Review: Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat

This colourful production of Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat was a treat from start to finish. Presented by the Pump House Children and Youth Theatre as part of the Watford Fringe and directed by Robin Scarborough, it’s full of fun and frivolity with an irrepressible party atmosphere.

The first thing you notice is the simple but effective set awash with terracotta colours which position you straight in Ancient Canaan and Egypt. Clever details like the hieroglyphics and sphinx add interest, whilst the chorus of kids in colourful T-shirts are sat on benches along the flanks of the stage, bringing the audience right into the action.

The band led by Musical Director Pete Dodsworth are terrific, bringing Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice's music to life with energy, vim and vigour.

There are two casts, Baker and Butler, and the young actor playing Joseph on the night I went, Ethan Turner, was charming in the role. He was very expressive, delivering most of his songs with a beaming smile, and then crushing our hearts with his melancholy as he cowered behind bars in Close Every Door To Me.

The brothers were full of bouncy, boisterous energy and worked wonderfully together as a rowdy ensemble, pulling all the comedy and laughs you'd hope for out of One More Angel in Heaven and Those Canaan Days in particular.

My hat goes off to the narrators Enya Casselton and Phoebe Knapp, both of whom looked splendid in black tie and tails bedecked with green sequins. They had the tough job of carrying the story of the whole show forward and did so with confidence and clarity.

Potiphar and his wife, Sofia Trebar and Aoibhinn Lyons, deserve a mention for getting some of the biggest laughs of the evening, but the cameo that stole the show was Zach Makanda-Tansey as Pharaoh. The traditional pun on 'the king' means Pharaoh is always portrayed as a swaggering, preening Elvis Presley impression, but Makanda-Tansey made the part completely his own, bringing in a touch of the New Romantics with his facial make up, costume and hair, and a funky Prince-like soul to his voice.

The megamix at the end had the entire audience on its feet clapping, stamping and singing along in celebration of what had been a vibrant, captivating, entertaining and humorous performance!

The Watford Fringe Festival which runs throughout July. There are over 180 shows taking place at more than 20 venues across our town and we'd love you to part of it. Visit watfringe.co.uk for show details and tickets.

Review: Richard Herring Podcast

 

Richard Herring’s podcast has got a cult following with hundreds of thousands of people tuning in to listen to his freewheeling and uncensored conversations with all sorts of people from the world of comedy and beyond. This particular conversation was with the fiery comedian Esther Manito, who was promoting the tour of her new stand up show Slagbomb.

The promotion and plug definitely took a backseat as, armed with only a notebook page of doodled ideas of what might be nice to chat about, Herring took the reins on a chortlesome hour of comic conversation. The art of good conversation is not easily learned. Knowing when to probe and when to pause, when to listen and when to fill is a skill that requires patience and practice. Herring conducted the hour so masterfully that the time flew by leaving you with the feeling of having had a lovely afternoon catch up with two effervescent friends.

The topics were often innocuous on the surface, but opened up to reveal elements of controversy. A chat about 70s kids TV lead to jokes about Rolf Harris and Jimmy Saville, a memory about playing the glockenspiel on Record Breakers prompted another about racist TV presenters, and an anecdote about Danny Dyer recalled the horror and toxic masculinity of his agony uncle page in the 90s. Even Basil Brush got called a c*nt!

This was a funny, engaging and spontaneous hour of chat that was never afraid to shock or offend. The final topic was about the expensive and inaccessible nature of the Edinburgh fringe festival, which of course led to a huge cheer for the local alternative. The Chesham Fringe is clearly on the map and here to stay! 

Review: Joe McCorriston

Joe McCorriston began his set by saying this was his first time ever in Chesham. And what a treat for Chesham to have this Morecambe born, London based singer travel up specifically to share with them his music.

With original songs tightly rooted within the 90s pop rock genre, he performed a range of tunes with titles apparently designed to entice a younger audience than the one he found at the General Arms pub: It’s An Addiction, Bar At The End of the World, Escape from Reality and Halloween all have resonance with teenage and student life. 

But he brought to these youthful topics a maturity and swaggering confidence that made them feel fresh and captivating. His guitar playing was bold and brash, his vocals broad and bravado. Dressed casually in chinos and T-shirt with his tattoos on show and a Scooby Doo guitar strap, he looked and sounded every inch the (slightly older) boy band rockstar, like the McFly and Busted boys of today.

He said he grew up listening to Green Day, and there was a distinct American twang to his singing, except ironically when he delivered a cover of Robbie William’s Love Supreme, when his authentic northern vowels were let loose. He even delivered the rap in the middle 8 with aplomb! Overall, a brilliant hour of original pop rock to please punk kids of all ages.

Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/artist/30mquSx8RLhST89s7Nmlb9?si=fO8myAY_RuaBtIXw-B_OfQ

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Review: Achilles Death of the Gods

Greek myths have a timeless appeal and it was exciting to be able to sit down in a semi-circle, appropriately enough in a library of all places, though it could have been around a hearth or fire, to enjoy this poetic retelling of a tale from the age of Troy. No special effects or gimmicks, just a couple of props and the power of human connection.

As a fan of Stephen Fry’s Troy and Madeline Miller’s The Song of Achilles, I was intrigued to see how poet, classicist and actress Jo Kelen would reframe the familiar plot. Her angle was concision and precision. In the 45 minutes of performance time we raced through the entire story from the romantic meet-cute of Achilles and Patroclus to the inevitable tragic death, spite and revenge. 

Happily, that ferocious pace was balanced by her poise and calm stage presence. She was controlled and measured in her delivery from start to finish. The confidence with which she moved from one character to another, sometimes giving a simple little gestures and voice changes to delineate them, sometimes just saying 'this is Agamemnon speaking', made the one woman presentation of a wide cast of characters easy to follow. 

Kelen's voice was so slow and mesmeric that I was sometimes hypnotised into simply following its rhythm and losing track of the story. It took some concentration to stay focused on the plot and not just be lulled into a meditative trance by her serpentine sound.

Overall, an elegant, sophisticated and pared down retelling of one of Greek mythology most powerful stories of love and war.

Review: AdLibretto

I had the pleasure of watching AdLibretto at The Little Theatre By The Park as part of the Chesham fringe festival last year. As a result, I made a beeline to watch them again this year. The premise of their act is creating an improvised musical, taking suggestions from the audience and spinning a story and songs which have never been performed before and will never be performed again. The theme is usually around people thinking of what they do now for a job and contrasting it with what they wanted to do or imagined they would do when they were children.

This particular performance the musical focused on the work of Chris, now a psychiatrist but when he was a child he dreamed of being an inventor. Inspired by the musical film Chitty Chitty Bang Bang he wanted to create all sorts of wacky and weird inventions including flying machines. From this small spark of inspiration a full 45 minute musical was born.

AdLibretto were funny, inventive and spontaneous. they looked like they were having fun and were willing to belt out a tune with gusto.

There are always moments of messiness in this sort of performance. There were lyrics which didn’t rhyme, non sequiturs, dead ends, forgotten character names etc., but none of that really matters when the heart of the show is finding the funny and delivering a coherent story which genuinely entertains. Giving each other a bit more space so there are fewer crashed lines, interrupted gags and blurred melodies would push the act into something even more sparkling.

AdLibretto are going from strength to strength and have three or four shows a month lined up for the rest of this year, mostly taking place in London which is only a short tube right away from this friendly Chesham audience. So if you’re interested in catching them in their future performances, do you check out their website for dates and details. 

Review: From Venice to Broadway

From Venice to Broadway is a musical theatre revue put together by local amateur dramatics group the Chesham Musical Theatre Company. The theme for this show was travel and they selected a marvellous range of popular songs to explore various modes of transport and geographical locations.

The atmosphere they created was really welcoming and inclusive. It felt like you were in a family member's living room during a jolly party and everybody was being invited to take a turn at entertaining the crowd. The floor was open to all and indeed everyone had their moment to shine in the spotlight.

First up was an ensemble number: We Open in Venice from Kiss Me Kate. Then Francis, Hollie and Linda performed the touching ballad Another Suitcase from Evita. Chris (incidentally the same Chris who became the star of AdLibretto’s improvised musical at the Little Theatre on the Park a mere half hour earlier, Chesham is a tight knit town!) used a backing track to share his version of the James Bond classic From Russia with love.

As is apparently customary with this company, they included a little bit of Gilbert and Sullivan. They chose We sail The Ocean Blue, before Alli and Tim had us all giggling with a duet: A Couple of Swells.

Linda transformed the Queen song Bicycle into an avant garde poem by reading the lyrics out sans music, while sporting a cycle helmet. Safety first! Then Emily impressed with her feather boa and lovely soprano voice on Nicer In Nice from The Boyfriend.

The evening continued with Oklahoma, Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, Calamity Jane, even a bit of Pam Ayres and some music hall. There was genuinely something for everyone, and the night was drawn to a close with the rousing You’ll Never Walk Alone. Passionate calls for encore unfortunately couldn’t be responded to because many of the performers had to get to another one of the fringe shows! Therefore it's genuinely no exaggeration to say it was all in all a delightful evening's entertainment which literally left the audience wanting more.

Review: Alice Zawadski + Petra Haller

The night opened with a unique, intriguing and audacious act, in which tap-dancer Petra Haller and pianist Tom O'Brian improvised together for 30 minutes. The result was mesmerising, with the careful and cautious collaboration between musician and dancer proving both touching and intimate to watch.

Although tap dance is endlessly variable in terms of its rhythmic expression, it can be quite limited in terms of its ability to express narrative and emotional depth, especially in an improvised as opposed to choreographed form. The thoughtful and delicate listening between Haller and O'Brien went some way toward counterbalancing that, but it would be interesting to see this same premise revisited with a broader dance vocabulary. Nonetheless, a beautiful experiment in the wild and astonishing versatility of human artistic expression.

Next was Alice Zawadski with Invented Folklore, sharing music inspired by a day she spent exploring Watford and conversing with residents and business owners. She's a wonderful storyteller and brought her characters to life with sincerity and humour, both in her introductions to the songs, and in the music itself. She's this year's winner of the Jazz FM Vocalist of the year award, so it was a genuine privilege to be able to enjoy her singing and violin playing in such a close setting.

Xhosa Cole, who I reviewed last year for his electric appearance on the same Pump House stage at the Watford Jazz Junction Festival, played flute and saxophone. I don't have the name of the pianist, but the rest of the band were Jon Scott on drums, Misha Mullov-Abbado on double bass and Watford born ("Harlequin born", according to Alice!) Simon Roth on his own invented instrument the 'Magic Box', which lent an eerie, futuristic sound to proceedings.

This was the final night of Watford Junction's performances at the Pump House for this year, but the jazz continues on Sunday 18th May with Jazz Steps in Oxhey and Watford Heath. I look forward to celebrating the festival's fifth anniversary next year! For more details visit the festival website.