Pirates of Penzance (2009)
There is no particular difficulty in getting Grades 5 and 6 students to dress up as rough-hewn pirates (boys), or as beautiful and eligible maidens (girls), or as timorous policemen ( both genders), but to get them to sing, dance and move about a theatre stage with precision and purpose is another matter altogether. But under the astute, imaginative and firm direction of two of their teachers, Helen Toner and Cate Mowat, that is exactly what they did. And in the process they provided two excellent houses on the 2nd and 3rd of December with a truly delightful short entertainment. The show in question was the Broadway Junior version of the beloved Gilbert and Sullivan classic The Pirates of Penzance, and it proved to be a showcase for the enormous talent already visible in these least experienced members of the Adamson Theatre Company. This was the inaugural Lower Middle School production, and is bound now to become a fixture on the performing arts calendar for the St Kilda Road campus.
Everything about the performance was polished, having been comprehensively rehearsed over a lengthy time period, and the effort paid dividends. All those memorable songs came across with both dramatic and vocal conviction, and Cate Mowat as Musical Director did wonders with the still small (but true) voices. And Helen Toner’s stage movement and choreography was carried out with impressive discipline. But what one sensed above everything was the enthusiasm of the cast, and the sheer enjoyment they found in exploring the story and their characters in a highly engaging way. This was more than just an exercise in learning about theatre and performance; it was professionally detailed in the best tradition of the august producing body, the ATC.
While clearly everyone on stage had great fun, and maintained their focus even in small moments, the principals showed themselves to be natural leaders, and with heaps of innate theatrical sense. Remy Beland is already a real find, acting and singing the part of Frederic with great skill and nous, and his soprano voice was a delight; Nick Williamson was a robust, humorous and slightly quirky Pirate King with an excellent voice as well; Lauren Stewart was a lovely and melodic female lead (as Mabel) and Maddy Neate showed a great deal of comic ingenuity as Ruth. Felix Pascoe also showed a fine stage presence and a strong voice as the Major-General (and handled with aplomb that famous song eulogising his great virtues). Daniel Fielding as Samuel was another who turned in a strong performance, and others to come under notice in important cameos were Isabel Cocks, Gillian Duncan and Evie Dixon-Cannon as Mabel’s sisters, and Taylor Newman and Sam Wassmann sharing the role of the Sergeant of Police.
The show too was a delight to the eye: Tony Scanlon and Sam Cook provided a set in accordance with the exacting design standards of the Company, evoking the story-book mood of the production; and in a stellar year for the costume ladies, Stephanie Des Barres and Jill Welch, the show was dressed brilliantly, adding immensely to the audience’s captivation with the whole production, so eloquently expressed in the numerous curtain calls. David Mowat, Jenny Dixon and Dawson Hann also lent their expertise in sound mixing, singing and voice projection respectively to round out a production team that show-cased the brilliant young talent on display in every possible way.
Program
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