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 - Striling Players
Sun, 11 July 2004, 11:45 amWalter Plinge
I must disgaree with the majority of comments made by the original reviewer. To judge a theatrical performance by the amount of leg room in the theatre and the colour of the tabs is the same as judging a football game by the comfort of the seats and the colour of the grass.
I had the pleasure of seeing Salad Days last night, two shows into the run. It is one of the most interesting musicals I have seen, the mix of genres within the show giving it a lively atmosphere rarely seen on stage these days.
The beginning of the show was strong, the gentle, soothing tones of the overture giving way to an upbeat, fun musical number that was delightful parody of the pomposity of academic life. Over the following scenes, the main characters were introduced to the audience through several fast, well paced songs that allowed the audience to get to know the major characters in the story.
The ensemble numbers were staged well, given the limitations of the theatre space which the actors had to cope with. The only area for improvement would be the choreography, which was unimaginative in some places. However, this was more than made up for by the musical ability of the cast, particularly the vocal talents of the female lead (the one comment with which I am in full agreement with the original reviewer).
Outstanding performances of the night were definitely the female and male leads who both worked hard to achieve the correct characterisation. They were closely followed by the sexy young man who played the role of Nigel and the young lady who played Fiona. Further favourites included the gentleman who played the effeminate dress shop proprietor and the girl who played his dense assistant, the young lady playing the terrible (on purpose) nightclub singer and the young boy playing the mute clown Troppo. Mention must also be made of the young girl who played the schoolgirl in the first act, she had numerous characters throughout the show which were all a joy to watch (particularly for the male audience members).
Overall, the show was a joy to watch from start to finish. It is a credit to the actors and the director that they have attempted a difficult show and have created a great night out.
I had the pleasure of seeing Salad Days last night, two shows into the run. It is one of the most interesting musicals I have seen, the mix of genres within the show giving it a lively atmosphere rarely seen on stage these days.
The beginning of the show was strong, the gentle, soothing tones of the overture giving way to an upbeat, fun musical number that was delightful parody of the pomposity of academic life. Over the following scenes, the main characters were introduced to the audience through several fast, well paced songs that allowed the audience to get to know the major characters in the story.
The ensemble numbers were staged well, given the limitations of the theatre space which the actors had to cope with. The only area for improvement would be the choreography, which was unimaginative in some places. However, this was more than made up for by the musical ability of the cast, particularly the vocal talents of the female lead (the one comment with which I am in full agreement with the original reviewer).
Outstanding performances of the night were definitely the female and male leads who both worked hard to achieve the correct characterisation. They were closely followed by the sexy young man who played the role of Nigel and the young lady who played Fiona. Further favourites included the gentleman who played the effeminate dress shop proprietor and the girl who played his dense assistant, the young lady playing the terrible (on purpose) nightclub singer and the young boy playing the mute clown Troppo. Mention must also be made of the young girl who played the schoolgirl in the first act, she had numerous characters throughout the show which were all a joy to watch (particularly for the male audience members).
Overall, the show was a joy to watch from start to finish. It is a credit to the actors and the director that they have attempted a difficult show and have created a great night out.
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