SUMMER
HOLIDAY
Epsom
Playhouse
Epsom
Players could hardly have staged their latest show at a better time – an ideal
reminder of those bright summer days which are now fading in the memory.
It wasn’t so much the story – there barely is one – but the singing
and dancing that brought the production so colourfully to life.
It’s
a tribute to the longevity of the music that the show attracted so many people
who are too young to remember the film when it hit the screens in 1963 – and
who were amongst the most enthusiastic in the large audience.
Numbers such as In the Country, Do you Wanna
Dance, and Dancing Shoes showed
their timeless appeal.
Musical
Director Colin Warnock and his small orchestra caught the spirit from the first
with pieces from the era including, appropriately and almost inevitably, The
Shadows’ Foot Tapper.
What a shame that this listenable music had to overpower the dialogue at
times, particularly in the opening and late scenes, as well as drowning some
lyrics.
Mark
Fallon (Don) led his group of London Transport mechanics who persuaded their
boss to lend them a double decker bus for a jaunt to the continent.
He was ably supported by Lewis Wilmott (Cyril), Dalton Leong (Edwin) and
Paul Falconer (Steve). They may not
all have great singing voices but the audience was with them all the way with Batchelor Boy and the title number. Despite the limitations of the plot, they each managed to
define and develop their own individual, recognisable character.
In
musical comedy, where there are boys there have to be girls and our heroes took
on board aspiring singers Mimsie (Jo Cullen), Alma (Julie Longhurst) and Angie
(Sarah-Jane Smith). To ensure that the sexes were evenly represented, they then
met Barbara (Stephanie Parker), a pop star on the run from her control-freak
mother. Don and she soon paired up
for A Swinging
Affair and The Young Ones – yes,
it really was a trip down memory lane.
Living
Doll was
given added impact thanks to its a cappella treatment.
There
were a few unpolished aspects on the first night – conversation wasn’t
always totally crisp and one or two dancers let down an otherwise excellent team
by being unsure of their steps.
No-one
put more into the production than did Sarah Openshaw, who choreographed 20 or
more numbers, often harking back to the style of the 1960s.
A
word, too, for the four young performers who showcased in a wedding scene –
it’s good to see Epsom Players bringing on their next generation of talent.
Director,
Steve Green and his team may not have been able to bring back the summer but
they certainly helped brighten the autumn.