The two-week season ran at The Melville Theatre on Stock Road until Saturday 5^th December.

The scene is a storage and audition area of the Melville Theatre. To the right, on the stage apron, is the office. Central, in front of the stage at auditorium level, is Justin Freind on keyboard.

Jeff Hansen and Ben Cooke’s lighting setup is operated by Susan Lynch.

        The theatre’s most amazing thespian ever – in his eyes – Charlie (Alan Kennedy) is ignoring the committee’s desire, to have a musical representing their three decades of performances. Charlie wants the high drama of Shakespeare and Greek tragedy. Wisely, the committee have hired party co-ordinator, Fredrick (Sean Bullock alternating with Garry Davies) to make their celebrations swing. This led to wonderful light-hearted banter.

       The show started with first of the nine musicals that have appeared in the hallowed hall over the past three decades. So, with a rousing chorus from the cast of ‘A Funny Thing Happened On The Way To The Forum’ the show had a great start. Then Stan Schirmer and Trinity Ellis tunefully reminded us of ‘Scrooge’.

      The two next shows were presented by the soft voice of Ellie Hart in ‘A Chorus Line’, followed by the powerful, operatic voice of Katherine Freind in ‘The Dancing Years’. Her husband, Justin Freind, then joined Katherine as they jitterbugged and Charlestoned to the ‘The Boyfriend’.

       The laugh of the night went to Neroli Burton as she represented the ‘Old Time Music Hall’, gradually replacing the musical ‘bars’ with alcoholic ones.

       Amy Gunnell, Trinity Ellis, Amelie Broadbent, Amy McCann, Erin Whitehead gave an inspiring chorus of ‘Fiddler on the Roof’. ‘Sunrise, Sunset’ followed, it was outstanding with a rendition from Michael Trestrail, Julia Hern, Alyssa Billington, Blake and Cooper Jenkins.

      A sensitive and poignant version of ‘Marilyn Munroe’ from the musical ‘Blood Brothers’ was sung by Julia Hern and Darren Peterson; and as the tissues were put away, Ellie Hart joined in for the next song.

       ‘The Sound of Music’ was the winner of the Finley Award in 1984 – here it gave a rousing ending to this fun show. Katherine Freind and Children’s Chorus gave it their all. It rounded up with little Cadence Smyth giving a beautiful finale. Matilda Jenkins soft-shoed along with the lively final chorus.

The standard of singing and choreography was very high. Even the youngsters could belt out their pieces without losing tune or stumbling. Pleased I caught this show and look forward to the next celebration in 2045.

After a run of 1,000 nights on Broadway, it swept the board at the 1949 Tonys, then went on to win another dozen Tony Awards for the revivals in the years that followed. A film was made in 1953, starring Howard Keel. This was MGM’s first 3-D musical in MIRACULOUS stereo!

If you are over 30 then you will know a couple of the songs, over 50 and you will be singing along with half a dozen tunes that you did not really know came from a musical, such as ‘Wunderbar’, ‘We Open in Venice’, ‘I Hate Men’ and ‘Too Darn Hot’.

Many congratulations to Gwyne Marshall on her rare award from the ITA, for her services to community theatre. Most deserving.

The Darlington Theatre Players are proudly presenting this spectacular musical at the Marloo Theatre, 20 Marloo Road, Greenmount at 8.00 pm on a Thursday, Friday and Saturday nights until 13^th December. Sunday matinees are on Sunday 30^th and 7^th at 2.00 pm.

      A production of a musical is about to open, and the cast are warming up in the wings. Hattie (Eileen Coleman) steps forward and gives a rip roaring rendition of ‘Another Op’nin’, Another Show’ as the wardrobe mistress (Rachel Vonk) wheels in a rack of costumes.

      However, for the show’s arrogant director and male lead, Fred Graham (Chris Gerrish – see below), and the leading lady, Fred’s famous ex-wife, Lilli Vanessi (Katherine Freind) things are about to get overheated. Fred is now in love with man magnet, Lois Lane (Nyree Hughes). Lois, as well having a laugh like a horse, already has a steady boyfriend, gambler Bill (Sean Yeo).

      The stage manager (David Seman) gives a 5-minute call, just as two debt-collecting, dapper gangsters (Keith Scrivens, Alex Markham – hilarious team work) appear at the theatre door. It seems someone has signed Fred’s name on an IOU and they are here to collect.

       Lilli advises Fred that she has recently become engaged to General Harrison Howell (Brendan Tobin) and flashes her stunning engagement ring.

      Their production, ‘Taming of the Shrew’ has started on stage, and the wealthy but distraught Baptista (Michael Hart) is desperately trying to marry off his obnoxious daughter, Kate (Katherine Friend) to anyone stupid enough to take her. Baptista’s servants (Barbara Lovell, Luke Heath) are laying out a feast as an encouraging lure. The locals (Natasha Smith, Elanor Cooper-Ritter, Tanya Doogan, Angus Cummings, Lachlan Kessey) arrange for the revelry.

     When the army general arrives to see his fiancée Lilli, he sees an old love, Lois, and arranges to meet secretly with her at a later date.

      With so many people in love with each other, who will end up with whom?

The director of this magnificent production is Neroli Burton, who has been responsible for a couple of dozen major musicals in WA. She really has that magic touch of keeping large crowd scenes moving and all of the performers looking interested. When your outstanding, leading man gets as a sore throat and has to call off, Neroli was so lucky to have such a talent as Musical Director, Justin Friend who managed to step in, script in hand (although hardly used). Justin managed to give an amazing full dramatic and comedic performance. Katherine might have had her bottom smacked by her real-life husband, but he received several face slaps in return.

The singers, especially the leads, had powerful voices that retained clarity and perfect pitch, a joy to listen to. There was an exhausting, thigh slapping dance routine with Jake Fryer, David Zuiddam and a young lady, sorry not sure who) which was one of the highlights of choreographer, Jessica Russell’s superbly creative routines.

Again, the new LED lamps coupled with Mike Hart, David Bain and Mike Small’s skills, showed that extra range of hues and luminescence control brought visual excitement to every scene. Greg Rusha and Chantelle Pitt’s soundscape was crisp and lively. The costumes were perfect for the late 1940s and the historical Shakespearean play, their style, cut and colours were immaculate, from the Mobster suits to the flowing gowns, all were created by Marjorie DeCaux, Nyree Hughes and Rachel Vonk. There were numerous props required, but again Lesley Sutton and Carol Hall spared no effort.

The musicians (sorry no names) were playing at the rear of the stage. They kept the pace flowing flawlessly, with a fine balance and just the correct volume.

Finally, but by no means least – the scenery. The backcloth artwork (Adrian Ashman, Owen Davis) gave an extra depth to the stage and had a wonderful warm Mediterranean glow. The required ‘full sets’ of flats and furniture, ranged from a small theatre passage, to two dressing rooms, a sitting room, an Italian town square complete with balconied mansions and a church; who better to entrust the task to than George Boyd? George is renowned for his set ‘convertibility’. His stage team were silent and swift as they manoeuvred huge blocks of set, like a Rubik’s Cube, in seconds. Even by George’s standard, this series of sets were unbelievable, the lateral thinking astounding.

How often is a show advertised as a ‘spectacular musical’ and you find it flat? A true spectacle should have superb singing, well-synchronised imaginative choreography, dancers who smile and look interested, stunning scenery, quality sound and lighting, lots of laughs and brilliant costumes – well folks, this show has EVERYTHING. Only a couple of shows to go, but even for a company that is well known for its musicals, this has to be one of their best. Energy packed. Fabulous.

This 110-minutes of fun is being presented at the Old Mill Theatre, on the corner of Mends Street and Mill Point Road, South Perth (opposite the Windsor Hotel), from Wednesday – Saturday each week, until Saturday 14^th December. All evening shows are at 8.00 pm with a 2.00 pm matinée on Sunday.

The stage is open, and reveals the most amazing woodland scene ever, the Art Gallery of WA would be proud to put it on their wall. George Boyd and James Earnshaw devised the complex, rotating, multi-set design, with the stunning artwork by Tim Prosser. The trees were weeping willows with hanging branches; the forest floor was covered in flowers and toadstools. On the right is a limestone walled castle, kitchen and dwarfs’ house. Stunning sets.

        When her mother died, Snow White (Arianne Westcott-King  –  three nights played by Grace Pooley) lived happily with her father, King Desmond (Tim Prosser). Then one day, the King was remarried, to Queen Drusilla (Valerie Henry) the most horrible woman in the country, attended by her equally cruel maid, Hannah (Darcie Azzam). She was immediately filled with jealousy at having such a beautiful stepdaughter, and would regularly consult the magic mirror (Eden Norton) to find out if she is still the most beautiful person in the land. The mirror, which was designed and controlled by the Court Wizard (Simone McMahon) and her assistant (Patrick McMahon), is wheeled around by its keeper, Neville the Chamberlain (A. J. Lowe).

       After hearing of Snow White’s superior beauty, Drusilla decides to have her killed. She arranges to have Snow White sent to school, away from her friend, Rose (Gina Steinberg) and the loving, caring, castle staff, Senna the cook (Jenny Trestrail), her maids (Barbara Lovell, Chrissie Mafroides) and the fitness trainer, Pushup (Craig Menner).

       Once in the woods Snow White is at the mercy of the hired assassin, woodchopper Hans (Howard Steinberg). As she wanders around lost, she sees exiting from a cave in the ground Prof (Rex Gray)and his six miners, Titch (Tahlia Menner), the sneezing and sniffing, Drippy (Harry Wake), Beaky (Kate Sisley, Merry (Hannah Harrison, Nicola Kinnane), the intolerant, male chauvinist, (Oliver Brown, Blake Jenkins) and the narcoleptic, Dozy (Atira Shack).

       Will the brave Prince (Sarah Christiner / two nights with Rebecca Bentley) and his sturdy steed, Dobbin (Matthew Styles) be in time to save the beautiful Princess?

A good traditional pantomime needs a few magic touches, such as colourful costumes, catchy songs, dancing, sweet little ‘darlings’, slapstick and all of the regular punch lines like ‘behind you’. This presentation had them all in abundance. Director Neroli Burton can be proud; the cast were very well rehearsed and filled with enthusiasm.

The singing was in tune – rare in pantos – even Tim Prosser was so good that we could have begged for more. Katherine Freind’s musical accompaniment was ideal, not too loud and set at a pitch that the singers could easily handle.

The children’s performances were some of the best I have ever seen. They were totally focused, good dancing co-ordination, excellent body movement and big smiles. The custard pies were perfectly delivered. Heaps of comedy from the Mirror team and Pushup. The show moved beautifully.

The costumes (Jenny Prosser, Diana Zaicos, Louise Broun, Margaret Styles) were colourful, funny, stylish and well fitted. Along with the dazzling lighting effects (designer Ben Davis, operator Karen Steinberg) and quality sound and music (Katherine Freind, operator Anna-Rose Shack), the show sparkled and glowed from the beginning to the powerful ending. Slick stage management from Michael Trestrail and Megan Burley, essential when you have a house full of young impatient children.

The dialogue has not the brilliance of Tony Nichol’s scripts, but there are plenty of clever lines, puns and up to the moment jokes. The delivery was exceptional, as trying to get the audience to join in can be hard work, last night the participation was magnificent.

Thoroughly recommended. A very high standard in a difficult genre.