|
Search this site
powered by FreeFind |
|
|
Once again we see the Cut to the Chase actor/musicians on their finest form, and the cast members include James Eaton, Peter Helmer, Matt Devitt, Julian Littman, James Earl Adair, Georgina Field, Wendy Parkin, Philip Reed and Loveday Smith.
The story revolves around a father trying to find his wife and twin sons and their servants, also twins, whom were seperated in a freak storm when they were babies. By some coincidence, the father, his son whom he raised and his servant happen to end up in the same city. The son and servant are both looking for their twin brothers and mother and have been gone for seven years.
Whilst in the city there is much mayhem, confusion and mistaken Identity hence, the name of the play - The Comedy Of Errors.
James Earl Adair plays three roles in all, and what different roles to play! This shows the true talents of James ranging from a weary grief ridden father searching desperately for his sons and wife to a dodgy goldsmith and then on to a mad and whacky Doctor. James gets to sing a couple of great numbers during his many roles, the best for me had to be "They Call Me Dr Pinch" which was great fun. James plays the drums for most of the show.
Philip Reed plays the bad cop Balthazar, a mean and crooked cop who is always on the make and a fast buck. Philip comes across very well in this role and although he didnt actually get a solo in the show, you cannot mistake him in the ensemble, particularly in Stand By Your Man. Philip gets to play a variety of instruments during the show including the saxaphone, Guitar and Keyboards.
Peter Helmer plays the role of Antipholus of Syracuse, and after seeing him in Pump Boys and Dinettes, I had to job to recognise him with his squeaky clean look, but it was really nice to see him playing a good solid role and to hear him singing some great numbers, in particular "Need Your Love So Bad" which was excellent. Peter plays the bass guitar and drums during the show.
Julian Littman plays the role of Dromio of Syracuse, this is the first time I had seen Julian acting on stage and he was brilliant! He was so funny and it was a real pleasure to watch him on stage and his singing was excellent, my favourite songs from Julian had to be "You Keep On Knocking" and "Soul Man" both with Matt Devitt. Julian is the Musical Director for the show and played the guitar, keyboards and bass guitar.
Loveday Smith played the role of Adriana, the wife of Antipholus of Ephesus. Loveday looked stunning on stage and had some really good numbers to sing, in particular "A Fool In Love" which was brilliantly sung with Wendy Parkin and has to be one of my favourite numbers in the show. Another cracking song by Loveday was "Think" which I have always thought was such a hard number and Loveday sang it really well. Loveday plays the trumpet, flugle horn, keyboards and drums throughout the show.
Wendy Parkin played two roles in the show, mostly she played Luciana the sister to Adriana. In this role she is trying to comfort her sister but at the same time, trying to tell her to live her own life and get on with things, which is where the excellent number "A Fool In Love" comes in and Wendy was excellent. Wendy's second role was as the Abbess, Emilia and for me this was the scene stealer of the show. A cross between the nun in the film, The Blues Brothers, who is mighty handy with her ruler and heaven help you should you be on the receiving end of that ruler! As Emilia, Wendy sings "Stand By Your Man" with the backing of Peter Helmer, Philip Reed, Matt Devitt and James Eaton. That scene was a joy to watch and was worth every penny of the show! Wendy plays the trumpet, guitar, bass guitar and drums during the show.
James Eaton played the role of Antipholus of Ephesus, the lost twin brother. James gets one of the longest and hardest scenes in the whole show, where his has a monologue that must go on for minutes and he hardly draws breath. Quite deservedly so, Matt Devitt encourages the audience to give him a big round of applause for his efforts! James gets to sing the opening number to the show and the shows climax to the ultimate Blues Brothers song "Everybody Needs Somebody" which he sings with Georgina Field. James plays the trumpet, Guitar, keyboards, bass guitar and drums during the show.
Matt Devitt plays the role of Dromio of Ephesus and is outstanding in this role, his comic timing is perfect and his singing is out of this world. He blew me away with his version of "Aint Got Nothing But The Blues" which was excellent. I cannot get away from the image of Matt as his ear was pulled by, both Antipholus' and Adriana. He was so funny. I really enjoyed seeing Matt and Julian on stage together and they worked so well together and the song "Soul Man" was a real show stopper. Matt played the guitar, bass guitar during the show.
Georgina Field played the role of a Courtesan, which is probably not the best description for her as I would have said she was more of a stripper or prostitute really, especially in such scanty clothing! I have only seen Georgina once on stage and at that time she was a monkey! I was impressed with her agility and singing during "Everybody Needs Somebody". Georgina played the saxaphone, keyboards and bass guitar.
In all I thought the whole show was excellent, I loved the set and designs and costumes. I also really appreciated the "News Screen" at the back which flashed up News Flashes of important news on the show, which helped those who got a bit lost in the dialogue at time, keep uptodate with the goings on and story.
As I have said before, I think these shows are a great influence on getting younger people into the theatres and also spreading Shakespeare's good work and also introducing the classic songs to a wider audience.
I look forward to Bob's next Shakespeare play with much anticipation!
Thank you to everyone involved in the show, it was simply brilliant!
Amanda Westlake
The images, text and design of this website are subject to copyright and no part of the site is to be reproduced without the permission of the webmaster