Review of Dancing Queen by Philip Shell |
|
The opening of the show has the dancers entering the stage to the Dancing Queen Overture, which then moves into Mamma Mia. The dancers were so obviously miming the words. What made it appear even more ragged was that some sang all the way through, some in places and some not at all. I was always taught that a show should have a good strong opening and a good strong ending, and what happens in the middle can be reasonable. The opening is so important as it sets the tone for the rest of the performance. This was one of the weakest openings I have seen. Yes the dancers were full of high energy and enthusiasm but they also appeared to be trying to out perform their neighbour. Having an odd number of male dancers (5) does not help, as the "spare" male would go from side to side making the stage look lop-sided; or would even try to dance centre stage, thereby being masked by the four lead performers. Timing is important for any dancer, especially on mass, if one person is slightly out if affects the entire visionary perception of the routine. On Tuesday night's performance several, both male and female were guilty of letting their colleagues down. One very toe curling moment was during Voulez Vous when the male dancers lay on their stomachs whilst Tasmin Stewart walked across their backs. What transpired was so poor, with Tasmin obviously struggling, unable to keep her poise and balance, or straight legs and what is more looking as if she was waiting for a firing squad to shoot her. The costumes are very colourful but are looking very tired and worn. Several times there were obvious problems with costumes either falling to pieces, or just malfunctioning, viz a vie the roller skating male who on falling over grabbed his leg and in doing so allowed many in the stalls a bit too much site of his nether region. I could not help but feel the costumes were in some way attempting to emulate Hot Gossip's, the difference being the class and quality of the latter as opposed to this shows. The four lead singers did use hand held mikes and were not obviously miming to the songs. Of the four Sean Smith was the most impressive, with a good range of voice, quality and movement, with Crazy Horses being the best of his performances. Danny Rhodes is so obviously new to the scene and never appeared to relax throughout the entire performance. A bit of foundation would not go amiss as he looked so pale. (Surely someone in the cast or production should have noticed that one.) His vocal quality was somewhat lacking, but at least he gave it a go. Danny appeared under rehearsed, with numerous actual or near collisions with dancers, and did falter on his words, and he was heard very clearly speaking in the wings before one entrance. Suzanne Carley was by far and away the more professional and accomplished of the two female singers, with good vocal quality and range. Tasmin Stewart had a powerful voice but lacked quality in the singing with a lack of breath control following the smallest of movements. When she tried to push the note her voice wavered tremendously. The backstage crew had their moments too, with microphone levels wavering. This may of course have been to do with the vocal quality of the performers. Lighting cues were missed, and the entire audience were surprised to see at one point, the two male leads singing walking up the steps onto the stage from the stalls. Had they have been lit it would have made sense. This is so much a nearly show. It has the potential to be really good, but that needs discipline and team work which appeared to be lacking. The cast work hard and are enthusiastic, but that does not make a good show. The music was all recorded, but it took the audience back to the sweltering seventies and changing 80's. Abba's music is timeless and will live on for many many years to come, and that is what the producers of this show must hope for. Philip Shell |