Skip to main content

Review of Café Crescendo - The Early Show by R&D Youth Theatre at Royal & Derngate (Underground), Northampton

I officially love leaning on a table while watching a play being performed. That is my conclusion of spending Sunday afternoon watching two youth theatre shows.

It helped of course that the shows in particular were of the most glorious and inventive variety, the first of which was performed by the specific Youth Theatre group (the younger stars in this case) and featured more than a hint of the Scooby Doo about it. Deprived of a dog, we had a band of five led by Shannon "Shamrock" played by Crystal Reilly with more than a hint of nastiness about her. Well a lot of nasty to be honest and her whipping boy mostly was poor old Cameron played with wonderful charm by Alfie Sanders.

This being a musical we were of course treated to a lot of wonderful little numbers, all excellently performed. The best of which had to be the solo ghostly performance of My House. This was the most wonderful of pieces delivered gorgeously by the young star whose name alas eludes me. Just perfect though and you know who you are.

Another lovely ensemble number was the recurring This Is A Ghost Story, a catchy little number which had some lovely little choreography with it. While mentioning this, this work by Helen Parlor was wonderful to see, it felt balanced just right to be a challenge while not being too complicated, therefore allowing the young performers to be confident with it.

Writer Christopher Elmer-Gorry has created a lovely little inventive piece and this coupled with co-director Trudy A Bell and the work of musical director James Clements and musician Joby Morris it all becomes a wonderfully entertaining show. Atmospheric, fun and full of talented young stars and the set of tables and chairs created the perfect layout for this very different theatre experience.



Performance reviewed: Sunday 25th May, 2015 (second show) at the Royal & Derngate (Underground), Northampton.

 Café Crescendo was performed by the R&D Youth Theatre at the Royal & Derngate between Friday 22nd May and Sunday 24th May, 2015.

For further details about the Royal & Derngate visit their website at http://www.royalandderngate.co.uk/
Labels:

Popular posts from this blog

Review of Eric and Ern at Royal & Derngate (Royal), Northampton

The comedy of Eric Morecambe and Ernie Wise is carved into the very essence of Britishness, and while the years may now be distant from their domination of TV comedy, the light still shines bright on their work. This is thanks mostly to generation after generation being introduced to the shows via that near-annual appearance on TV schedules at Christmas. This will perhaps one day pass, but for now, this brilliant little show, Eric & Ern , now at Royal & Derngate, continues to honour that comedy on stage. Created and performed by Ian Ashpitel and Jonty Stephens, Eric & Ern is a show bringing the duo's most famous sketches and jokes back to the stage. Having worked together now for over twenty years, Ashpitel and Stephens have created the comedy act to perfection. Stephens brings Morecambe’s edgy, frantic energy and combines it perfectly with his timing and mannerisms; everything from the flick of the glasses to the wipe of the nose is pure Eric. Ashpital, as Wise has pe...
Read more

Review of The Karate Kid - The Musical at Milton Keynes Theatre

There is no denying that the world of musical theatre is tremendously imaginative, and of all the films that could be adapted, perhaps the eighties teen drama The Karate Kid was not at the top of most people's lists for a musical adaptation. However, as our stage versions of Mr Miyagi and Daniel LaRusso arrive at Milton Keynes Theatre on a UK tour, I am happy to say that this is one of the most sensible film-to-musical decisions. Recently relocated from New Jersey to LA, Daniel becomes the target of a gang of Cobra Kai dojo students. However, unbeknownst to him, a quiet and unassuming maintenance man at his new home, Mr Miyagi, is on hand to offer a little more than some bonsai training. The first thing that ticks the box for a film-to-musical adaptation is having an original soundtrack, not an endless collection of awkwardly shoehorned music classics into the story. Here, alongside book writer Robert Mark Kamen, are some brilliantly crafted tunes by composer and lyricist Drew Gasp...
Read more

Review of The Play That Goes Wrong at Royal & Derngate (Derngate), Northampton

It is scary to contemplate that it is almost four years since I first saw Mischief Theatre's The Play That Goes Wrong . It is no secret that on that night I enjoyed it quite a bit (and ended up on stage, but that is another story). I returned the next evening to watch it again and then stalked it down to London later that same year, which over three years later it continues its remarkable West End success story. Since my last encounter with this original, I have seen Chris Bean's ramshackle Cornley Polytechnic Drama Society create chaos on stage and television with Peter Pan Goes Wrong , mess-up Dickens' A Christmas Carol and even gatecrash BBC Radio at Christmas. This fourth encounter with the original The Play That Goes Wrong though, offers the opportunity to see it in the hands of a different cast for the first time. How can pretenders of the original creators shape up in this anarchic disaster of a play? Actually, as it turns out remarkably well. It is true that ...
Read more