Almost Oklahoma
Thu, 8 Mar 2012, 01:57 pmGordon the Optom1 post in thread
Almost Oklahoma
Thu, 8 Mar 2012, 01:57 pm‘Almost Oklahoma’ was written by local playwright LaVerne Kirton. LaVerne who has been a Marloo powerhouse for many years realised how few youngsters had seen an old fashioned cowboy film so was a little worried about how they would handle this topic – she need not have worried. This is a Senior Youth Theatre Production at the Marloo Theatre, Marloo Road, Greenmount. The 35 actors are between the ages of 10 and 20, with the majority around 16. These weekend shows commence 7.30 pm, except for the Sunday matinee performances at 2.00 pm. The run is until 10th March.
The curtains open to reveal a stunning set (designer George Boyd and a huge team) consisting of a homestead with veranda, horse tackle store and a new barn under construction. The whole set and trimmings (Claire Marshall) looked authentic and lived in.
The homestead is the 'Windy Oaks Ranch’ that is owned by the best cook in the area, Aunt Sarah (Lizzie Howard). She cares for her nephews, the slightly dippy Dusty (Chris Ball), his brother Billy (Jayshub O’Brien) along with her niece, Ellie (Savannah Wood). They struggle to survive but with a lecherous, lazy farmhand like Dan Druffy (Ryan Marano) the fight is even harder. Dan constantly abuses the poor Red Indian half-caste girl, Montana (Stephanie Pullman) who lives on the nearby reservation.
Aunt Sarah is very pleased when her handsome bachelor neighbour, Morgan Williams (David Bain) calls around, but unfortunately he has bad news. The railroad is about to put a line through the middle of their properties.
It is spring and the Farm Ball is about to take place. The locals are ‘in heat’ and are all checking out the local talent. Dusty and his dim sidekick, Noah (Charlie Darlington) seem to be having a particularly hard time finding a willing partner, on the other hand, the attractive schoolmarm, Mary Beth (Jayden Payne) chases anything that moves and has no problems getting her man.
Aunt Sarah teaches the men how to properly ask a lady to accompany them to the Ball, but Andy Tover (Sean Deamer) makes a total mess of his enticement with the girl of his dreams, Alice May (Renae Makin).
Into town roll the medicine man, Evan Jellical (Connor Kemp) and his young assistant Jack (James Earnshaw – very good stage presence) to sell their magical elixir. With quite a few men lacking dance partners, the salon ‘ladies’ Carmen Gettitt (Stacey Gay) and her can-can dancing friends are only too pleased to help.
How will obnoxious Dan take to being sacked? Will love come to the town at the Ball?
With the strong support cast: Harrison MacLennan, Rory McCoy, Jesse Wood, Juliet Blundell, Rachel Vonk, Teagan Lindsay, Georgina Taylor, Channing Whitworth, Clare Wheeler, Tania Morrow, Natalie Oaks, Isabelle Skene, Odette Vonk, Maddy Scade, Kate Agnew, Kira Vallenlonga, Kahlee Thomason, Billy Darlington, Michael Blundell and Nate Wood.
LaVerne Kirton has gathered songs and situations from many loved western musicals; with her very large cast has given us a bright and energy filled show. The singing was a little lacking in power, with a few wrong keys, but this was more than compensated for by the superb enthusiasm of the cast. They smiled as they sang; they were in unison and had superb delivery. The duet of Savannah and Stephanie was in perfect harmony, and later, songs by Lizzie and Glen really rocked. Then the major challenge for Musical Director, Samantha Ruggerio, was to get the 35 youngsters to sing a yodelling song, and they did it - admirably.
The dancing was of an extraordinary high standard, reaching a climax in the 6-minute routine near the end when they boot scooted, dosey doed, lifted their partners, did a progressive barn dance – the variety was infinite. A triumph for choreographer Kristen Twynam-Perkins. Again the young cast smiled and the joy never left their faces, even though some must have been exhausted.
The vast selection of costumes (designer Tracey Wood, aided by Lynne Makin) was delightful and was of cinema quality. With such a large and young cast, stage manager Joy Harvey and assistant Alex Sutton are to be congratulated at the smooth entrances and the silence off-stage of those not performing.
Lighting designer, Michael Hart, took us from dawn to dusk with smooth control and perfect colour tones. He produced a very good dramatic fire effect. Norm Kirton’s sound design again was well above average, with a dawn chorus, perfectly recorded, accompanied the sunrise. The half dozen hanging microphones worked well and picked up the singing and dialogue most effectively – better than having poor headsets.
Yes there were one or two minor problems, but overall this musical was as good as any adult production that I have seen recently. Many congratulations, you should all be extremely proud.
‘Almost Oklahoma’ was written by local playwright LaVerne Kirton. LaVerne who has been a Marloo powerhouse for many years realised how few youngsters had seen an old fashioned cowboy film so was a little worried about how they would handle this topic – she need not have worried. This is a Senior Youth Theatre Production at the Marloo Theatre, Marloo Road, Greenmount. The 35 actors are between the ages of 10 and 20, with the majority around 16. These weekend shows commence 7.30 pm, except for the Sunday matinee performances at 2.00 pm. The run is until 10th March.
The curtains open to reveal a stunning set (designer George Boyd and a huge team) consisting of a homestead with veranda, horse tackle store and a new barn under construction. The whole set and trimmings (Claire Marshall) looked authentic and lived in.
The homestead is the 'Windy Oaks Ranch’ that is owned by the best cook in the area, Aunt Sarah (Lizzie Howard). She cares for her nephews, the slightly dippy Dusty (Chris Ball), his brother Billy (Jayshub O’Brien) along with her niece, Ellie (Savannah Wood). They struggle to survive but with a lecherous, lazy farmhand like Dan Druffy (Ryan Marano) the fight is even harder. Dan constantly abuses the poor Red Indian half-caste girl, Montana (Stephanie Pullman) who lives on the nearby reservation.
Aunt Sarah is very pleased when her handsome bachelor neighbour, Morgan Williams (David Bain) calls around, but unfortunately he has bad news. The railroad is about to put a line through the middle of their properties.
It is spring and the Farm Ball is about to take place. The locals are ‘in heat’ and are all checking out the local talent. Dusty and his dim sidekick, Noah (Charlie Darlington) seem to be having a particularly hard time finding a willing partner, on the other hand, the attractive schoolmarm, Mary Beth (Jayden Payne) chases anything that moves and has no problems getting her man.
Aunt Sarah teaches the men how to properly ask a lady to accompany them to the Ball, but Andy Tover (Sean Deamer) makes a total mess of his enticement with the girl of his dreams, Alice May (Renae Makin).
Into town roll the medicine man, Evan Jellical (Connor Kemp) and his young assistant Jack (James Earnshaw – very good stage presence) to sell their magical elixir. With quite a few men lacking dance partners, the salon ‘ladies’ Carmen Gettitt (Stacey Gay) and her can-can dancing friends are only too pleased to help.
How will obnoxious Dan take to being sacked? Will love come to the town at the Ball?
With the strong support cast: Harrison MacLennan, Rory McCoy, Jesse Wood, Juliet Blundell, Rachel Vonk, Teagan Lindsay, Georgina Taylor, Channing Whitworth, Clare Wheeler, Tania Morrow, Natalie Oaks, Isabelle Skene, Odette Vonk, Maddy Scade, Kate Agnew, Kira Vallenlonga, Kahlee Thomason, Billy Darlington, Michael Blundell and Nate Wood.
LaVerne Kirton has gathered songs and situations from many loved western musicals; with her very large cast has given us a bright and energy filled show. The singing was a little lacking in power, with a few wrong keys, but this was more than compensated for by the superb enthusiasm of the cast. They smiled as they sang; they were in unison and had superb delivery. The duet of Savannah and Stephanie was in perfect harmony, and later, songs by Lizzie and Glen really rocked. Then the major challenge for Musical Director, Samantha Ruggerio, was to get the 35 youngsters to sing a yodelling song, and they did it - admirably.
The dancing was of an extraordinary high standard, reaching a climax in the 6-minute routine near the end when they boot scooted, dosey doed, lifted their partners, did a progressive barn dance – the variety was infinite. A triumph for choreographer Kristen Twynam-Perkins. Again the young cast smiled and the joy never left their faces, even though some must have been exhausted.
The vast selection of costumes (designer Tracey Wood, aided by Lynne Makin) was delightful and was of cinema quality. With such a large and young cast, stage manager Joy Harvey and assistant Alex Sutton are to be congratulated at the smooth entrances and the silence off-stage of those not performing.
Lighting designer, Michael Hart, took us from dawn to dusk with smooth control and perfect colour tones. He produced a very good dramatic fire effect. Norm Kirton’s sound design again was well above average, with a dawn chorus, perfectly recorded, accompanied the sunrise. The half dozen hanging microphones worked well and picked up the singing and dialogue most effectively – better than having poor headsets.
Yes there were one or two minor problems, but overall this musical was as good as any adult production that I have seen recently. Many congratulations, you should all be extremely proud.