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Around the World With P&P
P&P Productions, Lighthouse, Poole
ONE day it may happen that P&P’s annual spectacular will not come up to expectations, but as I idly contemplate the pigs currently flying past my window I realise that such a possibility is extremely remote. They’ve got it all nailed, you see, with an ethos that demands the highest of all possible standards in every area. As I have never known those standards to slip you can take it as read that those all-important details like vocal and dancing ability, lighting, entrances and exits were first class – they may have shuffled off to Buffalo but there was no shuffling into the wings, nor out of them for that matter. Perfection and precision is the name of P&P’s game, and it stands out a mile.
This year’s production team was a new one, with Theresa Way, a long-standing company member, making her directorial/choreographic debut alongside musical director James Stead, new to this company but with an impressive musical pedigree. His small band made a fantastic sound, although I wish there had been a few additional hanging mics to create a better balance, as some of the chorus numbers sounded a little faint.
The concert took us around the world with show songs and was beautifully staged and costumed. I found Theresa’s direction and choreography to be slightly quirky, highly innovative and making excellent use of the stage, my only criticism being that the evening was slightly over-long. The superb Miss Saigon medley would have been a perfect end to the first half, as the numbers that followed it seemed a little flat in contrast.
P&P has, it seems, a limitless flow of talent and in an evening that brought us songs from the likes of Billy Elliot, Cabaret, Scarlet Pimpernel, The Sound of Music, Bombay Dreams, Lord of the Rings, The Lion King, Evita, 42nd Street and more, that talent shone through from newcomers and old timers alike, and whether chorus or soloists. Graham Oliver’s numbers, including Evita’s High Flying Adored, were outstanding and Lyndsey Cooper, who sang solos in both the Miss Saigon & Me and My Girl sections, also stood out. I loved Karl Winston’s Wilkommen too, and another personal favourite was the Sister Act medley, especially the wonderfully comic How I Got the Calling, with Clare Albanozzo, Sarah Bayliss, Marilyn Coombes, Maxine Eno and Clairelouise Orchard. However, two numbers were so deeply moving and beautifully sung that they were, for me, the highlights of this superb concert – Jeanette Hancock’s Tell Me It’s Not True from Blood Brothers and Clairelouise Orchard’s stunning How Many Tears from Martin Guerre.
Here’s to the next one!
Linda Kirkman
The House By the Lake
P&P Productions, Lighthouse Studio, Poole
TAKE a well-written script, a company whose reputation is second to none, fine direction and some of the best acting talent around and you have all the ingredients for a first-class production – in which, as ever, P&P came up trumps.
This psychological thriller by Hugh Mills, here directed by Pat Donovan, takes place during winter at the home of struck-off hypnotherapist Dr Maurice Holt, a rather evil, sinister type played with all the necessary venom by Don Gent. He and his spinster sister, Stella (Shirley Kennard), seem to have an un-naturally close relationship that by-and-large excludes his manic-depressive wife, Janet. In this role Veronica Ryder excelled, convincingly displaying every emotion from terror, despair and needy dependency to champagne-induced elation.
Maurice and Stella plot to kill their step-brother, Colin (an excellent James McQuillan), and take all the necessary steps to do so. However, Colin’s long-suffering wife, Iris, brilliantly and movingly played by Yvette Leahy, has her own agenda – and the ice on the lake that separates the two homes is beginning to thaw
A realistic set and props and superb lighting and sound effects helped too, ensuring that this production was totally gripping from start to finish.
Linda Kirkman
An Evening of One-Act Plays
P&P Players, Bournemouth Little Theatre Club, Jameson Road.
THESE three contrasting four-hander plays served to prove once again that P&P has a wealth of talent within its ranks.
John Mortimer’s Knightsbridge, in which Muriel may, or may not, be selling antique furniture, made the least impact, not least because of a very disappointing set that appeared to have been papered in a great hurry. And, unfortunately, despite some good performances there was a period mid-play when the prompt’s services were required rather too often, creating a slightly embarrassing hiatus.
Les Clarke’s The People That Live in Boxes, directed by Pat Donovan, centred round two friends who sleep rough, and whose lives are set to change forever following a visit from a mature student doing a thesis on the homeless. Well characterised throughout, Chris Vessey (Joe) and Sarah Stanley (Beck) gave such frighteningly realistic performances that the audience sat in stunned silence at the final curtain.
The mood lightened with Last Panto in Little Grimley, when a comic mix of pantomime horse, banana skins, concussed stage managers and temperamental luvvies, not to mention four delightful performances, hit just the right spot and sent us all out into the night with grins on our faces.
Linda Kirkman
Present Laughter
P&P Players, The Studio, Lighthouse, Poole
A VERY close relative of mine, bemused by my passion for theatre, is often given to telling me that ‘all theatrical people are false’. One assumes that Noel Coward held the same opinion, as his characters in this glorious comedy would probably fail to recognise sincerity if it hit them in the face.
Pat Donovan’s thoroughly delightful production certainly made the most of that fact, and all the major characters were exaggerated to perfection. Don Gent’s wonderfully stylised and subtly played Garry Essendine was a joy, as were the performances of the women in his life – waspish secretary Monica Reed (Veronica Ryder), wife Liz (Shirley Kennard), ingénue Daphne Stillington (Amy Eastwood) and temptress Joanna Lyppiat (an outstanding Maxine Eno).
I also loved Michael Davenport’s Clark Gable look-alike Morris Dixon – great accent too – and Ben Clayton’s overgrown schoolboyish Roland Maule. Andy Scott also made his mark as Fred, and not just for his dubious skill in removing door handles.
My personal vision of a 1940s studio would, I think, have been less ‘family home’ than this one, but I had no quibble with the gorgeous costumes. Once again P&P’s attention to detail was obvious all round, extending even to the men’s short back and sides haircuts.
Linda Kirkman
Music of the Knights
Poole & Parkstone Productions, Regent Centre, Christchurch
I usually review this annual concert in the rather larger Lighthouse Concert Hall, so I was curious to see how it would work in a more intimate setting. The answer? P&P’s enormous wealth of talent shines through wherever the company performs.
This year there are a number of familiar faces missing, and in their place have come a whole raft of young people who show every sign of being as impressive as their predecessors. A new director, Sophia Dowland, plus musical director John Stringer, have brought a fresh style to the evening, which is as slick and seamless as ever.
And since the Knights and Dames of the music industry have such diverse styles, we were treated to everything from James Bond, Mick Jagger and Elton John to Andrew Lloyd Webber, Vera Lynn and Paul McCartney. I loved the latter’s Frog Chorus, but where please was Rupert Bear? The little (well, not quite so little) lad next to me was mortified by his absence.
I could wax lyrical for hours about the many strengths of this company, which is soon to celebrate its 90th anniversary, but one of the titles from the James Bond section sums it up perfectly – Nobody Does It Better.
Linda Kirkman
Red Hot & Cole
P&P Productions, Lighthouse, Poole
THIS show was apparently originally known as Swell Party, possibly a more apt title given that it tells Cole Porter’s story in the form of a continuous party spanning 45 year or so, from around the time of the First World War to the 1950s.
However, whatever its title, I confess that I found this revue, for that is what it really is, neither red hot nor swell. Although it features many Porter standards, including Anything Goes, The Physician, an entire Kiss Me Kate medley and Miss Otis Regrets, some of the early numbers are unfamiliar and the show doesn’t so much blaze into life as glow gently throughout.
Additionally, despite some elegant and stylish costumes the production lacks the sophistication of the period, and convincing accents are few and far between.
However, there is good chorus work and characterisations are generally strong. Among them, Andrew Rawstron, after a slightly hesitant start, grew into the role of Cole Porter, and Kelly-Anne Frost impresses as his wife, Linda. Clare Albanozzo’s Elsa Maxwell is a memorable, larger-than-life character, although I was bemused that she was the only person to noticeably age between acts, and Clare Gray gives a superb performance as another larger-than-life character, Ethel Merman.
Linda Kirkman
Musicals Famous & Forgotten
P&P, Lighthouse, Poole.
EACH year I struggle to find yet more superlatives to describe just how this company excels itself in its annual concert, and my task gets ever harder. This year’s offering, under the direction of Sarah Chapman with John Stringer as musical director, was, I am sure, the best ever.
Fantastic choreography – I just adored the Mary Poppins Step In Time number – great characterisations, superb costumes, brilliant singing and as much pzazz as there could possibly have been, combined to produce a whole that could take its place on the West End stage with pride – and I don’t say that lightly.
From lesser known shows such as Children of Eden, Honk, Company and Ragtime to old favourites like My Fair Lady and Phantom of the Opera and newer musicals, including Billy Elliot and the brilliantly performed Spamalot, every selection was nothing less than outstanding and a joy to watch.
The company has masses of talent – well-established performers have now been joined by a clutch of new, also exceptional, soloists. That, combined with attention to detail, a refusal to accept second best and a wholly professional attitude has produced stunning results that give the company every reason to be hugely proud of itself.
Linda Kirkman
One word sums up this show. Stunning. It was riding a rollercoaster that never goes down.
The set is a modernistic and serene Japanese garden (complete with fountain) that lulls the senses. Suddenly the orchestra strikes up, and you know immediately that this is a powerful engine driving the show. Then the cast explode onto the stage, all pulsing energy and vibrant colours.
The choreography was superb, and the cast were taken to their dancing limit, but never beyond. As a result all the routines were slick, polished and a joy to watch.
It is difficult to single out performances because they were all so good, but Clairelouise Orchard (Pitti-Sing) sure can sing. The accolade of the evening, though, must go to Jo Legg (Katisha) and Simon Quinton (Ko-Ko ). He gave a hilarious version of ‘Tit Willow’, and together they did an outrageously funny duet which became an ode to sado-masochism. All the ladies in the audience hooted and the men winced.
Gilbert and Sullivan were very topical in their time, and I am sure that, if they were alive today, they would have heartily approved of this update of their work.
Jennifer Martin.
Courtesy of the Bournemouth Daily Echo
