Tails of Hamelin
Date - 21st November 2019
Society - Vane Tempest Theatre Group
Venue - Seaham Town Hall
Type of Production - Musical
Director - Keith Armitage
Musical Director - Ben Wardropper
Choreographer - Debbie Finkel
Report - Author: Peter Oliver
Following on from last’s years Christmas musical “Christmas Carol”: Vane Tempest Theatre Group chose a rarely performed musical “Tails of Hamelin” from International Theatre and Music Limited and I’m pleased that they did, it’s the first time that I have seen this musical and it was a welcoming change: with its Christmas theme it was so good to see a group choosing to perform something different rather than the traditional pantomime around the festive season. Tales of Hamelin has a great story line, and recounts the story of the Pied Piper who was employed by the Major to rid the town of Hamelin of the infestation of rats. Packed with catchy tunes and interesting characters this musical was certainly an audience pleasure and resulted in a great evening of entertainment. Under the direction of Keith Armitage who with his commitment to the group and years of experience certainly brought out the Christmas cheer from this dedicated and enthusiastic cast, and from the performance on the evening I attended they certainly delivered this musical with lots of energy, this combined with Ben Wardropper as musical director who ensured that the cast delivered the musical numbers confidently and with beautiful harmonies a perfect combination for this production team, with support from Debbie Finkel as choreographer she ensured that the cast was well drilled to deliver some well-designed movement and dance routines which went perfectly with the setting for this musical. Well done to Ben Southwick, Josh Baker and Carrie Hall for stage management: a well organised team who ensured that all scene changes were delivered without any disruption to the performance. The set looked lovely thanks to A1 Stage and I loved the authentic German styled costumes which looked fantastic and added to the overall effect, thanks to Alan Graham Costumes.
The musical opened with the lively and energetic musical number “Hamelin Swing” lovely performed vocally and the staging was well designed and executed which introduced the audience to the cast, Confident performance from Laura Geary who: in the role of the Storyteller led the audience through the story of the Tails of Hamelin, never off stage Laura delivered a confident performance, great interaction with the cast, perfect diction and vocally Laura delivered her musical numbers beautifully, a confidently and polished performance throughout as she always does: I particularly enjoyed the musical numbers “The Charm” sang with the Piper and “And Then There Were None” with the Townsfolk, great performance from Laura.
Corey Clarke delivered a stand out performance as the Pied Piper, this young man goes from strength to strength and throws himself into any role he performs, great stage presence and interaction with the cast members and he delivered his musical numbers confidently I loved his numbers “Toot The Flute” with the Townsfolk and “Follow The Piper” with the rats and Townsfolk, well done Corey on another stand out performance. Playing Burgermeister Schmalz was Nick Thompson, the major of Hamelin who’s greed lead to catastrophic results, great performance and well performed by Nick who has the ability to draw from the character and transfer this to the stage, great characterisation and a confident performance, Nick has a lovely tenor vocals and always delivers his musical numbers well, I loved the numbers “Great Things Done” with the Townsfolk and “The Call Goes Out” with the storyteller”, playing his wife was Julie Ann Marshall who delivered a confident performance, but not sure if she supported her husband’s dishonesty, I loved the performances from the three stall holders Frau Glocken played by Gemma Parnaby and her arrangement of clocks for sale, great performance from this talented performer great interaction with Suzy Wake as Frau Strudel who delivered a convincing performance portraying her love of theatre and buns in her dramatic performance, well delivered and entertaining and finally in the trio was Frau Blumenkohl the baker who delivered a quick witted and rebellious performance, great interaction from these three performers who for me stole the show, stand out vocals especially in their numbers “Rat Ay, Ay, Ay” and “The Good Old Days Of Wine And Roses” with the Townsfolk. Playing the suave mob boss of the rats was Emily Harrison as the King Rat, confident performance from this lady who certainly made this character her own, playing the Rat King’s henchman Scabs was Toni Harrison, another confident performance in this role lovely comic moments and well delivered, playing the role Ratzella the Rat King’s moll was Laura Collinson, a striking performance loved the costume and great interaction with the Rat King, last in the rat pack was John Casson as Twitchy this young man’s confidence and stage presence is certainly growing, lovely talent coming through well done, and I loved the Rat’s musical number “The Rat Pack”. A confident performance from Ian Dodd as the slimy con rat catcher whilst only a cameo role Ian delivered a good confident performance. I loved the contribution to the story from the Councillors played by Carolyn Adgar as Health and Safety councillor, Katrina Wake as the Education Councillor and John Reay as the finance Councillor great individual performances and lovely interaction with the cast; and I loved their musical number “Rat catcher”, lovely vocals.
Congratulation to the ensemble who delivered a fantastic performance, they ensured that this high energy musical was delivered with enthusiasm and their contribution was an essential part to the overall production. Stand out performances from the younger members of the cast who all excelled on stage each character knowing their places and delivering some lovely individual performances; it’s so nice to see the younger members of Vane Tempest Theatre Group enjoying themselves in the roles of town children and rats: well done to the named children Jessica Geary who played Elsa, Francesca Lundie as Hanna, Erin Lisle as Etta, Charlotte Dodd as Dena and the children ensemble: Chelsea Barker, Charlotte Dodd,Freya Green, Abigail Higgins, Leila Liddle, Harriet Adgar and Mia Parnaby. Congratulations to Natassia Cole, Ian Dodd, and Kerry Robinson for their cameo roles of the news reporters, I loved your musical number “Is It Newsworthy”, great performances and lovely performed. The adult ensemble who played the townspeople all of whom complemented the principal performers and ensured that the story flowed and made this production such a success: well done to Susan Casson, John Casson, Laura Collinson, Debbie Finkel, Emily Harrison, Kerry Robinson and Lindsey Southwick.
Thank you to all those front of house staff who made me feel most welcomed: and finally congratulations to all at Vane Tempest Theatre Group on another standout performance delivered by this talented group and congratulations in supporting your named charity Caring for Craig, I love the way you take your social responsibility to heart and put something back into your local community well done.
Date - 21st November 2019
Society - Vane Tempest Theatre Group
Venue - Seaham Town Hall
Type of Production - Musical
Director - Keith Armitage
Musical Director - Ben Wardropper
Choreographer - Debbie Finkel
Report - Author: Peter Oliver
Following on from last’s years Christmas musical “Christmas Carol”: Vane Tempest Theatre Group chose a rarely performed musical “Tails of Hamelin” from International Theatre and Music Limited and I’m pleased that they did, it’s the first time that I have seen this musical and it was a welcoming change: with its Christmas theme it was so good to see a group choosing to perform something different rather than the traditional pantomime around the festive season. Tales of Hamelin has a great story line, and recounts the story of the Pied Piper who was employed by the Major to rid the town of Hamelin of the infestation of rats. Packed with catchy tunes and interesting characters this musical was certainly an audience pleasure and resulted in a great evening of entertainment. Under the direction of Keith Armitage who with his commitment to the group and years of experience certainly brought out the Christmas cheer from this dedicated and enthusiastic cast, and from the performance on the evening I attended they certainly delivered this musical with lots of energy, this combined with Ben Wardropper as musical director who ensured that the cast delivered the musical numbers confidently and with beautiful harmonies a perfect combination for this production team, with support from Debbie Finkel as choreographer she ensured that the cast was well drilled to deliver some well-designed movement and dance routines which went perfectly with the setting for this musical. Well done to Ben Southwick, Josh Baker and Carrie Hall for stage management: a well organised team who ensured that all scene changes were delivered without any disruption to the performance. The set looked lovely thanks to A1 Stage and I loved the authentic German styled costumes which looked fantastic and added to the overall effect, thanks to Alan Graham Costumes.
The musical opened with the lively and energetic musical number “Hamelin Swing” lovely performed vocally and the staging was well designed and executed which introduced the audience to the cast, Confident performance from Laura Geary who: in the role of the Storyteller led the audience through the story of the Tails of Hamelin, never off stage Laura delivered a confident performance, great interaction with the cast, perfect diction and vocally Laura delivered her musical numbers beautifully, a confidently and polished performance throughout as she always does: I particularly enjoyed the musical numbers “The Charm” sang with the Piper and “And Then There Were None” with the Townsfolk, great performance from Laura.
Corey Clarke delivered a stand out performance as the Pied Piper, this young man goes from strength to strength and throws himself into any role he performs, great stage presence and interaction with the cast members and he delivered his musical numbers confidently I loved his numbers “Toot The Flute” with the Townsfolk and “Follow The Piper” with the rats and Townsfolk, well done Corey on another stand out performance. Playing Burgermeister Schmalz was Nick Thompson, the major of Hamelin who’s greed lead to catastrophic results, great performance and well performed by Nick who has the ability to draw from the character and transfer this to the stage, great characterisation and a confident performance, Nick has a lovely tenor vocals and always delivers his musical numbers well, I loved the numbers “Great Things Done” with the Townsfolk and “The Call Goes Out” with the storyteller”, playing his wife was Julie Ann Marshall who delivered a confident performance, but not sure if she supported her husband’s dishonesty, I loved the performances from the three stall holders Frau Glocken played by Gemma Parnaby and her arrangement of clocks for sale, great performance from this talented performer great interaction with Suzy Wake as Frau Strudel who delivered a convincing performance portraying her love of theatre and buns in her dramatic performance, well delivered and entertaining and finally in the trio was Frau Blumenkohl the baker who delivered a quick witted and rebellious performance, great interaction from these three performers who for me stole the show, stand out vocals especially in their numbers “Rat Ay, Ay, Ay” and “The Good Old Days Of Wine And Roses” with the Townsfolk. Playing the suave mob boss of the rats was Emily Harrison as the King Rat, confident performance from this lady who certainly made this character her own, playing the Rat King’s henchman Scabs was Toni Harrison, another confident performance in this role lovely comic moments and well delivered, playing the role Ratzella the Rat King’s moll was Laura Collinson, a striking performance loved the costume and great interaction with the Rat King, last in the rat pack was John Casson as Twitchy this young man’s confidence and stage presence is certainly growing, lovely talent coming through well done, and I loved the Rat’s musical number “The Rat Pack”. A confident performance from Ian Dodd as the slimy con rat catcher whilst only a cameo role Ian delivered a good confident performance. I loved the contribution to the story from the Councillors played by Carolyn Adgar as Health and Safety councillor, Katrina Wake as the Education Councillor and John Reay as the finance Councillor great individual performances and lovely interaction with the cast; and I loved their musical number “Rat catcher”, lovely vocals.
Congratulation to the ensemble who delivered a fantastic performance, they ensured that this high energy musical was delivered with enthusiasm and their contribution was an essential part to the overall production. Stand out performances from the younger members of the cast who all excelled on stage each character knowing their places and delivering some lovely individual performances; it’s so nice to see the younger members of Vane Tempest Theatre Group enjoying themselves in the roles of town children and rats: well done to the named children Jessica Geary who played Elsa, Francesca Lundie as Hanna, Erin Lisle as Etta, Charlotte Dodd as Dena and the children ensemble: Chelsea Barker, Charlotte Dodd,Freya Green, Abigail Higgins, Leila Liddle, Harriet Adgar and Mia Parnaby. Congratulations to Natassia Cole, Ian Dodd, and Kerry Robinson for their cameo roles of the news reporters, I loved your musical number “Is It Newsworthy”, great performances and lovely performed. The adult ensemble who played the townspeople all of whom complemented the principal performers and ensured that the story flowed and made this production such a success: well done to Susan Casson, John Casson, Laura Collinson, Debbie Finkel, Emily Harrison, Kerry Robinson and Lindsey Southwick.
Thank you to all those front of house staff who made me feel most welcomed: and finally congratulations to all at Vane Tempest Theatre Group on another standout performance delivered by this talented group and congratulations in supporting your named charity Caring for Craig, I love the way you take your social responsibility to heart and put something back into your local community well done.
