Firstly may I apologise to my many chums in GLOC for disappearing rapidly at the end of the evening, but sadly your enforced change of dates by the Questors management meant that this production clashed with one of my own. Crazy is a real gem of a show and a personal favourite as I was fortunate to SM the amateur premiere at Wimbledon Theatre nearly 10 years ago and have been involved in several other productions subsequently. It was also a spot on choice for GLOC giving much scope for small cameos as well as good ensemble work. The production team's decision to take all the female staff from Zangler's to Deadrock worked extremely well and overcame the intrinsic lack of mature or non-tapping female roles in the bulk of the show. I would expect nothing less than an excellent band under Martin's leadership, and that is exactly what you had. From the first expansive and energetic swish of his baton we were treated to an evening of musical joy. Sadly the mic levels throughout the evening struggled to overcome this wonderful playing and much of the dialogue over underscore was inaudible or indistinguishable resulting in many of the witty one liners being lost on much of the audience. With so many scenes in so many locations staging for this piece needs careful consideration. The book is devised to give front of cloth scenes on proscenium stages while staging is reset behind. In this venue this convention needs to be replaced or adapted to allow smooth flow from one scene to the next. Act one is also fairly long and additional time taken over changes only adds to this. While the sterling crew (including one conscript press-ganged from his seat in the audience prior to curtain up!) augmented by company members worked swiftly and efficiently to ring the many changes the overall pace of the show suffered from too many interruptions. With such a large floor space the audience will accept scenery left in view upstage while a close-lit scene plays out in front. The main tabs had been re-hung back to front to make an effective opening sequence as Zangler speaks to the audience. Bringing the cyc blacks in and adding a small line of audience-facing footlights would have added to that effect. I wondered how you might work the car & the entrance of girls from it. Another triumph of artwork from the brushes of Rick Myrtle created a fine 2d car side from which the girls arrived on stage. The revolving saloon truck and separate swing doors gave just the right sense of place and the exploding clock was very effective. I liked the simplicity of the wooden step ladders, the occasional laundry basket, etc to set action in the 'theatre' but I was surprised in that opening scene that the lighting was so bright given it is run down and no longer used. Clever references to Post Office avoided the need for a Kiosk truck. The steps for the finale added useful height for the final pictures, but I wondered if they could have been set behind closed tabs? GLOC is renowned for its costuming and yet again there were spectacular examples of this craft in this production, highlighted by the dancers opening outfits and the stunning red & silver ensemble wear for the finale. I've mentioned the opening scene behind stage at Zangler's Theatre where we meet the leading man Bobby Child here ably played by Rob Eveleigh. This character needs to be able to sing, dance and act to a high standard retaining an empathy with the audience throughout his many tribulations. There was much to commend in Rob's playing, not least his convincing acting as the woman-pecked wealthy banker striving to fulfil his dream of becoming a dancer. Here too we also have sight of Bela Zangler played with aplomb by Ken Williams who comes into his own in act two. Ken's comic timing was put to good use particularly in the interplay with Lank. The duo scene between the two Zanglers while amusingly played would have benefited from a mirrored rehearsal to tidy up the small but noticeable differences that would have made a competent presentation into an exceptional one. We are also introduced to Tess & Patsy, two of the supporting cast, played by Linda Kinghorn & Karen Steel respectively. Both worked hard to establish their characters here, but suffered from the aforementioned sound weaknesses. They both later came to the fore, Karen leading the dance troupe in I Can't Be Bothered Now, and Linda in the act two scenes with Zangler & Bobby. In the second scene we meet Bobby's formidable matriarch Lottie Child portrayed by Kirsty Smith (who must have clocked up some mileage to rehearse?) and his fiancée Irene played by Karen Anstiss. While both performed well I felt Kirsty was too 'young' in characterisation, but made up for this with good comic delivery, and Karen was not sufficiently vampishly costumed, belying the line about the revealing dress in the introduction scene with Polly. Karen too overcame this in the polished, if rather upstage setting of Naughty Baby. And so to Deadrock where the trio of Moose, Mingo & Sam respectively played by Sam Thomas, Martin Elliff & Gareth Bevan set the sleepy scene with Bidin' My Time. (There can't be many societies who can field a trio of genuine musicians to self accompany for this number). Their act two opener, Real American Folksong was also well played. Here too we meet the leading lady Polly Baker a sort of tap dancing Calamity Jane, postmistress, and the only female for miles around. In this role was the evergreen Linda Hayes who sang and tapped her way into both Bobby and our hearts, and who wielded a nifty right hook in the face slapping department despite having apparently suffered a serious mishap earlier in the piece. Her professionalism carried her through the whole show without anyone in the audience realising anything was amiss. Occasionally her mic levels or pick-ups lost the odd lyric or two, but overall this was a strong performance from an accomplished performer. Nick King as the comically named Lank worked tirelessly to create the necessary irascibility required of this role and had a clarity of diction that marked him apart from some of the other speaking characters. His comic ability was also put to good use in the second act in scenes with Irene and the Fodors. Ken Kinghorn played the ever reminiscing Everett Baker who harbours the seemingly impossible dream of bringing life back to the theatre in which his wife starred. This was an ideal role for Ken's laconic delivery style and was only marred by an unfortunate attempted cover-up for someone else's dropped lines in the final scene. The aforementioned English tourists, Eugene & Patricia Fodor, were amusingly portrayed by Adrian Duce and Caroline Lumb leading the classic Stiff Upper Lip with gusto. All the smaller roles were well handled and the company scenes executed well. My particular commendations to those in the GLOC Watchers group several of whom appeared in the dance troupe to great effect. Choreography throughout was well up to the usual GLOC standard with highlights including the Stomp tribute opening and the high energy finish to I Got Rhythm. On other occasions I found some of the chorus work a little linear in presentation, but with so many squeezed onto the thrust perhaps this is inevitable. Lighting was strong throughout with good colour changes for dance routines. I'm surprised however that the directors had not asked for snap changes at the points where action freezes and Bobby goes into fantasy mode, such as at the very start of I Can't Be Bothered & Things Are Looking Up, both of which would have benefited from the 'Ping' effect. Sian Bowles Bevan's stage direction was clear and purposeful, but occasionally lacked development. At times too I found the placing of the action slightly at odds with the playing space, but this can be forgiven in a first time Questors' director as it takes time & experience to watch what you've set in a rehearsal hall pan out on the complex floor-plan in the venue. The mock gun fights were well choreographed and moved with pace, while some other sections of dialogue or action felt slightly laboured. I know I now qualify officially as a Grumpy Old Git when your otherwise extremely informative and well laid out programme irritates me because of the inclusion of wholly unnecessary quiz boxes? Small point, but may I also put in a plea here to not go down the standardised cover path. I have vast quantities of filed programmes from Richmond Theatre in the 60s & 70s where every cover is identical, and when you're trying to find a specific one it is time consuming having to open them to find the show title. Oh, and while I'm in questioning mode, I was surprised you chose Black & White for your fliers. I felt they lacked punch in the attraction stakes? Now, I don't want to end on a downbeat note so I'll finally say you yet again created an entertaining evening's theatre with several moments of excellence and much appreciative foot tapping in the audience. I am always happy to discuss and expand on my views should anyone care to so engage me. Please feel free to contact me at any time if I can be of service and I look forward to hopefully reporting on your next production.

WHR	whr@1000dayproductions.org.uk
4a Park Avenue	tel 020 8898 1294
Hounslow	fax 020 8755 4010
TW3 2LZ	mob 07958 231035

[BACK]