Cast
Aunt Eller – Belinda Lang
Curly – Ashley Day
Laurey – Charlotte Wakefield
Ike Skidmore – Barnaby Thompson
Fred – Robbie Boyle
Slim – Simon Anthony
Will Parker – James O’Connell
Jud Fry – Nic Greenshields
Ado Annie – Lucy May Barker
Show Date – Saturday 27th June 2015 (Matinee)
Oh what a beautiful morning . . . oh what a beautiful show. Now this was quite a strange show as it actually turned out that I knew more of the songs than I actually realised before I went to see it on Saturday afternoon. Not a bad opening number to have in ‘Oh, What a Beautiful Morin’ it really is such a good song to get you going in this show.
In the build up to seeing the show I had skimmed over a few reviews and I was delighted to see that Belinda Lang was in it. Just incase that name doesn’t mean anything, think back to the 90s and UK television and the very popular (and brilliant) tv programme called “2.4 Children” she was the mother in that show! Honestly that excited me loads, and to make it even better she was fantastic as Aunt Eller with brilliant screen presence and delivery of some fantastic lines keeping everyone in check.
I have to say that I was very impressed with the whole cast being talented, and a stand out performer for their incredibly powerful voice had to be Nic Greenshields as Jud. He really did have such a range in his voice and delivered them in such a fantastic manner. Ashley Day as Curly really held everything together well and is certainly the full package when it comes to his very impressive dancing skills to go along with his singing voice.
The above picture shows one of my favorite dance moments as they jumped over and threw the hay about, it really was put together in such a fantastic way. I am not sure if I appreciated the dancing more in this one than other shows due to the fact that I was sitting in the amphitheater which gave a perfect view of the full stage with all movements and routines easily seen. Along with the dream sequence at the end of the first act, it really did pack a lot more dancing into the show than I expected.
We certainly got plenty of different characters to get to know along with some serious moments but then comedy moments which made everyone in the audience laugh. That is what makes it a good show for me, it has a little bit of everything. Not forgetting some of the fantastic songs, which still mean a lot to this day. It really does help to prove that things don’t really change over time when it comes to people.
The set didn’t have to be massively impressive or anything like that with the whole thing being set in and around the farm, so it had plenty of space on the stage to help with the production. Some characters were certainly in to lighten the mood, the first act is a lot longer than the second. Not that was a bad thing but it means the first act is very song heavy with not many left for the ending. But a massive well done to the whole cast, I have enjoyed seeing a few musicals that I did not know much about this year and this one is up there as well.
An engaging and ageless story (for the most part) so why not head out to see this very impressive show when it comes to a town near you?
