Bad Girls
Springers at the Cramphorn Theatre
09.11.11

Of course it’s perfectly possible to write a memorable musical, witty and hard-hitting, about life in a women’s jail. But Bad Girls isn’t it. It only managed a couple of months in the West End, on the back of the popular television series from which it took its title, its character [and several actors] and many of its plot developments.

Springers latest outrageous musical offering featured many strong performances from a cast mingling youth and experience, Ian Myers’ great pit band [perched high over the action] and an evocative set which made the best possible use of the limited space. Sharon Scott’s in-your-face direction was full of effective ideas the sounds in the dark, the riot quelled at the end of Act One, the ingenious exposure of the villain.

The chief weakness was the songs. Kath Gotts, determined to shoe-horn as many numbers as possible into the improbable book, threw in an uneasy mix of styles, slowing the action or contradicting the characters. The fantasies worked best an unlikely Astaire routine for the sexual predator Fenner [Ian Pavelin], or the Life of Grime duet [lovely double act from Deborah Anderson and Sharon Gardner as the two Julies]. One successful marriage of music and drama was the ironic Guardian Angel duet for the two dealers [Amy Jones and Tamara Anderson]. But Julie S’s touching phone call to her young son was not much enhanced by the forgettable song which followed.

Great work from all these actors, and many more, including Wendy Barber’s Compo Noreen, Nikki Myers as the token shop-lifting Evangelist, Beth Neame’s nave new broom with Natalie Petto as her love interest, Mae Pettigrew’s vulnerable Rachel, Maz Clarke’s Bodybag and Catherine Gregory’s wonderfully brassy Yvonne. And a special mention for Kieran Young, enjoying his Blonde Bombshell moment on G wing.

Although it seemed bizarre to be expected to laugh and applaud in the face of girl-on-girl violence, corruption and deceit, the audience certainly responded warmly to this tale of life inside Larkhall.

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

THE BEST LITTLE WHOREHOUSE IN TEXAS
Springers at the Civic Theatre
14.06.11

It’s a classy joint, the Chicken Ranch, with its “guests” entertained by Miss Mona’s elegant young ladies in glamorous evening gowns.
Still, a whorehouse is a whorehouse, and decency demands it be closed down.
Springers’ production of this unusual musical, directed by Maz Clarke, with its catchy country ‘n’ western tunes, was impressive on many levels.
The music [MD Ian Myers], the set with its double gilt staircase and lovely pink top-light, and especially the chorus work [choreographer Olivia Gooding]. Yes, the working girls of course [Hard Candy Christmas, and the inflatable Cheerleaders led by chief Angelette Natalie Schultz] but mostly the men – brilliant moves in denim at first, and then in much less for the amazing Aggie Song, the climax to Act One.
Catherine Gregory was outstanding as the Ranch’s Madam – her “Bus from Amarillo” and “Girl, You’re A Woman” were impeccably styled. As her two new faces, Bethan Anderson [Shy] and Mel Smart [Jewel] were impressive too – Mel’s gospel-ish Twenty Four Hours another stand-out number.
Fighting over the future of the whorehouse were Simon Brett’s larger-than-life Melvin P Thorpe [a hard-to-forget performance], Pete Spilling’s powerless Edsel, and Barry Miles’ smooth-talking Senator.
But strong ensemble all round, from Jon Newman’s smiley Band Leader welcome to the downbeat one-way ticket which brings down the curtain on the Best Little Whorehouse in Texas.

Springers – Best Little Whorehouse in Texas
Performed 14th June 2011 in Civic Theatre, Chelmsford

Director – Maz Clarke, Musical Director – Ian Myers

I’ll bet this was just as much fun rehearsing as it was to perform but the audience got the benefit of a magnificent set, colourful costumes and a great balance between band and cast. The audience was clearly unsure of quite what to expect in this show but the first scene, which included simulated sex and a cowboy having his bits washed, soon dispelled any notion that Springers would pull its punches. The bevy of beautiful girls in the chicken ranch gave the distinct impression that they enjoyed displaying their raunchy side while I enjoyed every side from where I was sitting. The men came into their own (so to speak) as they showed their versatility as hilariously camp followers of Simon Brett’s bewigged and anatomically enhanced Melvin P Thorpe in one scene and testosterone-filled Aggie boys the next. I have seen this show a few times but never with so many touches that added so much to the overall humour of the piece whilst also taking the sting out of what could, if handled badly, be simply gratuitously offensive. The choreography was very strong throughout but never more so than in the Aggie Song. The overlapping leg stretch while sitting on the bench was great and the synchronisation during the boot-stomping was perfect. Added to the surprise and general titillation of the boys stripping down to their jock straps the choreography made this a clearly crowd-pleasing and memorable number.
Despite some dialogue that was a little hard to hear (Simon Brett’s Melvin P Thorpe and Deborah Anderson’s Doatsey Mae being honourable exceptions) the principals coped very well with quite wordy dialogue. Texan accents were credible on the whole and the singing excellent across the board. Some of the solo singing in Hard Candy Christmas and also The Aggie Song could have benefited from extra mikes. These are two lovely songs and standing near the rifle mikes didn’t quite add enough volume. Nevertheless, this was a thoroughly entertaining show that was well directed and choreographed, had a strong cast and highlighted some lovely songs. The band delivered a truly authentic country sound and the whole show had a feel-good factor that left me smiling all the way home.

Reviewer – Stewart Adkins
NODA East, District 8

The Dracula Spectacula, Offspringers,
Director – Jayne Silk
Musical Director – June Watson

Performed at The Cramphorn Theatre, Chelmsford, March 25, 2011. In an era in which even vampires have been made cool as a result of popular children’s books and films The Dracula Spectacula is a fun addition to the musical theatre genre. Subtitled “Fangs aint what they used to be” and described by the Guide to Musical Theatre as a “spooky musical” this is a great show for young people ranging from 7-18, as in Offspringers. There are a large number of parts, some wordy, some less so, thus providing early opportunities for young people to take on some speaking and singing roles. With over 40 in the cast Offspringers’ production kept everyone busy with several big production numbers, such as the two shock rocks The Dracula Spectacula Show and Rhesus Negative Rock as well as the catchy Lubbly Glublick Song. Choreography was inventive and fun and quite often was different for different types of character during the same number. The beautifully dressed brides of Dracula (red dresses with various jackets, scarves and frou-frous according to the scene) tended to be a bit older and would perhaps move differently to the general zombies. This meant that there was always something to keep the audience involved and allowed different characterizations to emerge. Costumes and make up were all superb and although space constraints at the Cramphorn limit scenery the centrally-placed coffin framed by the giant open mouth, ready to bite, worked well, as did the larger props such as the aircraft nose and the laboratory.

The band provided good sound which was never overwhelming and so the balance between cast and band was about right. There were times when I would have preferred more volume from the cast, to reflect their enthusiasm and the demands of the music but I suspect that miking the chorus is a difficult task. Sound effects, lighting and the smoke machine were used to good effect and definitely added to the spookiness of the production.
Space constraints restrict my individual comments to the main principals but suffice to say that the minor principals did well and could all be heard. Eve French as Nadia portrayed the naïve young American teacher really well and I’m a Nice Little Girl and the duet Just the Way, with Ben Hitchen’s Professor Nick, were delightful. Ben Hitchen captured the geekiness of his character as well as the contrast between words and actions in Positive Action Man. Alex Whitington really threw himself into the part of Dracula, with no holding back. In fact the appearance of Dracula in Act 2 injected additional humour and pace into the show. Despite some difficulties in catching all the words, perhaps because of the deliberate, scary, rasping vocalisation, I found myself impressed by his characterisation, which was carried through into the sing-speaking of A Super Rat Like Me.  Dracula was ably supported by Becky Brewer as his mother, Countess Wraith and the very funny Henry Whitington as side-kick Genghis.Congratulations to all concerned. What a shame the audience numbers were disappointing.

Reviewer – Stewart Adkins

NODA East – District 8

Offspringers at the Cramphorn Theatre – 22.03.11

The Undead, the Brides of Dracula, the trolley dollies all thronged the Cramphorn stage for the energetic opening of this ever-popular vampire musical.It’s a splendidly camp spoof – though much more innocent than Rocky Horror – and some of these young performers caught the style better than others. Among the most successful was Henry Whitington’s Genghis; not as grotesquely deformed as he might have been, but constantly in OTT character. Becky Brewer as Wraith, and Alex Whitington as the Count himself, were also big, bad and bold – their hat-and-cane trio routine was a winner. Clod the Gravedigger, whoever he was, contributed a memorable mime.On the side of the angels, I liked Ben Hitchen’s earnest Professor [lovely subtle mugging] and Eve French’s “sweet but vulnerable” Nadia Naïve, the Pennsylvanian teacher who brings her small charges [Loretta Bushell, Paul French, Mattie Scott] to Transylvania on a school trip. And enthusiastic comedy relief was supplied by Kieran Young and Stephanie Quade as Hans und Gretel.

It was all good fun, with some clever ideas – the bogeys, the Red Bull, the “bridal” bed – and big production numbers – the Drinking Song, Transylvanian Airways. The climax, when the forces of evil are not quite vanquished, was confidently handled.The Dracula Spectacula was directed by Jayne Silk, with June Watson the Musical Director.