No 41 -- Spring 1993 Edited by Michael Walters
This was my first visit to this society, and their first to the Public Hall in Budleigh Salterton, owing to the temporary unavailability of their usual Exmouth venue. It was also the first show I had ever seen in Budleigh Salterton that was not by Imperial, and my first sight of a Nick Lawrence production. Quite a lot of firsts. Unfortunately in double bills of this kind, the curtain raiser is often the cinderella of the pair, and cast with the "B" team of performers. This was the case in this instance. ZOO was frankly rather flat. A shallow stage like the Public Hall requires more imaginative use made of it when the full chorus are on for such a lot of the action, as in ZOO. The stage looked cluttered. The piece was staged as the Ploverleigh Annual Outing provided by Sir Marmaduke, presumably so that only one set of costumes was required for the chorus. Quite a good idea. The chorus singing was good, the orchestra excruciating. The combination of flute, clarinet, trumpet, horn and piano (one of each) was an uncomfortable arrangement, particularly in view of the natural propensity of brass to hit wrong notes, which they did in both operas with a frequency that was positively painful. If you can't have a full orchestra, I would prefer just piano, or possibly strings, but certainly not brass. The cast of ZOO was mixed. Mark Worsley (Carboy) was young, had a pleasant voice, but a bland and expressionless manner, and phrased his music badly, taking breaths in the middle of phrases, etc. Clearly he has not yet learned how to use his voice. Kathy Rainbow (Laetitia) had a tinny voice and gave a performance of little interest. Keith Turner was an acceptable Grinder; and Claire Philbrick brought a certain charm to Eliza Smith, handling the impossible misfit of a song "I'm a simple little child" with great credit. But the only really worthwhile thing in the ZOO was the performance of Andrew Sandilands as Thomas Brown, though I could have wished I had seen him in the context of a better surrounding cast. Suave and immaculate, he had impeccable diction, and above all style, which the rest of the cast of ZOO sadly lacked. This actor brings distinction to everything he does.
SORCERER was quite different. It was an object lesson in how to make a traditional production sparkle. That is, insofar as productions of SORCERER can be traditional. I say this because now accepted "traditional" bits of business, such as the "freezes" during the asides in "Welcome joy" (excellently done here), and the very broad interpretation of Wells, date only from the D'Oyly Carte revival of 1972. (Amateur productions prior to this date did not contain these elements). Nick Lawrence's production was conventional, but here and there sprinkled with a few examples of his dry wit. It was a happy idea to have one of the young yokels attach himself to the female chorus announcing the arrival of Aline, and then have to be dragged off by the ear by one of the older men. I was less happy about the falling down at the end of Act 1, which seemed a trifle over–mannered and balletic. The only addition to the text was the filter/philtre dialogue, with "Thames Water" altered to "South–west Water" – which received a round of applause. Hercules was played by a tiny child with a big voice (alternated between Michael and Mandy Smith; I don't know which one I saw) who gained a well–merited and thunderous round of applause for his/her short appearance.
The best of the cast was Anne Killoran (Aline) who had a voice of crystal clarity, and a personality of charm and brightness. She acted with a natural grace. Rob Key (Alexis), a big fellow, was more subdued, but had a voice of great sweetness, though perhaps slightly lacking in power. Beautiful though his voice was, he did not have a powerful stage presence, and at the beginning of his second act solo, a member of the chorus walked across the stage to deliver a letter (I confess I could not work out the logic behind this) and completely upstaged him for the first few moments of the song. Paul Butler (Dr. Daly) was a trifle OTT, but gave a delightful performance which seemed to be a mixture of Leslie Fyson and the late Charles Hawtrey, with perhaps a little bit of the old Charles Mott record thrown in. It was a performance calculated to have the audience giggling with delight all the way through. By contrast, Mike Killoran (Wells) was a bit of a disappointment. The patter song was pedestrian, and his manner lack–lustre. He was not able to reach any of the bottom notes of the role, which were transposed up. These notes are not an embellishment, they do have a dramatic function, especially the final "it matters not with whom, or where". He had, however, a pleasing stage personality, and looked and sounded not unlike Michael Caine.
Christine West (Lady Sangazure) was a large lady with a commanding presence, great dignity, and a rich, mellow voice. Keith Wadlam (Sir Marmaduke) was shorter, and was thoroughly competent, as was Debbie Sargeant (Constance). Anne Bradley (Mrs. Partlett) was a plump little lady with a genial smile, a sort of Spring Byington in a poke bonnet. The Notary (Les Skillings) whispered the bottom notes of his responses to Constance – to great acclaim. There were some particularly beautiful costumes for the ladies, and a magnificent backdrop of an 18th century "Capability Brown" landscape garden. The "incantation" was excellently staged with dry ice mist and vertically directed green spots which separated Wells from the rest of the action, enclosing him in a sort of supernatural panel. MICHAEL WALTERS
NICK LAWRENCE had just completed ten years with the Society. The article below is an abridged version of the profile that appeared in the programme:
Nick's connection with Sullivan goes back thirty years to when he saw Sir Geraint Evans play Ko–Ko. Through a family friend his collection of recordings grew and in 1967 he appeared as the Headsman in the Coventry Savoyards' YEOMEN OF THE GUARD. He has appeared in all but two of the Savoy Operas and has directed a number of them. It was with his friend Glenn Cannon that Nick enthused the youngsters of Dawlish into forming their own Society. For the Dawlish Junior Savoyards he conducted their first four shows including THE SORCERER. He also directed MIKADO and GONDOLIERS for them. He went on to direct and/or conduct for a number of local societies, but his interest is not limited to musicals. He recently directed THE LION IN WINTER for West Hill Players. For Exmouth AOS, Nick has played many roles, his first appearance being as Pierre in BLESS THE BRIDE. His favourites include Fairfax in YEOMEN, Ravenal in SHOW BOAT, Vandergelder in HELLO DOLLY and Lazar Wolf in FIDDLER ON THE ROOF. He is a regional representative of NODA, is a schoolteacher by profession, and his hobbies include gardening, cricket, directing "Colla voce" and shouting himself hoarse from the touchline of Exeter Rugby Club.
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