Skip to main content

Review of Made In Dagenham - The Musical by the Northampton Musical Theatre Company at Royal & Derngate (Derngate), Northampton

Back in 2015, the Northampton Musical Theatre Company performed Sister Act as their yearly show at the Royal & Derngate. It surpassed their own excellent South Pacific the year before, and set a benchmark for amateurs performances that have been difficult to beat, NMTC including. Over the last few years their choices of shows have been populist (bums on seats), but more than a little formulaic, and some of them sadly pretty average shows. So, with Made in Dagenham, can we now move on from talking just about Sister Act? You know something, I reckon we can.

Made in Dagenham - The Musical is based on the 2010 film which told the story of the 1968 Ford strike by the female machinists working towards an equal pay deal. Along the way, unexpected political activist, Rita, finds herself in the presence of Prime Minister Harold Wilson, and Barbara Castle among many other high flyers. Is it a battle she can win though? History already knows that answer.

Made in Dagenham is an inspired choice of NMTC, it is bright, breezy, superbly written, rarely seen, and a perfect showcase for some old faces of NMTC and some stunning new ones.

One of the new faces is Bethany McDonnell as lead Rita O'Grady, and she is superb, strong in character, with the slowly growing strength of her character brilliantly portrayed. She also handles the poignant moments delightfully and shows a lovely singing voice from the outset with the wonderful Busy Woman.

Her husband, Eddie, is portrayed by NMTC regular and favourite Dan Hodson, and once again he doesn't disappoint. Big in character, and like McDonnell gets the balance between happy and sad perfect. Their work together is particularly strong, with delightful work on I'm Sorry I Love You in particular, and Hodson probably guarantees a tear in the eye with his poignant performance of the stirring The Letter.

Both Brett Hanson and Sally Whitestone have great fun as Harold Wilson and Barbara Castle, both nail their characters in a big deliberate caricatured way, with Hanson especially strong and exuberant and nails the hilarious cupboard moment especially. Great fun!

Jayne Minter-Maryan gives a lovely portrayal of factory union worker Connie, and her performance of Same Old Story suitably leaves a tingle. Kelly Steele provides a lovely little performance of Lisa Hopkins, wife of Ford boss, and strong ally of the strikers.

Youngsters Noah Taylor-Whitley and Lily-Grace Tofte are good fun as the O'Grady's children Graham and Sharon, with Lily-Grace growing up fast following her sweet performance as Cossette in Les Misérables back in 2018 with the NMTC Youth Society.

Finally the always reliable Ben Stanton elicits out of place boos from the audience with his performance of Tooley, always a delight to see on stage and while it isn't a huge role, he makes the role his own and commands the opening of act two with his powerful performance of the superb song This Is America.

A constant strength of NMTC shows, whatever the show, is the brilliant work of the ensemble, and with Made in Dagenham it is no different, and perhaps here they are at the best I have seen them, especially as this show provides so many opportunities for them. They once again show the stunning harmonies which are always one of the best moments, and in particular in Storm Clouds, where the skin tingled just like it did in the epic Poppies sequence in The Wizard of Oz two years ago. Enormous fun is also to be had from their work in Cortina, another brilliant song, epitomising the sixties period. Their whole work is delightful, but I now expect nothing less.

While performances were excellent throughout, the curse of time in the theatre had some very disappointing effects on the show, with a couple of sticky set changes, sound issues, and some big lighting problems. It did affect the quality of the second act in particular. However, there is no question this will be less obvious as the week goes on, so, is no real judgement on the show as a whole.

The director shows his usual ability to get the best out of the excellent cast, and Made in Dagenham goes beyond the slightly repetitive recent years with the NMTC shows. Graham Tear is once again at the helm of his eleven strong orchestras, delivering brilliantly the superb music that this show has.

Made in Dagenham is a true delight. A fresh show, brilliantly written by Richard Bean (book) and Richard Thomas (lyrics) with stunning music from David Arnold, funny and sad in equal measure. I do not hesitate in recommending that you get along and see this brilliant production of a stunning show. The Northampton Musical Theatre Company very much back on form!



Performance reviewed: Tuesday 29th October 2019 at the Royal & Derngate (Derngate).

The Northampton Musical Theatre Company perform Made in Dagenham until Saturday 2nd November 2019. They have a website which can be found at https://www.northamptonmusicaltheatrecompany.co.uk/ Twitter @theNMTC and Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/NorthamptonMusicalTheatreCompany

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

Popular posts from this blog

Review of Cruel Intentions: The '90s Musical at Royal & Derngate (Derngate), Northampton

Cruel Intentions , released in the final year of the nineties, is a fondly regarded classic from the era, rammed with a collection of young and up-and-coming stars. Based on the classic Les Liaisons dangereuses , Roger Kumble's nineties update was clever and current; however, a quarter of a century later and now playing at Royal & Derngate, does it still work, and more importantly, does it work as a musical? The quick answer to the latter is no, but theatre persists, so what about the story? Kumble's adaptation tells of two wealthy step-siblings, Sebastian Valmont and Kathryn Merteul, sex-obsessed, constantly warring, and attracted to one another. When they begin a bet for Sebastian to deflower the new headmaster's daughter, Annette Hargrove, before the start of term, events spiral quickly out of control. Following in the footsteps of the well-remembered performers from the film does weigh on the cast. Will Callan, playing Sebastian, and Nic Myers, as Kathryn, are fine ...
Read more

Review of Annie at Milton Keynes Theatre

Annie was first performed now a remarkable fifty years ago at Goodspeed Opera House in Connecticut, and since then, the tale based on a 1920s comic strip and adapted for the stage by Thomas Meehan on book, with music by Charles Strouse, and lyrics provided by Martin Charnin, has become a perennial favourite across the world. Indeed, this version, directed by Nikolai Foster, last appeared at Milton Keynes Theatre in 2023. So, after all these years, does Annie still have that appeal? Set in  1930s New York during the Great Depression,  Annie  follows the life of an orphan abandoned to the care  of its evil matron, Miss Hannigan. Annie seeks escape, and after one failed attempt, she finds herself the chosen Christmas guest of billionaire Oliver Warbucks, and things slowly, hopefully begin to improve for the little but fiercely strong Annie. Leading the adult cast for this tour now as the cruel Miss Hannigan is Claire Sweeney. Sweeney clearly revels in the chance to embr...
Read more

Review of Abigail's Party at Royal & Derngate (Derngate), Northampton

Despite only having seen Abigail's Party performed on stage once before, it is without much question my favourite play, based mostly on the groundbreaking BBC recording in 1977 of the original Hampstead Theatre version. So, there was never going to be any question of enjoying Mike Leigh's fabulous lines and awkward social interaction, but what of this production itself? Beverly and husband Laurence have opened their house for a party, and new neighbour's Tony and Angela are invited, along with neighbour Sue, who due to her daughter Abigail's party, has found herself turned out of her own house. An evening of fun is set to occur, or not. The role of the domineering and generally unlikeable Beverly is so much ingrained in most people who have seen the original as being Alison Steadman's that any actor attempting to play the character must feel a controlling factor upon their shoulder, and as such this character more than any other in director Sarah Esdaile...
Read more