This production breathed all the glitzy glamour of a real Broadway event. With first-rate acting, excellent singing and the stage so frequently massed with astutely choreographed dancers, the show was bound to be a hit.
The rise of inexperienced singer/dancer Peggy Sawyer (played by Amy Biss) and her unusual path to unexpected stardom was brought about by believable interactions of showbiz characters: Broadway star Dorothy Brock (Jessica Theobald), problem-solving woman of the world, writer Maggie Jones (Ellie Gillett), ambitious Broadway director (Julian Marsh), highly likeable camp dance director Andy Lee (Craig Carpenter), Dorothy's former co-star with an out-of-this world singing voice Billy Lawlor (Daniel Bell), Maggie's co-writer Bert Barry (Oliver Ellerton) and the much- in-love former lead partner to Dorothy, Pat Denning (Ben Nicholson). Other vital contributors were Broadway chorus girl, Annie Reilly (Naomi Rogers), Broadway dancer Phyllis Dale (Jess Clegg ), stage manager Mac (James Seymour), “Angel” Abner Dillon (Liam Walls), Thugs (Dan Betson and Ralph Watts),the doctor (Jack Logan), Lorraine Fleming (Kat Hickmott), Diane Lorimer (Katy Lewis), Ethel (Sarah-Beth Amos) and Gladys (Emily Rowe).They were supported by a large number of talented chorus members and dancers whose glittering smiles and costumes and beautifully polished stage tableaux positively lit up the stage.
The band, as expected, gave a wonderful performance and provided just that toe-tapping, sing-a-long flamboyancy that the show required. Members included Stephen Kenna (keyboard), Stephen McLachin (percussion), Mark Bell, Jenny Dwight (woodwind), Jamie Clay (trumpet), Andy Johnson (trombone) and Alan Grayer (double bass).
Producer and director David Tickner and Stephan Kenna and their large team are to be congratulated for yet another wonderful show.
