Salad Days - Striling Players
Fri, 9 July 2004, 01:54 pmDon Allen14 posts in thread
Salad Days - Striling Players
Fri, 9 July 2004, 01:54 pmSALAD DAYS started its life in June 1954 at the Theatre Royal, Bristol. It was scheduled to run just three weeks. But Fate - and a London Management - intervened. On August 5th. 1954 it opened with the same production at the Vaudeville Theatre, London, and stayed there for five and a half years, becoming (for then) the longest running musical in the history of the British Theatre with over 2400 performances.
I had never heard of it but ended up seeing it last night with a large group booking. It is a non descript vaudeville musical with a large number of scene changes that would have made sense if the programme had explained the musical's origins.
The set was a back cloth and front cloth painted as a vaudeville cloth and used with good timing for scene changes, however we still had to wait for music or lights for the show to continue so continuity was jerky.
Doing a musical in black tabs is not a good idea as musicals are meant to be bright, colourful events. It would have been better to use pivoting flats with an indoor and an outdoor setting painted on them as legs.
The lead female was excellent, I supsect WAAPA trained as we were presented with a fun character, always smiling, projecting well and moving freely with dance numbers. Unfortunately some of the other cast members were well below her standard and appeared to lack practice.
The lighting was very dark in some corners which was where actors were blocked, so a refocus or reblocking to suit limited resources would overcome the dark corners.
Stirling Players use a multipurpose hall so do not have the benefit of a raked seating arrangement but the seating needs to be moved closer together as too much leg room for the front rows puts the last few rows too far from the stage. Perhaps a measuring stick can be created for optimum spacing. If you have a lot of senior audience, make one or two rows slighty roomier and let them know about them at booking time.
A good effort but not a great show.
Don
I had never heard of it but ended up seeing it last night with a large group booking. It is a non descript vaudeville musical with a large number of scene changes that would have made sense if the programme had explained the musical's origins.
The set was a back cloth and front cloth painted as a vaudeville cloth and used with good timing for scene changes, however we still had to wait for music or lights for the show to continue so continuity was jerky.
Doing a musical in black tabs is not a good idea as musicals are meant to be bright, colourful events. It would have been better to use pivoting flats with an indoor and an outdoor setting painted on them as legs.
The lead female was excellent, I supsect WAAPA trained as we were presented with a fun character, always smiling, projecting well and moving freely with dance numbers. Unfortunately some of the other cast members were well below her standard and appeared to lack practice.
The lighting was very dark in some corners which was where actors were blocked, so a refocus or reblocking to suit limited resources would overcome the dark corners.
Stirling Players use a multipurpose hall so do not have the benefit of a raked seating arrangement but the seating needs to be moved closer together as too much leg room for the front rows puts the last few rows too far from the stage. Perhaps a measuring stick can be created for optimum spacing. If you have a lot of senior audience, make one or two rows slighty roomier and let them know about them at booking time.
A good effort but not a great show.
Don
Re: Salad Days - Stirling Players
Tue, 20 July 2004, 09:53 pmThe reviews in this thread that preceded my attendance of the Stirling Players’ production of ‘Salad Days’ left me with mixed expectations. My knowledge of the Julian Slade/Dorothy Reynolds show was quite limited, so I was excited to encounter something new and different, though unsure as to whether the presentation of the material would be satisfactory. Thankfully, I found a production that, while not flawless, boasted an infectious sense of fun and an energetic, pleasantly talented cast that made the evening definitely worthwhile.
Priscilla Busher, in the leading role of Jane, injected the one-dimensional character with a liveliness that, coupled with her superb soprano vocals, prevented the descent into tedium that may have occurred were the character entrusted to less able hands. Julian V. Costanzo, who played opposite Priscilla as Tim, sported a nice voice but suffered from a tendency to rush his dialogue, and would have fared better if he applied deeper commitment to his articulation.
Owen Phillips was a comic delight in the role of Nigel (and the much smaller Fosdyke), as was Sarah Vagliviello as Fiona. Both deservedly accumulated their fair share of laughs. Troppo (Jason Farley) had middling success in what is an admittedly difficult role, though there was a lot more he could have given the character.
Karin Staflund and Colleen Hopkins, as Lady Raeburn (Jane’s mother) and Tim’s mother respectively, shone in their duet “We Don’t Understand Our Children”, and also in the numerous other characters they portrayed. The Beauty Parlour scene involving Lady Raeburn was one of the highlights of the show.
Honorable mentions must also be made of Corinne Hewitt, whose shining moment came in the role of Asphynxia, the less-than-talented nightclub singer – her rendition of “Sand in My Eyes” was absolutely horrible, and I loved every minute of it; Louise Dodge (Rowena) who secured some fine laughs in a minor role; Cary Hudson (P.C Boot) and of course the versatile Chris Henderson, whose many roles ranged from space traveller to effeminate dress shop manager, and everything in between.
Overall, several scenes worked better than others, with the best being those that took place in The Beauty Parlour, The Foreign Office, The InspectorÂ’s Office and The Dress Shop. However, the scenes in the Park seemed to move very slowly, and required a little more energy for them to live up to the previously mentioned examples.
There was also a small problem with the lighting, as I think has been previously mentioned, in that there was some troublesome ‘dark corners’ that could have been blocked around, and sometimes the choreography seemed a little cluttered.
On the whole, I highly recommend this show for its sense of fun and the energy and versatility of the cast alone. It is not a brilliant piece of theatre, but itÂ’s a solid effort and worthy of applause.
Remaining performances – July 22, 23 and 24 at 8pm
Bookings – Morris Newsagency, Morris Place, Innaloo, 9440 1040
Ticket prices - $16 (Full) $12 (Concession) $10 (Members)
P.S. The programme was very well done, by the way.
Priscilla Busher, in the leading role of Jane, injected the one-dimensional character with a liveliness that, coupled with her superb soprano vocals, prevented the descent into tedium that may have occurred were the character entrusted to less able hands. Julian V. Costanzo, who played opposite Priscilla as Tim, sported a nice voice but suffered from a tendency to rush his dialogue, and would have fared better if he applied deeper commitment to his articulation.
Owen Phillips was a comic delight in the role of Nigel (and the much smaller Fosdyke), as was Sarah Vagliviello as Fiona. Both deservedly accumulated their fair share of laughs. Troppo (Jason Farley) had middling success in what is an admittedly difficult role, though there was a lot more he could have given the character.
Karin Staflund and Colleen Hopkins, as Lady Raeburn (Jane’s mother) and Tim’s mother respectively, shone in their duet “We Don’t Understand Our Children”, and also in the numerous other characters they portrayed. The Beauty Parlour scene involving Lady Raeburn was one of the highlights of the show.
Honorable mentions must also be made of Corinne Hewitt, whose shining moment came in the role of Asphynxia, the less-than-talented nightclub singer – her rendition of “Sand in My Eyes” was absolutely horrible, and I loved every minute of it; Louise Dodge (Rowena) who secured some fine laughs in a minor role; Cary Hudson (P.C Boot) and of course the versatile Chris Henderson, whose many roles ranged from space traveller to effeminate dress shop manager, and everything in between.
Overall, several scenes worked better than others, with the best being those that took place in The Beauty Parlour, The Foreign Office, The InspectorÂ’s Office and The Dress Shop. However, the scenes in the Park seemed to move very slowly, and required a little more energy for them to live up to the previously mentioned examples.
There was also a small problem with the lighting, as I think has been previously mentioned, in that there was some troublesome ‘dark corners’ that could have been blocked around, and sometimes the choreography seemed a little cluttered.
On the whole, I highly recommend this show for its sense of fun and the energy and versatility of the cast alone. It is not a brilliant piece of theatre, but itÂ’s a solid effort and worthy of applause.
Remaining performances – July 22, 23 and 24 at 8pm
Bookings – Morris Newsagency, Morris Place, Innaloo, 9440 1040
Ticket prices - $16 (Full) $12 (Concession) $10 (Members)
P.S. The programme was very well done, by the way.
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