A Small Mind At The Theatre

I first saw Urinetown in London in November 2014 as an add-on for a trip to see another show (best not to comment on that one) and it was one of the easiest five stars I have ever awarded on this blog. An absolute joy from beginning to end, with super intelligent writing and some of the very best musical numbers you could want. It is the musical soundtrack that I have listened to by far the most since and remains up there in my favourite shows ever. Therefore by fortune on a previous trip to the Castle, I spotted a flyer for the Miss:CREATES version of the show coming up and without question I knew I had to see it again. I also knew that other people needed to see beyond the title and theme and see it as I knew they would not regret it. So a social media campaign began to plug, plug and plug the show. Sadly no many fell for the bait, but that is unquestionably their loss. However, could an amateur version of the show being performed in the small studio Castle Theatre live up to the...

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 ...

For my fifth visit to the Masque Theatre, I headed Into The Woods  for their production of Stephen Sondheim's musical. In my fast learning theatre binge this year, I had encountered Sondheim once before with Sweeney Todd ( review here ) and to say I had been mighty impressed was an understatement. Even to my untrained ear, Sondheim is quite a different writer of music which needs a great deal of concentration. However it is mightly rewarding if you do. From the book by James Lapine, and cleverly weaving many Brother Grimms' fairy tales into one, it is a suitably macabre little story built around a constant musical track. While not having many totally memorable individual tunes with the exception of Into The Woods itself, the whole works suberbly together to make a hugely enjoyable musical. In their production, the Masque Theatre were once again showing their pedigree beyond their "amateur" status. None of the performers were a let down, and some were simply superb...