Treasure Island - 2012
Treasure Island - 2012
"Treasure Island" written by Alan P Frayn, was the fourth pantomime that Don Beattie directed for the Theatre Club, working with a dedicated cast and crew to put this show together. We welcomed Andy Cochrane to the cast and hope to see him in more productions.
Gary Brown was Musical Director and also took on the task of Stage Manager. Sally Miller was choreographer.
A big "thank you" must go to our loyal audiences who made this show such a success and seemed to thoroughly enjoy our story of piracy, romance and treasure.
Based on the Robert Louis Stevenson classic, this version of Treasure Island takes all the thrills and adventure of the original and puts a classic comedy spin on it for the stage, which the merry crew clearly relish from the off.
The sets are particularly excellent, making use of some stunning backdrop scenery which lends a storybook quality to the production while simple props add the finishing touches.
Lewis and McCarthy were great choices for the lead roles, which not only demanded considerable memory skills for lengthy dialogue, but also singing ability for a variety of show stopping numbers.
Curran also impressed with her ability to sing solo and as one half of a duet with McCarthy, while the chorus fulfilled their important dual role of vocal support and stage presence as Silver's vicious band of free booters.
Notable individual mention must go to Susan Smith, playing the dozy but amorous Potty Patsy, John Firth's cackling rum addled Billy Barnacle, Nick Lewis as Blind Ali, who has superb comic timing with his myopic one liners, Peter Biggers as the foppish Captain Mullet, Julie Mcintosh as Sea Snake Sally and Sally Miller as Spirit of the Sea.
The glorious inept Three Pirates - Jolly Roger, played to extravagance by Andrew Kane, Cut-Throat Kate (Helen Gee) and Salty Sam (Lewis Gattens)- were a barrel of laughs, especially their dislike of almost all things piratical and their ostentatious outfits.
My performance of the night was a tough one to choose, with Jimmy Dodds having the audience in stitches with his vulgar but loveable Rosie
But a special mention also has to go to Andy Cochrane as the manic, cheese-fixated castaway Barmy Ben, who brought the character to rip-roaring life with some fine comic acting.
Overall, an excellent night of home-grown entertainment and worthy of a 21 - cannon salute for the cast, dancers and production team at Alnwick Theatre Club.