Jack and the Beanstalk 2013
Having not been to a panto for many years, I was quite excited at the prospect of spending my evening booing and hissing and shouting the classic "he's behind you," Jack and the Beanstalk did not disappoint.
A combination of a great cast, cheesy one liners and traditional slapstick had both the children and adults alike, roaring with laughter.
A selection of musical numbers both old and new allowed the rest of the cast to show off their impressive dance skills and vocals, with lots of audience participation.
An enjoyable evening – good fun!
Cheryl
Chelmsford
A combination of a great cast, cheesy one liners and traditional slapstick had both the children and adults alike, roaring with laughter.
A selection of musical numbers both old and new allowed the rest of the cast to show off their impressive dance skills and vocals, with lots of audience participation.
An enjoyable evening – good fun!
Cheryl
Chelmsford
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For The Wizard of Oz
Kansas comes to the Keene Hall in Galleywood, for the last of this season's pantos, James Barry's re-working of The Wizard of Oz. Baum's old morality tale works well as a panto, with its witches, Munchkins and ding-dong battle between good and evil. But the cast had to work hard to push out their performances over the excited hubbub of Sunday's matinée - most successful were Beverley Eary's brainless Scarecrow, Annette Michael's Wicked Witch, and, impressively, understudy Caroline Bradley making the most of her sidekick Riff Raff at only a few hours' notice. The songs ranged from Sound of Music to S Club 7, via Paloma Faith, with only a nod to Over the Rainbow, recast by MD Joanne Cocklin, and nice delivered by Lisa Manuel, a likeable, lively Dorothy. There was some deft dance work – the monkeys in the ghost routine – the design, though basic, did have some lovely poisoned poppies. Scene changes – of which there were many – would have benefited from some bold musical backing. Debbi Flack's family-friendly show featured performers across the age range, from Abbi Flack's tiny Toto to Jean Speller's timorous Lion. A real community effort.
By Michael Gray (http://www.michaelgray.blogspot.com/)
By Michael Gray (http://www.michaelgray.blogspot.com/)
For The Vicar of Dibley
The characterization of the cast was strong and as far as I could tell was without prompts throughout. Geraldine was played with confidence and fluidity although more light and shade in the voice, sometimes at a slower pace, may have helped diction occasionally. Alice Tinker came across really well, with a good sense of timing, good enunciation and volume. David Horton was also very strong and captured the arrogance of the character while son Hugo, a smaller role with fewer lines in these excerpts, managed to convey the simple honesty of a decent but intellectually challenged young man. The remaining characters, including Frank Pickle, being played by a woman, had somewhat less to do and say but completed a well rounded cast. Stewart Adkins, NODA (excerpt)
Apparently they had to get special permission from Richard Curtis to do the performance, and it is the first time it has been done outside the show's cast. They did their versions of 3 episodes - for anyone that watches it, these were the first episode where Geraldine is introduced to the villagers, the Lent one leading into Easter, and the one about a Dibley radio station. I have never been a regular viewer of the show, but I have seen the documentary which showed all the best/most famous bits, plus other parts of the show over the years it ran. I was particularly interested to see how anybody else could perfom a part which is so associated with Ms French, and I think Debbi got this down very well. Even down to the comedy timing and speech patterns. The other casting was also good, and as an interesting twist a woman played the grey-haired bloke with the moustache. The sets and particularly the sound effects were very impressive for such a "small" performance, and being performed in a church had the added benefit of good accoustics. For a first night performance, there were very few problems - negligible fluffed lines, which is something that can rarely be said of professional actors. The only things were some inaudible lines due to occasional mumbling and a temporary problem with the background projection computer. Derek Hazell
Apparently they had to get special permission from Richard Curtis to do the performance, and it is the first time it has been done outside the show's cast. They did their versions of 3 episodes - for anyone that watches it, these were the first episode where Geraldine is introduced to the villagers, the Lent one leading into Easter, and the one about a Dibley radio station. I have never been a regular viewer of the show, but I have seen the documentary which showed all the best/most famous bits, plus other parts of the show over the years it ran. I was particularly interested to see how anybody else could perfom a part which is so associated with Ms French, and I think Debbi got this down very well. Even down to the comedy timing and speech patterns. The other casting was also good, and as an interesting twist a woman played the grey-haired bloke with the moustache. The sets and particularly the sound effects were very impressive for such a "small" performance, and being performed in a church had the added benefit of good accoustics. For a first night performance, there were very few problems - negligible fluffed lines, which is something that can rarely be said of professional actors. The only things were some inaudible lines due to occasional mumbling and a temporary problem with the background projection computer. Derek Hazell
For The Snow Queen
Friday night was a night of firsts: For Galleywood Theatre Group, it was their first pantomime, and for us, it was the first public performance of our first pantomime. It's hard to say who was more nervous, but the cast delivered an energetic and enthusiastic performance, of which they can be very proud. For us, it was great to see our characters brought to life, and the audience's generous reaction completed the night. Having met the cast and crew afterwards, we were surprised to realise how few of them had had previous experience, and we wish them the very best on growing their group and with their next production.*" Des & Mike aka IgLou Creative
I came and saw the murder mystery last October, and was so impressed I just had to come and see the panto. My two young boys had a great time and booed and hissd, clapped and sang until they couldn't speak. There waws a great mix of songs. The Dame character was great, as was her love intrest Rene (Allo, allo!!). The backdrop was projected pictures which I hadn't seen done before, but looked pretty good. A great evening. Thank you. Roll on Vicar of Dibley! Abbey
I came and saw the murder mystery last October, and was so impressed I just had to come and see the panto. My two young boys had a great time and booed and hissd, clapped and sang until they couldn't speak. There waws a great mix of songs. The Dame character was great, as was her love intrest Rene (Allo, allo!!). The backdrop was projected pictures which I hadn't seen done before, but looked pretty good. A great evening. Thank you. Roll on Vicar of Dibley! Abbey
For Murder at St Michael's
This was the first production by GTG, and judging by their performance, it won't be their last. The evening went well, and everyone played their part well. Only two teams guessed the murderer, most of us were way off. Food was supplied, and was good value for money - it arrived hot and was plentiful. The venue is a church, which lent itself to good acoustics, but the lighting could have been better. I gather they are doing a panto soon - this family will certainly be going. Thanks GTG, and welcome to Galleywood --------------------------------------------------------------------------------
