This was my first outing to see the Ingatestone Musical & Operetta Group who perform in the village of Ingatestone, and the performance matched the village; interesting and quaint.
It is difficult for me not to go to a production of Hello Dolly without imagining the classic 1969 film version starring Barbara Streisand and Walter Matthau. With this in mind it is hard to find a production that lives up to such a standard, so I usually go in with low expectations, which was probably a good thing.
The cast seemed quite tentative at the start of the show, but as the performance went on the performance level increased along with the energy.
This was evident in the lady trying to fill Barbara's shoes, playing the title role of Dolly Levi, Anne Horemans. Her performance really took hold in the second act where she sang well and looked more comfortable in the title role. Playing opposite her in the role of Horace Vandergelder was Jeremy Martin who looked and sounded every bit the turn of the century New Yorker.
Of the other principle roles I must mention the enthusiasm of Kerry Elliot, as the ever crying Emerngarde, and Kirsty Elliot as Minnie Faye. The pairing of Nik Graham and David Corder, as Cornelius and Barnaby, looked a little strange, but actually worked well together and engaged in some very well timed comedic movements throughout the show. I would also like to mention the start of 'It Only Takes a Moment', where Nik sang well. Completing the principles were Sarah Cuff playing the fun-loving milliner Mrs Molloy with slight sense of mischievousness, Will Trapp as Ambrose Kemper who was not on stage often, but when was interesting to watch when he was, and Sue Elliot as Ernestina Money a role she played with relish.
The rest of the company had various smaller parts, which were played with varying degrees of believability, or were involved in full company dance numbers. There were some interesting choices made for the dance during 'Hello, Dolly!' where all of the waiters were in fact the female cast members and part where I expected some sort of tap dance, no tapping was forthcoming.
I will end my review with the fact that although this production did not really excite me, the room, which I would suggest sat up to 200 people, was almost full for the performance I saw, and I heard many of the audience saying it was a fantastic and thoroughly enjoyable show as they left and surely that is more important than the view of one critic!
It is difficult for me not to go to a production of Hello Dolly without imagining the classic 1969 film version starring Barbara Streisand and Walter Matthau. With this in mind it is hard to find a production that lives up to such a standard, so I usually go in with low expectations, which was probably a good thing.
The cast seemed quite tentative at the start of the show, but as the performance went on the performance level increased along with the energy.
This was evident in the lady trying to fill Barbara's shoes, playing the title role of Dolly Levi, Anne Horemans. Her performance really took hold in the second act where she sang well and looked more comfortable in the title role. Playing opposite her in the role of Horace Vandergelder was Jeremy Martin who looked and sounded every bit the turn of the century New Yorker.
Of the other principle roles I must mention the enthusiasm of Kerry Elliot, as the ever crying Emerngarde, and Kirsty Elliot as Minnie Faye. The pairing of Nik Graham and David Corder, as Cornelius and Barnaby, looked a little strange, but actually worked well together and engaged in some very well timed comedic movements throughout the show. I would also like to mention the start of 'It Only Takes a Moment', where Nik sang well. Completing the principles were Sarah Cuff playing the fun-loving milliner Mrs Molloy with slight sense of mischievousness, Will Trapp as Ambrose Kemper who was not on stage often, but when was interesting to watch when he was, and Sue Elliot as Ernestina Money a role she played with relish.
The rest of the company had various smaller parts, which were played with varying degrees of believability, or were involved in full company dance numbers. There were some interesting choices made for the dance during 'Hello, Dolly!' where all of the waiters were in fact the female cast members and part where I expected some sort of tap dance, no tapping was forthcoming.
I will end my review with the fact that although this production did not really excite me, the room, which I would suggest sat up to 200 people, was almost full for the performance I saw, and I heard many of the audience saying it was a fantastic and thoroughly enjoyable show as they left and surely that is more important than the view of one critic!