CAROUSEL
PRESENTED BY SOUTHEND OPERATIC AND DRAMATIC SOCIETY
Palace Theatre, Southend-on-Sea
Wed 15th April - Saturday 18th April 2015
PRESENTED BY SOUTHEND OPERATIC AND DRAMATIC SOCIETY
Palace Theatre, Southend-on-Sea
Wed 15th April - Saturday 18th April 2015
Well one thing is without a doubt - Southend Operatic & Dramatic Society certainly know how to pick their leading ladies! Hot from the trail of their last production - Sister Act, with the glorious debut of Sharon Rose as leading lady Delores - along comes another rising star in the name of Maddy Robinson.
Maddy plays Julie Jordan and it is hard to believe that this is her first leading role with the company. She gives a heart warming and utterly believable performance as the naive factory girl who falls for Carousel barker Billy Bigelow and, oh my goodness, what a beautiful voice this young lady has. “If I Loved You” in Act 1 is one of many ‘goosebump' moments I had throughout her performance in the show.
Carousel is the classic Rodgers and Hammerstein tale of love and repentance and despite being nearly 70 years old, has themes that I’m sure will still resonate with today’s audiences. Billy Bigelow is the fairground worker, mean, swaggering and loose-living who ends up with the young naive factory girl, Julie Jordan. Although not an ideal situation they fall in love and marry. However, Billy has a short temper and Julie admits to her friend that he has hit her although she is very forgiving of him. When Billy finds out that Julie is pregnant he tries to make money to make ends meet by getting involved in a robbery which goes horribly wrong and he ends up committing suicide. After 15 years in purgatory, he is allowed one last chance to redeem himself.
Ian Gilbert is perfectly cast playing the arrogant Billy Bigelow. I felt his performance really picked up in Act 2, especially in the scenes where Billy is allowed to go back to earth to visit his daughter, after his untimely death.
Now don’t be fooled into thinking that Carousel is all doom and gloom. Oh no, no. Characters such as Carrie Pipperidge, Julie’s best friend and her love interest Mr Enoch Snow are on hand to provide some wonderfully played comedic moments and I loved both Heather Cooper and Jonny Buxton’s characterisations immensely.
Heather Cooper as Carrie gave an outstanding performance. She also happens to have a fabulous singing voice. This is a part where the actress playing her could get it so wrong by going over the top but I felt she played the comedy just right and completely endeared herself to the audience; likewise with Jonny Buxton who perfectly shows how you can do a comedic part without overplaying it. I particularly enjoyed their duet “When the Children Are Asleep”.
I was slightly intrigued by Jigger, played by Les Cannon, who seemed rather out of sorts and costume wise seemed more suited to a French mime act than the villain of the piece. However, he redeemed himself in the ‘Stonecutters Cut It On Stone” number.
This is a wonderfully visual production with some fabulous costumes. Staging worked well with some good lighting effects. The inventive use of the cyclorama also worked with great impact - especially at the end (I won’t spoil it) and proves that you don’t need lots of bulky scenery to produce a show of this proportion.
There are a lot of dance numbers in this show and with a fairly large ensemble to fit on The Palace stage, this was never going to be an easy task. I really enjoyed the ballet scene with its beautifully dark undertones which also gave Charlotte Cox an opportunity to shine.
In this production, SODS really have a chance to show off what they are best at with some great chorus work. This showed predominantly in “June Is Busting Out All Over”, “A Real Nice Clambake” and ultimately with “You’ll Never Walk Alone” bringing the audience to an extremely moving finale. I definitely saw some tears being wiped away. Well done also to Musical Director, Elizabeth Dunlop, for producing such a great sound from the orchestra pit on her first time conducting for SODS.
Artistic Director, Suzanne Walters, has done a tremendous job in casting this show and must be hugely proud of her achievements with the whole company. You can tell she has worked incredibly hard with her leading performers. The principals seem to have gone into a lot of depth with their characterisations, giving us more of a sense of realness and believability about them. I would love to see what Suzanne can do directing a non musical production.
So, if anybody missed the fair at Chalkwall Park last week, I suggest you roll up to The Palace Theatre this week and jump on board the SODS’ Carousel. This is one ride you won’t want to miss!
Performances are anticipated to last 2 hours and 50 mins (inc interval)
Evenings £17.00*
Matinees £14.00*
Evening performances only: Groups 10-19 10% off | Groups 20+ 15% off
£14.00* £17.00**
A £1.50 per ticket booking fee applies, capped at four per order. Groups of 10+ please call 01702 351135 to buy fee-free.
www.southendtheatres.org.uk
Maddy plays Julie Jordan and it is hard to believe that this is her first leading role with the company. She gives a heart warming and utterly believable performance as the naive factory girl who falls for Carousel barker Billy Bigelow and, oh my goodness, what a beautiful voice this young lady has. “If I Loved You” in Act 1 is one of many ‘goosebump' moments I had throughout her performance in the show.
Carousel is the classic Rodgers and Hammerstein tale of love and repentance and despite being nearly 70 years old, has themes that I’m sure will still resonate with today’s audiences. Billy Bigelow is the fairground worker, mean, swaggering and loose-living who ends up with the young naive factory girl, Julie Jordan. Although not an ideal situation they fall in love and marry. However, Billy has a short temper and Julie admits to her friend that he has hit her although she is very forgiving of him. When Billy finds out that Julie is pregnant he tries to make money to make ends meet by getting involved in a robbery which goes horribly wrong and he ends up committing suicide. After 15 years in purgatory, he is allowed one last chance to redeem himself.
Ian Gilbert is perfectly cast playing the arrogant Billy Bigelow. I felt his performance really picked up in Act 2, especially in the scenes where Billy is allowed to go back to earth to visit his daughter, after his untimely death.
Now don’t be fooled into thinking that Carousel is all doom and gloom. Oh no, no. Characters such as Carrie Pipperidge, Julie’s best friend and her love interest Mr Enoch Snow are on hand to provide some wonderfully played comedic moments and I loved both Heather Cooper and Jonny Buxton’s characterisations immensely.
Heather Cooper as Carrie gave an outstanding performance. She also happens to have a fabulous singing voice. This is a part where the actress playing her could get it so wrong by going over the top but I felt she played the comedy just right and completely endeared herself to the audience; likewise with Jonny Buxton who perfectly shows how you can do a comedic part without overplaying it. I particularly enjoyed their duet “When the Children Are Asleep”.
I was slightly intrigued by Jigger, played by Les Cannon, who seemed rather out of sorts and costume wise seemed more suited to a French mime act than the villain of the piece. However, he redeemed himself in the ‘Stonecutters Cut It On Stone” number.
This is a wonderfully visual production with some fabulous costumes. Staging worked well with some good lighting effects. The inventive use of the cyclorama also worked with great impact - especially at the end (I won’t spoil it) and proves that you don’t need lots of bulky scenery to produce a show of this proportion.
There are a lot of dance numbers in this show and with a fairly large ensemble to fit on The Palace stage, this was never going to be an easy task. I really enjoyed the ballet scene with its beautifully dark undertones which also gave Charlotte Cox an opportunity to shine.
In this production, SODS really have a chance to show off what they are best at with some great chorus work. This showed predominantly in “June Is Busting Out All Over”, “A Real Nice Clambake” and ultimately with “You’ll Never Walk Alone” bringing the audience to an extremely moving finale. I definitely saw some tears being wiped away. Well done also to Musical Director, Elizabeth Dunlop, for producing such a great sound from the orchestra pit on her first time conducting for SODS.
Artistic Director, Suzanne Walters, has done a tremendous job in casting this show and must be hugely proud of her achievements with the whole company. You can tell she has worked incredibly hard with her leading performers. The principals seem to have gone into a lot of depth with their characterisations, giving us more of a sense of realness and believability about them. I would love to see what Suzanne can do directing a non musical production.
So, if anybody missed the fair at Chalkwall Park last week, I suggest you roll up to The Palace Theatre this week and jump on board the SODS’ Carousel. This is one ride you won’t want to miss!
Performances are anticipated to last 2 hours and 50 mins (inc interval)
Evenings £17.00*
Matinees £14.00*
Evening performances only: Groups 10-19 10% off | Groups 20+ 15% off
£14.00* £17.00**
A £1.50 per ticket booking fee applies, capped at four per order. Groups of 10+ please call 01702 351135 to buy fee-free.
www.southendtheatres.org.uk
Liz Pierce, Norwich
“I thought it was a wonderful production - funny and moving.” “Maddy was fantastic as Julie and Heather as Carrie had some great comedy moments.”
Rebecca Cooper, Canvey Island
“I thought it was amazing!
“The leads were played really well.”
Lauren Blair, Canvey Island
“I didn’t know the story at all. I balled my eyes out at the end. Carrie was hilarious!”
Rosemary and Tom Harrison
“We regularly come and see SODS productions. They are fantastic. We saw the film years ago, but you can’t beat live theatre.”
“Billy and Julie really stood out. I can’t believe that they have day jobs and still come and do this. The quality of singing is so good. It was very moving.”