Connecting professional and amateur theatre in Newbury, West Berkshire and beyond

Newbury Operatic Society
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The Newbury Operatic Society web site is at www.newburyoperatic.co.uk

Last production

Kiss Me, Kate, 14th to 18th April 2009
Music and lyrics by Cole Porter. Book by Bella & Samuel Spewack. The stormy relationship between film star Lilli Vanessi and her ex-husband theatre actor/manager Fred flares once more as they struggle to put on a musical version of Shakespeare’s The Taming of the Shrew. Add a persistent gambler and a couple of gangsters in medieval costumes into the mix and you get the idea. Great laughs and songs including Wunderbar, Another Openin’, Another Show, Why Can’t You Behave? and Too Darn Hot. See the review below.

Tickets

01635 522733.

Where

The Corn Exchange, Newbury.

Previous productions

Jack the Ripper, 16th to 18th October 2008
The Pajama Game, 8th to 12th April 2008. See the review in the Archive.
The Pirates of Penzance, 18th to 20th October 2007. See the review in the Archive.
Thoroughly Modern Millie, 10th to 14th April 2007. See the review in the Archive.
Calamity Jane, 18th to 22nd April 2006. See the review in the Archive.
Old Tyme Music Hall, 15th to 16th September 2006
Calamity Jane, 18th to 22nd April 2006
Hello Dolly!, 29th March to 2nd April 2005. See the review in the Archive.
Into the Woods, 2nd to 3rd July 2004. See the review in the Archive.
HMS Pinafore and The Zoo, 13th to 17th April 2004. See the review in the Archive.
South Pacific, 22nd to 26th April 2003. See the review in the Archive.
Trial By Jury, 10th October 2003, at the Ramada Hotel, Elcot Park.
A Gilbert & Sullivan Evening, 24th and 25th October 2002. See the review in the Archive.
Oklahoma!, 2nd to 6th April 2002. See the review in the Archive.
My Fair Lady, 17th to 21st April 2001. See the review in the Archive.

Review of Kiss Me, Kate

14th to 18th April 2009.

From the Newbury Weekly News.

A chorus of approval

Newbury Operatic Society singers and dancers light up the stage

Newbury Operatic Society: Kiss Me, Kate, at The Corn Exchange, from Tuesday, April 14 to Saturday, April 18

There are at least two reasons why this musical, which first saw the footlights in 1948, finds favour with amateur societies. The Cole Porter score includes evergreens such as Wunderbar and So In Love, and it has an abundance of smaller roles for a society with the talent to fill them.

Certainly, NOS is not short of actors with ability and though I've no room to list all the winners in lesser parts, Tommy Fox (Paul), turning up the temperature superbly in It's Too Darn Hot, deserves particular mention.

The play within a play (The Taming of the Shrew) follows the stormy relationship between the two main characters. As shrewish Katharine/Lilli, Sarah Scott-Cound's rich musical voice was well suited to the part.

Maintaining the firecracker personality the role of virago Katharine demands to set the stage alight is a big ask and occasionally the action was static rather than fiery However, the joyful duet with jaunty-capped General Howell (Chris Austin) was a star moment.

As Fred/Petruchio, Sarah's opposite number Michael Scott-Cound commanded the role, his robust voice making an especial delight of the regretful Where is the Life That Late I Led.

Stuart Buchan as gambler (Bill/Lucentio) made a good foil to the exuberant, always entertaining Zoe Wells (flighty Lois/Bianca). Tom, Dick or Harry sung with these two, plus Gremio (Shaun Blake) and Hortensio (Scott Taylor) was particularly slick and enjoyable.

With good actors in the roles of First and Second Man they are liable to steal the show and Jeremy Mann and David Price did just that with every action and expression telling. Excellent acting.

In this beautifully-costumed show, NOS can be proud of its chorus - good singing and no glum faces - and four dancers who lit up the stage with disciplined happy movement every time they appeared, whether in the stately pavane or more energetic numbers.

Combine these two groups with the splendid orchestra, under the control of musical director Michael Evans, sensitive to everything happening on stage, and a framework for success was in place.

Jeanette Maskell's skilful direction ensured this marathon of a musical never dragged and again provided the annual treat the society's audiences expect.

CAROLINE FRANKLIN