Reviews

Sometimes the line between a top community theatre production and a professional one can be very thin indeed, and that’s what we saw yesterday in Ipswich Musical Theatre’s production of Wicked. With so many pros on board behind-the-scenes and ex-Wicked Wiz Simon Gallagher stepping in as casting director, the result was pro-am musical theatre at its finest.

This production has been stripped down to the bare essentials which, in a way, has taken the gloss off what could be a great experience.

I could not understand what it was all about until I got home and had time to read the comment on each song. Had these preceded each item as surtitles or commentary, with perhaps the use of a hat, scarf or prop it would have enhanced the experience of the production.

With the Musical Direction in the capable hands of Javeenbah Stalwart, Rachel Love, the show had pace but that alone was not sufficient to entertain.

When I review a show, I do so, on the merits of the performance I witness and am not influenced by comments from those connected to the production.

Breast Wishes shares the trials and tribulations of the female mammary glands and of those whose lives are affected in one-way or another. Breasts conjure up a variety of thoughts (the haves and have-nots) in different people and this show explores all of those “points”.

With bales of hay on each side of the proscenium arch and dances of the hoedown and square dance variety, SQUIDS effectively brought the bucolic charm of Oklahoma!’s turn-of-the-century story to life. We all knew Rodgers and Hammerstein’s score as a classic of the Broadway musical theatre, but in this production it was Hammerstein’s book adaptation which deserved the laurels.