WE WILL ROCK YOU

I would like to offer my congratulations to the cast and crew of We Will Rock You. This show was a massive undertaking for a community theatre group and you truly exceeded all of my expectations. Specific congratulations must go to your four leads. Jason Arrow owned the role of Galileo from the moment he stepped on stage, Sky Ogier gave a gutsy, honest and compelling interpretation of Scaramouche and Shem Le Scelle and Ali Hill gave the perfect energy to Britney Spears and Miss Loaf respectively. I have worked with both Jason and Shem in previous shows and the two of them should be immensely proud of what they achieved during this show - true professionality. Sky and Ali were unknowns to me, but I look forward to seeing what they may offer in the future! As with all productions, there were a few areas in which I would have liked to have seen more development. The set, while effective, did not enhance the show. More dressing of the scaffolding would have achieved this - particularly during the scenes in the Heartbreak Hotel. Also - as is so often the case when a band plays from on-stage - the sound was somewhat disappointing as at times I struggled to hear the vocals. Responsibilty falls on both the performers and the crew here. Performers must remember to give enough to the microphone - it is very difficult to amplify nothing! For the crew - keep on top of those cues and watch the differing levels for different performers who may end up using a particular microphone. Okay, now to the choreography. Impeccable! This was a true highlight of this show for me! The routines were spectacular, but more importantly the execution was damn near perfect! And given the sheer size of the cast, that is unbelievably commendable! Congratulations to the choreo team for your innovative routines and for drilling your cast to the point that they got it perfect. Kudos to the performers for working your collective butts off to achieve something so seldom seen in community theatre! A final word in regards to energy. I'm not a fan of the script of this show - I think it lacks the edge of most of Ben Elton's work - however the energy given by the cast helped to really lift the script off the page! I have seen innumerable performances at the Mandurah Performing Arts Centre, (and have been in a fair few myself) and NEVER have I seen an audience respond so positively and energetically to a show. Everything else aside - every single person involved in this show needs to give themselves a HUGE pat on the back - your audience LOVED it - me included! And at the end of the day - it's the audiences reaction that matters ;) I would like to close with special mention for Ben Hewson, the boy who played Cliff Richard and the female back-up singer (I believe her name is Annie) who also gave stand out performances. Brava Mandurah Little Theatre, BRAVA! I look forward to your next musical offering :) Darren