National Operatic & Dramatic Association

Society
Production
Date
Venue
Report by

London Region

: Forest Musical Productions

: Carousel
: 8/4/11
: Kenneth More Theatre
: Jackie Mitchell

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Report

A popular Rogers and Hammerstein show, with some very well known tunes (one in
particular!), Carousel is ultimately the rather sad story of one mans realisation of what is really
important in life, even after his death, and this production held some really poignant moments that
helped to highlight this, along with a few more light hearted moments to help keep the audience out of
the doldrums, and was overall, a nicely pitched and entertaining performance.
The band made a good impression from the outset, giving a nice rounded sound in the long
opening music, and Ben Summers, the musical director, did a good job keeping the balance between
the band and the singers consistently good, and also in keeping them together there was a moment
in June is Bustin Out All Over where the chorus and band almost lost each other, but they recovered
well. The chorus sound was good, and the harmonies overall sounded reasonably strong and wellbalanced.
The scenery for the show was rather variable. The use of projections onto the back wall was a
clever and interesting way of creating a scene, and the use of the back rostrum and steps gave some
nice height to the stage. However, the lack of any kind of carousel throughout the whole opening
music, when they were supposed to be at the carnival, (and specifically at the carousel), as referenced
in the following scene, was a real disappointment, and given the title of the show is Carousel, this
was a major issue regarding the set. A full size carousel might be a bit tricky on that stage, but it is
manageable, and would really have lifted the opening, and helped to set the mood for the entire show
firmly in the first few minutes. The rest of the sets however, were rather basic, but good, helping to set
the scene well, while still allowing plenty of room for full chorus scenes, and as mentioned the rostrum
at the back, adding height to the stage, was well used, particularly in the Star scene.
The lighting for the scene was pretty standard Kenneth More fare, some nice use of Gobos
and coloured lighting helped to lift the various scenes, and added light and shade to the drama of the
moment. The mikes too were generally good, although sadly Netties was not turned up towards the
end of June is Bustin Out All Over, meaning that we lost her solo line then. Also, the various solo
chorus lines which were not miked tended to be lost, which was a little disappointing, although I
appreciate that the number of mikes available is not unlimited.
The costuming for the show was generally good, some of the ladies skirts seemed a little short,
when compared to others, but this was a minor point. Jiggers costume also seemed far too modern.
The star keeper and assistant costumes were also a little disappointing, as they did not seem mystical
or magical in any way. However, the rest of the costumes and hairstyles seemed very natural and in
period, and suited the characters Mrs. Mullins dress in particular was great.
As previously mentioned, the chorus sound overall was good. They were also nice and strong
dramatically, giving some great, rousing noise on the opening, and generally always seeming
animated. The noise and excitement during the June scene did drop a little occasionally, however,
they picked the energy up quickly again at these moments.

There were some very good performances from the major principals, and these really helped
to add to the dramatic tension of the show. Wesley Hughes, as the lead, Billy Bigelow, gave a
powerful and confident performance. Vocally he had a strong, secure and great-sounding voice. He
did occasionally swoop up to his notes a little, rather than hitting them directly, but overall his vocal
technique was pretty good. Dramatically, he had some very nice emotional scenes with Julie, and was
also very plausible as the rather unpleasant character following their marriage. This role demands a
very varied characterisation, and Wesley successfully delivered the wide variety of emotions
convincingly.
As his love interest, Julie Jordan, Vicky Harris gave another nice emotional performance.
Vocally she had some nice tones to her voice, but it sounded a little fuzzy, perhaps as if she had a
slight cold. She handled her songs well however, and gave some very nice interpretations.
Dramatically, she worked well with Wesley to bring real passion into her scenes with him, and it was
hard to hold back the tears at her response to his death.
Joanna Rose gave a nice performance as Carrie Pipperidge. Vocally she had a strong voice,
but did occasionally sing a little under the note a little more support for the higher notes would have
helped her here, and would also have removed the very occasionally nasal quality that crept into her
voice. However, these are relatively minor points, and her vocal delivery particularly of her opening
number was very strong her diction was flawless, and she had a great sense of the subtle comic
delivery that lifted her songs. She also sounded as if she was suffering from a nasty cough, and if so,
she managed her songs extremely well. Dramatically this is a much lighter role than Julie, and her
performance was suitably frothy and amusing. In her scene with Jigger, she was a little flat, and her
naivety was not completely plausible, however, her scenes with Enoch were well judged and amusing.
Richard Sheepwash gave a sterling comic performance as the rather uptight Enoch Snow.
From the moment he walked onto the stage he grabbed the attention, and his characterisation was
consistently strong and humorous throughout the production. Vocally, it did occasionally sound as if
the role was a little too high for him, but he had a great bass style voice and sang confidently and with
great verve.
Nettie Fowler, played by Louise Wolstenholme, seemed a little young for the role, however she
gave a reasonably sympathetic portrayal of the character in her scenes with Julie, and had a good
presence on stage. She had a nice voice, was vocally secure, and was great in her first number. A
little more depth and power would have been nice in Youll Never Walk Alone, to really bring out the
passion and emotion of the number - perhaps her apparent youth worked against her slightly here.
However, she sang it reasonably well, and this was overall nice, if slightly young, performance.
As Jigger, Simon Ford gave a variable performance. He had a tendency to rush his dialogue,
and with his rather strong, almost Godfather like accent, this made him a little difficult to understand.
The accent itself seemed a little too much for the character, turning Jigger into a real mob style
character, which somehow didnt fit with his behaviour during Billys hold-up. His characterisation as a
mob leader was strong and consistent, his gestures and body posture matching his accent, but it just
didnt quite work in the context of the show.
Karen Parker, as Mrs. Mullins, also had a tendency to rush her dialogue a little, which made
her character come across as a little weak, and losing some of her characterisation a little more
power and authority, particularly in her first conversation with Billy, when she was the boss, would
have worked well. She also had a tendency to twitch her hands a bit when they were at her sides,
perhaps betraying a certain level of nervousness. However, her more emotional, and slightly more
begging scenes with Billy later were well placed.
There were a number of other good performances/cameos; the star keepers gave three very
well-placed and humorous performances, and Alison Buckingham, as the Heavenly Friend gave a nice
cameo style performance. The various Snow children also gave good performances, particularly
Harry Condon as Enoch Snow Jnr, in his moments with Louise, played by Frenchie Hirons. She in
turn gave an excellently danced performance, and she worked incredibly well with Yamit Salazar as
the Carnival Boy dancer; his performance was inspired, and the dance between these two was
incredibly powerful and moving.

As both the director and the choreographer, Owen Smith, did an overall good job. There were
some wonderful scenes, particularly among the principals, Julie and Billies first scene together being
a prime example of some great staging. There was also some very nice choreography, the ballet
scene was beautiful. However, there was a tendency to clump all the non-dancers together at one
point on the stage during chorus numbers, which looked a little careless. The opening scene, already
lacking the carousel, as mentioned, had some nice ideas that never really got developed, leaving the
audience starting to get interested in something dramatic when it just stopped/went away, and
something completely different appeared, for no apparent reason perhaps several smaller events on
the stage together would have added more interest to this, establishing the same idea of many things
happening, but allowing the audience to focus their attention where they will a little more. There were
also a number of occasions where the chorus seemed to troop on purely because it was in the script.
While this was undoubtedly the case, it would have been nice to have had a feeling of an underlying
reason/direction to these entrances. One thing that really stuck out was the few chorus ladies who
remained on the rostrum stage right after June is Bustin Out All Over this seemed really false, and
it was clear they were only there to add to the plot later on. Perhaps taking them off stage, and then
having one or two creep back on to listen in to the conversation, then calling others in, would have
been better, and stopped them from upstaging the principals as much as they did the rostrum was
rather exposed at this point. There were also a number of moments when the faces of the principals
were not at all visible from the auditorium. While the radio mikes mean that dialogue can be heard
wherever the speaker is facing, it is still rather disconcerting to only see the sides or backs of heads
for extended periods of time, and this is still something to watch for unless there is a valid dramatic
reason for them turning completely away. There were however, a number of delightful moments in the
show that more than balanced out these minor points.
This was overall, a thoroughly enjoyable evenings entertainment, with a strong cast of both
chorus and principals, and despite a few minor issues, a generally good production. I would like to
thank Forest Musical Productions for inviting me to see this performance and wish you all the best with
your future productions.
Jackie Mitchell
Regional Representative
NODA London District 6