Witches of Eastwick

MLOC’s production of The Witches of Eastwick opened last night to an enthusiastic audience of family and friends. While the cast appeared flat in Act 1, they made up for it after interval with vigorous chorus action.

Michael Young (Darryl Van Horne), as the ‘ideal man’, was smooth, sleazy and seductive, even if his mature vintage required some suspension of belief. The Witches; Lucy MacVicar (Jane), Erin Keleher (Alexandra) and Susie McCann (Sukie), worked tightly together with some good three-part vocal work. Sean Loughlin (Fidel) was funny, and will build on last night’s laughs.

Crowd-pleasing scenes, mostly in Act 2, include Dance with the Devil, where the cast let loose with raunchy dancing, red light wash and some ‘out-there’ and overstated choreography. In The Glory of Me Young relished his Elvis-eat-your-heart-out moves.

Dirty Laundry features a t-towel and washing basket sequence that will realize its potential with either smaller baskets or fewer cast on stage. Act 2 did not begin until almost 10.00pm and should be clipped to maintain momentum.

Set design, when featured, was very effective with white picket fence and autumnal backdrop, Darryl’s house, and later the Chapel. The show would benefit from more colour, or a half-stage in some scenes. The lighting designers are warmly congratulated.

Lucy Graham

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More about this production.