the accomplished performances, is that it is at once comfortably familiar and yet refreshingly original, as though you were hearing Dickens’ story for the first time."
"As a youthful Charles Dickens, convinced he’s found his next hit novel, Charlie Anson’s exuberant, spirited narrator draws the audience into his imaginative morality tale."
Simon Dale for Remotegoat ****
"Director Joe Fredericks and writer Phil Willmott unashamedly set their stall out to create festive fare for all the family. They succeed in spades."
"Dickens would have approved....scenes crackling with Dickens' sense of melodrama."
"....with the effective set, it creates a warm, busy atmosphere that is like stepping into the tableau of an oil painting, all warm colours, vibrant discourse, textured decor and atmosphere."
"......demonstrating that with good direction and a creative team you can make good and visually striking theatre without a monumental budget."
"As a bent-backed Scrooge, Mark Starr delivered the requisite curmudgeon"
"The logistics of juggling a large cast in a small space were handled seamlessly and the business of the stage and the actors really gave the show an earthy buzz."
Adrian Pumphrey for The Public Reviews
"......a family friendly extravaganza. This was a blast from start to finish."
"A fantastic show."
"With a great venue, cast, set and scene progression this made for a festive night that anyone would enjoy."
"....refreshing and intriguing. Even with the genius of the original story, it is quite special to be given something new."
"The costumes and panoramic set design transport you back to Victorian times."
Friday, 26 December 2008
Wednesday, 24 December 2008
'A Christmas Carol' at The King's Head - Review
Name of production :A CHRISTMAS CAROL Name of venue: The Kings Head Rating: four stars Running Time: 1hour 30 minutes without interval Running Dates: 10th Dec – Jan 4th
The sound of carol singing can be heard in the bar preceding one’s entry into the theatre. The cast are already working, singing and playing their hearts out. Most of them are actor/musicians and there is a small orchestra of portable instruments - violin, flute, clarinet etc who play us into the theatre and continue from time to time throughout the performance with the addition of less moveable items – piano and double bass. Joe Fredericks is musical director and he has done a great job drilling the cast into Rebecca Applin’s beautifully arranged harmonies. There are many amusing parodies on classics like Grieg’s “Anitra’s Dance” and Sullivans’s “The Sun whose rays” even a spirited rendering of “Land of Hope and Glory”
Phil Willmott has adapted this unusually lavish production of the old Christmas Story. He has got over the timeworn editions by inserting the character of Charles Dickens himself. Dickens is trying to sell his novella to his publisher – he wants red leather with gold lettering - and this is a demonstration in order to impress him. It also helps to have a narrator to move the story along when necessary. There are a few other innovations, the ghosts are unusually characterised. Christmas Past is Cinderella from the fairy tales of his youth, and Christmas future is the ghost of Tiny Tim. Marley’s Ghost appears first in the mirror and is then played by a giant puppet.
The set by Paul Burgess is warm and cosy - lots of broken brick work on stage, and plastic cobbles on the floor of the stage and auditorium. The result – along with Gary Page’s costumes is effective and full of atmosphere.
There are too many actors to mention – about twenty of them including two children playing the younger Cratchits. However Charlie Anson is a personable Dickens and the rest of the cast fill the multiplicity of roles with enthusiasm and versatility.
Above all it is the music and singing that makes this pantomime joyous and fun. Director Joe Fredericks has created some memorable pictures and the simple choreography by Natasha Khamjani is correct for the period and just enough to exploit the talents of the actors involved.
This is a show great for children and entertaining for grown ups. Perfect Christmas Fare.
ALINE WAITES
The sound of carol singing can be heard in the bar preceding one’s entry into the theatre. The cast are already working, singing and playing their hearts out. Most of them are actor/musicians and there is a small orchestra of portable instruments - violin, flute, clarinet etc who play us into the theatre and continue from time to time throughout the performance with the addition of less moveable items – piano and double bass. Joe Fredericks is musical director and he has done a great job drilling the cast into Rebecca Applin’s beautifully arranged harmonies. There are many amusing parodies on classics like Grieg’s “Anitra’s Dance” and Sullivans’s “The Sun whose rays” even a spirited rendering of “Land of Hope and Glory”
Phil Willmott has adapted this unusually lavish production of the old Christmas Story. He has got over the timeworn editions by inserting the character of Charles Dickens himself. Dickens is trying to sell his novella to his publisher – he wants red leather with gold lettering - and this is a demonstration in order to impress him. It also helps to have a narrator to move the story along when necessary. There are a few other innovations, the ghosts are unusually characterised. Christmas Past is Cinderella from the fairy tales of his youth, and Christmas future is the ghost of Tiny Tim. Marley’s Ghost appears first in the mirror and is then played by a giant puppet.
The set by Paul Burgess is warm and cosy - lots of broken brick work on stage, and plastic cobbles on the floor of the stage and auditorium. The result – along with Gary Page’s costumes is effective and full of atmosphere.
There are too many actors to mention – about twenty of them including two children playing the younger Cratchits. However Charlie Anson is a personable Dickens and the rest of the cast fill the multiplicity of roles with enthusiasm and versatility.
Above all it is the music and singing that makes this pantomime joyous and fun. Director Joe Fredericks has created some memorable pictures and the simple choreography by Natasha Khamjani is correct for the period and just enough to exploit the talents of the actors involved.
This is a show great for children and entertaining for grown ups. Perfect Christmas Fare.
ALINE WAITES
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