Bad Girls – Springers
Performed at Cramphorn Theatre Chelmsford, Oct 10, 2011.
Director – Sharon Scott, Musical Director – Ian Myers
Once again Springers took a risk on a less well known show and it paid off handsomely – theatrically, without a doubt; financially, I suppose we shall have to wait and see. For me Bad Girls – The Musical was an unknown quantity apart from a distant memory of a half-watched TV series while channel-hopping long ago. But a musical? Well, Chicago did well enough for a prison genre musical so why not Bad Girls?
It has music from all sorts of styles – from gospel to cabaret – and emotions stretching from fun and laughter to sadness and pathos. Its also has a strong narrative and some excellent sub-plots, requiring good characterisations. Bad Girls also requires lots of talented women, of which Springers seems to have more than its fair share. Amy Jones, in her principal debut as Shell Dockley, not only provided much of the erotic frisson of the production but had an amazing singing voice and portrayed the somewhat laid back, manipulative vixen beautifully. Natalie Petto as Nikki Wade in another debut principal performance was another revelation. Great voice and attitude.
The two Julies, Deborah Anderson and Sharon Gardner, were just right, with Deborah having the wonderfully poignant song, Sorry. Joined by Catherine Gregory as Yvonne Atkins, who delivered an extremely confident performance and a rip-roaring A-List, the two Julies also gave us the hilarious All Banged Up. I was confident the girls could manage an encore but wasn’t sure if straight-laced Justin Mattison, the straight-laced prison officer (excellent, controlled performance by Pete Spilling) could cope twice in a night. There is no doubt that Ian Pavelin’s Jim Fenner was up for anything, however frequently he was required, but what a peach of a part. Arrogant, devious, downright evil in The Key but with just enough humanity (even fun during The Future is Bright) that you wanted to watch him and see what happened. This was a great performance and no doubt the envy of every red-blooded male in the audience.
I loved Tamara Anderson’s aggressive, energized Denny and her vocals displayed a strong chest voice – a mezzo perhaps? Nikki Myers captured the Caribbean accent of Crystal Gordan well and sang Freedom Road with great power and feeling. Maz Clarke as Sylvia Hollamby was a good foil for Jim Fenner and Mae Pettigrew did well as the victimized Rachel Hicks. Beth Neame portrayed the Wing Governor, Helen Stewart with compassion and sensitivity and sang a great duet with Nikki Wade. Colin Shoard was a strong Number One in what was almost a cameo role and Wendy Barber added some great one-liners as the old con with a drug habit.
The set, costumes and sound effects were spot on for this show and don’t warrant more comment. The balance of sound between band and company was good and the whole production was slick and pacy. The choreography was fun and, at times, such as during All Banged Up, hilariously so. Occasionally the actors needed to punch out the lines a bit more during the dialogue but this can vary from night to night. Congratulations on a thoroughly enjoyable and highly professional show.
Reviewer – Stewart Adkins
NODA East, District 8