James Earl Adair Website

The Good Intent is based on the true story of Raimond Sanders Draper, an American pilot whose brave act of dying himself rather than crashing into the local school saved numerous lives.

Ben Goddard is Sanders Draper and he is a great actor, I last saw Ben at the Queen�s in the 50th Anniversary Gala and then he impressed me with his singing voice but this was something else.

Emily Gardner is Rose, Jim�s long suffering wife. Emily is a new addition to Cut to the Chase but she is definitely an asset and I�m looking forward to seeing her as Sleeping Beauty in panto.

Nick Lashbrook is Jim, husband to Rose and a deserter, he ran away from hospital where he was being treated for injuries he got whilst serving in the Navy. This role is very different to anything that I have seen him do before; it�s a meatier role and one that he can really get his teeth into, although he does have some light hearted moments.

Richard Emerson is Tommy, Jim�s brother and it�s him that brings a smile to Jim�s face by performing a striptease whilst wearing their mothers dress. Richard also plays one of the RAF pilots and from the way he acts he is one of the older pilots.

Carol Sloman is Ivy, barmaid in the pub. Her son is missing in action and this gives her the chance to sing a very moving song with Loveday Smith. Despite all of her problems Ivy manages to keep all the pilots smiling. Carol is also the musical director on the production.

James Earl Adair is just brilliant as Arthur, an Air Raid Patrol Warden; this is some of the funniest moments in the show and shows what normal people and not just the pilots got up to.

Arthur�s sidekick is Bert played by Jim Bywater; I�d never seen Jim in anything before and he�s brilliant. Together they sing a song which reminded me of some of the old double acts like Flanagan and Allen.

Loveday Smith is brilliant as Edie, one of the WAAF�s based at RAF Hornchurch, she is in love with Charlie, one of the young Spitfire pilots. Edie gets very upset when pilots die but nothing can prepare her for Charlie dying, it�s very emotional when everyone says that he�s dies but she still believes that he will come back.

And finally Phil Reed is Charlie; he is very dashing as a pilot and looks very smart in his RAF uniform. He loves Edie although he does try and blackmail her into sleeping with him. Phil is brilliant and it�s nice to see him taking on more demanding role.

In conclusion The Good Intent is well written and is a fantastic musical. It has some great songs which get stuck in your head, always a good sign. The fact that it�s based on a true story really does bring it home to you what happened in the Second World War. Don�t let the serious subject matter put you off; there are some funny and light hearted moments.

Any chance of a cast recording involving the current cast at Hornchurch?

Congratulations to all the cast and crew involved with this fabulous production.

Holly Mitchell