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Director: Richard Trevaskis
Musical Director: Ross Curtis
Into The Woods Arts Theatre, Fri Sep 21The Gilbert & Sullivan Society is an amateur theatre company with all that that entails; limited funds, reliance on volunteers to carry out administration and backstage work and access only to performers willing to devote many hours of their time for no monetary gain. One could be forgiven, then, for thinking that their latest production, Stephen Sondheim’s wonderful musical Into the Woods, extrapolating and combining a number of children’s fairy tales into an adult cautionary tale, is a high budget production by a top rank professional company. Apart from a couple of slightly late lighting cues and one missed microphone cue, it is virtually flawless. This production would put many of the professional shows that I have seen to shame and it certainly sets an impressive standard for others to emulate. It would have to be the best amateur musical that I can ever remember seeing, and I have seen some excellent work in the past.
It is usual to single out a few of the performers that excel but, in this case, every single member of the cast excels. Director, Richard Trevaskis, could not have found a better cast than this and what he has done with them is impressive. Hazel Green’s choreography is great and Ross Curtis has assembled a terrific orchestra to complement the work he has done with the singers. David Lampard’s set design and the costumes that he designed with Bronwen Major are stunning and, as always, Larraine Wheeler has done a superb job lighting the production. Most remarkable of all is that they have found sound technicians who actually know what they are doing, a rarity in this town.
If you love musical theatre then you must see this production. If you hate musical theatre, this show will convert you. Whatever you do, don’t miss it!
by Barry Lenny