A review of “A Summer Medley” by Suze Laing

Performed 21st & 22nd August 2010

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Who Will Buy?

“The Sunday matinee show was the second time playing to a full house, and the informal arrangement of the tables and chairs set just the right ‘night club’ atmosphere for the afternoon ahead; a mixture of music, comedy, drama, and more music!

The show started with “Who Will Buy“, and the audience was treated to three angelic voices, which were then joined by the rest of the cast, as all of them sang the chorus and set the mood for the rest of the show ~ it was clearly going to be a great one!

“Cell Block Tango” was next. Six ‘convicted’ lasses lined up, and one by one, sang the reasons why they were in jail (the song is from ’Chicago‘). The American accents were convincing, the lyrics had the audience chuckling, and the inspired use of handkerchiefs added that little bit of uniqueness to the performance. All ladies sang and danced with enthusiasm and gusto, and the song was very well received.

The St Joseph's Players

A chirpy, energetic, and well choreographed dance set followed (performed to “You Can’t Stop The Beat“). Initially starting with the bubbly pairing of Kate Charlwood and Eileen McGrath (joint choreographers), they were then joined by the rest of the cast. Everyone performed with energy and smiles, and clearly had lots of fun!

The next song was a more sombre piece. “I Dreamed A Dream” is so well known now, that I thought it was a brave move to include it. That being said, Claire Ferguson, Kate Charlwood and Eileen McGrath performed it incredibly well. The emotion simply oozed through their voices, and they had the whole audience entranced.

Flashing lights and the intro to “Phantom Of The Opera” marked the entrance of Moira Fairbairn, as ‘Christine‘. Moiras voice boomed out and was matched perfectly with Ian Stephensons dulcet tones as her troubled captor, ’The Phantom’. As they performed their duet, the curtains closed to allow for the stage to be prepared for the following sketch.

“Mums The Word”, a home-grown comedy written by Eileen Flanagan, takes place in ‘Kathys’ front room. ‘Kathy’, played by Ellen Fairbairn, spends her days watching the neighbourhood from behind her net curtains, and is kept up to date with all the gossip by various visitors. Her main source of gossip is the nosey but totally lovable ‘Nan’, played by Jeanette Diamond. A snap shot of ‘Kathys’ life is revealed to us, and we are introduced to the cheeky but cute ‘Brenda’ (Julie Steele), sassy and sexy ’Jeannie’ (Kate Charlwood), and wide boy ‘Archie’ (Ian Stephenson). As the play draws to an end, ‘Mrs Green’ (Nicola Stewart) sits down to gossip some more with ‘Kathy’ and our glimpse into her life comes to a close. The crowd giggled and laughed in all the right places, and showed that Eileen has a real talent for comedy writing, and the cast who portrayed her characters did her writing justice. Credit must also be given the Moira Fairburn, as this was her directorial debut.

[Please see next page for remainder of review]