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Muses Theatrical Productions
The McMillan Theatre
Bridgater
Friday 12th May 2017
This was one of those productions that confuse a humble reviewer: It is easy to comprehend absolute brilliance, it is easy to comprehend simple mediocrity and it is easy comprehending just plain below par. Most shows are, in simple terms one of the three. Dirty Rotten Scoundrels felt like all three at the same time but somehow I loved it!
The story, culled from the 1988 star-vehicle film starring Michael Caine and Steve Martin is light and easily followed. The stage show’s chief difference from the film being a slightly stronger romance element and of course, music. The tunes are all pastiches of musical theatre styles: from Doris Day country ‘hoe down’ to full romantic ballad. None are especially memorable but all are easy on the ear. Musical Director Matt Holmes led the band in his usual, highly competent style: they were very good indeed. Singing was generally good too, a few ‘interesting’ tunings from the chorus notwithstanding. However the two ‘heroes’ of the piece Lawrence Jameson and Freddy Benson played by Kevin Wheeler and Shaun Driver sang impressively throughout.
With his Choreographer’s hat on, Director Chris Holman had not been too hard on the dancers. Routines were straightforward but well executed. The ‘cowboy’ routine was great and I especially enjoyed Kevin and Shaun’s movement throughout: Some impressive elegance from Kevin in particular. The design and look of the stage was very good indeed – nice work Mr. Joe Rockett. A grand ‘marble’ staircase and balconies dressed with bushes, pillars and a red carpet, functioned very well. Very few occasional additions transported us to everything from a grand castle to a railway station. I’m not too sure about the almost constantly running smoke machine however, which became something of a distraction.
On the evening I watched the show the technical folks did not have their finest hour. I hope it was a one-off ‘mare’ and that other performances were a little slicker. Sadly there were more missed cues (for mic’s and lights) than you might experience at a blind-school snooker competition. Sound balance was not good either, especially for the first half of the first act. There may have been ‘issues’ behind the scenes and I’m sure these would have been resolved for the rest of the run, particularly knowing the high quality of work normally delivered by this team.
The show, once, it has to be said, Shaun Driver was on stage picked up pace and energy. Even Shaun’s (ad libbed?) first line as he looked up from his book on the train ‘Helluva guy that Judas’ which, I suspect was for the benefit of one particular person in the audience, tickled me. There were many moments of brilliance: Shaun’s time in (and particularly out) of the wheelchair; Shaun’s fantastic Ruprecht; Kevin’s crop-wielding German doctor’s song and many others. Kevin’s performance really took off when playing the Doctor. Tori Shelvey as the apparent ‘innocent abroad’ Christine Colgate sang well and looked great. I was a little confused by her occasional awkward stances but must assume that this was intended to heighten the ‘gawkiness’ of her character. Andy Cooper was very impressive as the less than saintly French Chief of Police Andre Thibault: saturnine, dry and very funny indeed. Lisa Quinn-Thomas gave us some great singing and acting, capturing the ditzy, desperate and delightful Muriel Eubanks to a tee. Jodie Gibson really came to the party with her fantastically energetic and pneumatic Jolene Oaks. The Ensemble certainly pulled their weight too. Ignoring the tuning issues early on there was some good singing and decent dance, everyone looking the part and maintaining great focus. It may be unfair to mention an individual but Paige Brunton’s dance and singing experience was very clear.
As I mentioned above, I thoroughly enjoyed this show. It takes a very big tickling stick indeed to make me laugh out loud and laugh I really did. Shaun Driver’s relaxed, confident, superbly-timed delivery combined with his hugely expressionful face was something of a masterclass in comedy and Kevin Wheeler’s ‘foil’ to Shaun’s performance often added an indefinable ‘spice’ to lift it even further.
Muses, under the leadership of the amazingly enthusiastic and energetic Cameron Isherwood are still a very new group and the quality of their ‘product’ is very much on the up and up. I am already looking forward to their next venture.
Thanks for inviting me