Bugsy Malone

The Hills Musical Theatre Company have produced a fun piece of theatre, performed by a strong cast of 44 teens under the direction of Jan Mahoney and her team.

Set in New York and Chicago from the early 1920's un 1931, the musical centres around our narrator Bugsy Malone, a boxing promoter with no money, and two mob gangs headed by Dandy Dan and Fat Sam.

Dandy Dan and his gang have the run of the town with his shipment of Splurge Guns (filled in the show with Silly String). As we see Fat Sam's gang dropping one by one, Bugsy meets Blousy Brown, a singer trying to make her way to Hollywood. In the end Fat Sam's moll Tallulah persuades Bugsy to help Sam as a driver and brains in a final rendezvous with Dan and his gang to steal the Splurge Guns and put an end to the feud once and for all. Throughout the show we also meet other colourful characters like Fizzy, the speakeasy's cleaner, Bangles, one of main dancers at the Easy, and Leroy Smith, the braun that helps Bugsy out after a mugging, then trains to be a boxer.

All the young lead roles were a joy to watch, with Abbey Thomas as Blousy and Ryan Morris as Fat Sam stand-outs. Abbeys vocals were very strong in her solo “Ordinary Fool”, her interactions with Jeremy Barons as Bugsy were all believable and their chemistry seemed to get stronger throughout the show. Barons did a great job with such a huge amount of dialogue and his New Yorker accent never dropped. With only one song to sing, “Down and Out”, Jeremy held his own amongst the large chorus. Ryan Morris's interpretation of the down on his luck gangster boss Fat Sam was very entertaining. His comedic timing was on cue and he gave the role a great physical onstage presence.

Jan Mahoney's direction was very evident throughout, helping the young actors to give such convincing performances. Her use of the high school auditorium space was impressive, including the use of levels and the actors coming out into the audience at appropriate times.

Mark Pigot and his orchestra of nine sounded terrific and their Jazz sound helped the setting and period of the piece. Gai Reckless and her assistant choreographer Emily Taylor showcased the abilities of the cast well, in particular in the numbers “Fat Sam's Grand Slam” for the girls and “Bad Guys” for the members of Dandy Dan's Gang. The costuming by Rebecca Demary and her crew of helpers was very effective, especially the Mob suits and the dancers’ flapper dresses.

I recommend all head out to the Model Farm High School to see this impressive show and its talented young cast.

James Russell

Photographs: Grant Leslie - Perfect Images Photography.