A Small Mind At The Theatre

I wrote a tweet Saturday night following seeing this show: " For all the professional shows I have seen, there is nothing better than a night out watching amateurs do it for love and not loot. " This pretty much sums up my thoughts in general over amateur shows and why after over 180 shows reviewed on this blog, most of them professional. I still often find the most enjoyment from the amateur side. Amateur performers, like volunteers are a special bunch of people and their dedication can often trump the superstar that you might see treading the boards at the big theatres or the new breed of stars that sometimes prove that Britain's not always got talent, just ridiculous opportunity garnered from a television appearance. I quite often prefer amateurs and the University stars that are working hard on their courses and fighting for the chance. In my experience, that understudy is often better than the real thing. So big thoughts, but it works well in leading to my review...

South Pacific at Royal & Derngate last year set a remarkable benchmark for an "amateur" production, with a large talented cast, superb vocals, sets and a polish up there with a professional production. Sister Act, this years production from the Northampton Musical Theatre Company was more of the same, but perhaps taken up a notch or two. Sister Act is a musical based on the 1992 Whoopi Goldberg comedy and was first performed in 2009. Written by Bill and Cheri Steinkellner, it is a likable and fun musical which genuinely came as a surprise to me. The opening scene at Curtis's Bar and Nightclub is to be honest not the best though and genuinely didn't fill me with much hope. It feels as if it gives nothing to the cast, although it creates the premise of the story coupled with the incident outside the bar. Likewise, I didn't take much to the Police Station scene either, so it didn't bode well. When we reach the Queen Of Angels Cathedral though, this show...

The productions from the Northampton Musical Theatre Company are rarely released gems of fun amounting to a single, maybe two if you are lucky, productions a year. A Slice Of Variety this weekend at the Royal was not a full show production, but an absolute smorgasbord of delights. Predominantly performances of songs from the shows, there was also a bit of dancing, some magic and a couple of genial hosts. Opening the show was a rousing and impressive performance of "Flash Bang Wallop" from Half A Sixpence featuring the full company. It was indeed a curtain raiser for the wonderful two and a half hours of entertainment to come. We were then soon introduced to our first host of the evening (and my favourite) NMTC president Cliff Billing. I enjoyed his appearances more than our later host BBC Northampton's Willy Gilder as his condescending, deadpan delivery had a wonderful charm. Where Mr Gilder was the more professional, I enjoyed the element of randomness and danger from ...