The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe

Imagine being told at 5.30 pm that you are going to play the lead in a musical in just over two hours.  The pulse of young Benjamin Hamilton must have been racing when the Director Laura-Beth Wood gave him the news that the boy playing Edmund Pevensie had been taken to hospital after hurting himself at school.

The show must go on is the adage and Benjamin Hamilton wrote himself into Chatswood Musical Society lore by taking to the stage with aplomb - script in hand. His performance grew in confidence as the night went on – delighting everyone with his mastery of a complicated solo and bringing a tear to the eyes of his mother in the audience.

Equally impressive was the stylish set, lighting and costumes of this production. Bringing to the stage an adventure which starts in a bedroom wardrobe but ends in the mythical land of Narnia – replete with talking animals and  a white witch who has ruled the land in deep winter for 100 years is a challenge. Chatswood met this with flying colours making the evening a visual feast.

The large well-disciplined chorus and ensemble had a few stand-outs.  Zoe Landis was charismatic as the White Witch whilst Ben Dennis and Ema Franklin almost stole the show as Mr and Mrs Beaver.

However the elephant in the room was the script and score for this production. This adaptation by Irita Kutchmy is recommended  by the publisher Josef Weinberger as being most suitable for upper primary schools and lower high school students.

Musically it lacks sophistication and was not satisfying for a mainstream musical theatre audience. The score for piano, woodwind, double bass and drums was ably performed by the CMS orchestra but felt on the thin side for such a lush and grand adventure.

But the adventure for young Benjamin Hamilton appears to be over. Word filtered through to the audience that the X-ray on the boy he replaced had cleared him of a broken arm. So the casting will resume as per program for the rest of the season.

David Spicer