Daily Echo | Stage | Theatre reviews, news and interviews from Southampton and Hampshire

REVIEW: Annie, Andover Musical Theatre Company, The Lights

9:38am Thursday 23rd May 2013

THIS unapologetically sentimental show sees little orphan Annie (Jessica Romer- Lee) hanging onto the thought of being reunited with her parents, finding love as the ward of the tycoon, Warbucks (Martin Noke) and jointly foiling a plot by the vitriolic orphanage owner, Miss Hannigan (Caroline Roper) and her low-life brother, Rooster (Paul Marsh).

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REVIEW: Butterfly Kiss, Maskers Theatre Company, Maskers Studio, Shirley

11:04am Wednesday 22nd May 2013

IN Phyllis Nagy’s New York drama Lily Ross (Claire Jakeman, in her Maskers debut) murders her mother.

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Watch this....Space! TOADS, Christie Hall, Old Alresford

10:32am Tuesday 21st May 2013

The Dennis Waterman character in Little Britain wanted to ‘write the themetune, sing the theme-tune’, but he had nothing on Helen Gard and Jo Stokes.

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Inspector Drake & The Black Widow, Bishopstoke Players, Bishopstoke Memorial Hall

9:45am Monday 20th May 2013

A country house, 1923: a body is discovered in an apparently simple case of murder, but with a series of unfortunate deaths (increasing the body count whilst decreasing the number of suspects), secret passages, moving corpses and remarkably similar female inhabitants, Inspector Drake and Sergeant Plod must employ all their wits to solve the case...

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Billy, Winchester Operatic Society, Theatre Royal Winchester

9:39am Monday 20th May 2013

KEITH Waterhouse and Willis Hall’s book, Billy Liar, is set in 1960s working-class West Yorkshire.

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Curtain Call previews

12:12pm Friday 17th May 2013

LILY is behind bars for murdering her mother and reflecting on her past – a vivid collage of crossfades and flashbacks reveals her life experiences, represented by her parents and her grandmother, who are a cross between the Addams Family and Dallas.

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Lilies on the Land, Studio Theatre, Salisbury

10:33am Wednesday 15th May 2013

THIS ten-year-old show devised by The Lions Part has a natural appeal which earned it a near capacity audience on its first night and will hopefully lead to a successful run.

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REVIEW: 'Allo 'Allo, RAODS

10:32am Wednesday 15th May 2013

WHILE not the most sophisticated of shows, the stage adaptation of David Croft and Jeremy Lloyd’s much-loved TV series promises much good humour and fun and RAODS’ lively production did not fail to deliver the goods.

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Ruddigore, Lopsoc, The Nuffield Annex, Southampton

10:44am Monday 13th May 2013

Gilbert and Sullivan’s lesser performed operetta brings the supernatural to the stage. Lopsoc transported their production to Sweden. They didn’t capitalise on this, although with random cuts and modernisations they thankfully retained the story.

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Bed Among the Lentils & Anorak of Fire, Titchfield Festival Theatre

10:42am Monday 13th May 2013

In the first of two short single-handed plays staged, a vicar’s wife turns to sherry and an Asian shopkeeper as a means of escape from her husband’s dull parishioners.

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An Inpsector Calls, Copythorne Amateur Theatrical Society, Copythorne Parish Hall

10:55am Monday 13th May 2013

ONE spring evening, 1912, husband and wife Arthur and Sybil Birling, along with their son Eric, toast the engagement of their daughter Sheila to entrepreneur Gerald Croft.

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Fiddler on the Roof, Eastleigh Operatic and Musical Society, The Point

10:53am Monday 13th May 2013

TSARIST Russia wasn’t the best place to be if you were Jewish; never knowing when the next assault would disrupt your traditional family life.

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Anything Goes, Musical Theatre Salisbury, City Hall

10:52am Monday 13th May 2013

ANYTHING Goes transports you away from the angst of modern life and soothes your troubles on a luxury ocean liner, with the reassurance that love always triumphs and a Martini can cure most ills.

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Curtain Call previews

1:05pm Friday 10th May 2013

THERE are mistaken identities and plenty of mischief in Dalian Player’s latest offering Look Who’s Talking.

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The Silver Sword, Titchfield Youth Theatre, Titchfield Festival Theatre

9:22am Tuesday 7th May 2013

THIS adaptation of Ian Serrailler’s classic tale of a Polish family torn apart by war and the epic journey undertaken by the children across post-war Europe to find their parents was large in scale and ambition with 84 speaking parts and a cast of 21.

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Keeping Down with the Jones, SUSU Theatre Group, The Annex Theatre, University of Southampton

9:15am Tuesday 7th May 2013

BY John Chapman and Jeremy Lloyd, this 1970s Cold War crisis set comedy follows the mayhem as an eccentric family, and unsuspecting others, become inadvertently trapped in their bomb shelter.

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Free and Easy, Swanmore Amateur Dramatic Society, Swanmore Village Hall

9:13am Tuesday 7th May 2013

FREE and Easy, a rarelyperformed, unusual comicdrama (set in a northern English pub in the 1960s) is a combination of monologues and scenes interspersed with songs evocative of the era – essentially, it’s open mic at a karaoke night!

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An Evening of Three Plays, Warsash Theatre Club, Victory Hall, Warsash

12:10pm Monday 29th April 2013

THESE three short plays showcased company members of all ages, opening with a group of ladies waiting at a Bus Stop passing the time chit-chatting.

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Arsenic and Old Lace, Lymington Players, Malt Hall Theatre, Lymington

12:09pm Monday 29th April 2013

TWO elderly maiden aunts are using their home-made Elderberry and Arsenic wine to ‘permanently cure’ their lonely male lodgers of their woes.

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Fawlty Towers, Sway Drama Club, Sway Village Hall

12:07pm Monday 29th April 2013

USING the scripts from the cult TV series, Sway Drama Club has brought back to life Basil, Sybil, et al in two episodes: The Hotel Inspectors and The Germans.

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Fame, Showstoppers, The Nuffield Annex, Southampton

9:54am Monday 29th April 2013

CENTRED around the lives of pubescent high-schoolers at a performing arts college; Fame largely consists of under-developed characters, lycra-thin plots and sappy songs with as much passion as a leg warmer!

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A Bolt From The Blue, Cheriton Players, Cheriton Village Hall

9:46am Monday 29th April 2013

EDWARD Jones (the excellent Charlie Hellard) quietly goes about his everyday life until, just before his 40th birthday, he gets struck by a bolt of lightning – and life is never the same again… Hellard’s every expression, mannerism and spoken word perfectly captured the essence of accident-prone Edward with David Cradduck (making a noble sacrifice for his art and fundraising efforts) the perfect foil as a most unconventional specialist doctor.

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Curtain Call previews

2:25pm Friday 26th April 2013

THE hilarious TV comedy series Fawlty Towers is brought to the stage with two episodes by Sway Drama Club this weekend.

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Murdered to Death, The Worthy Players, Jubilee Hall

10:47am Monday 22nd April 2013

TO paraphrase Inspector Pratt (a brilliant, bumbling Nick Kearns) this Agatha Christie spoof has an ‘implausibly plausible plot’.

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The Farndale Avenue Housing Estate Townswomen’s Guild Present A Christmas Carol, Collingwood RSC, HMS Collingwood

10:44am Monday 22nd April 2013

MINCE pies, tinsel and Christmas carols as spring finally arrives – it must be another “classic” production from those ladies (and Gordon) from the Farndale Guild! What could go wrong? Only random effects delayed performers, partial scripts and actors hamming it up!

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West Side Story, SJ Theatre Productions, Theatre Royal Winchester

10:40am Monday 22nd April 2013

Romeo and Juliet is updated to the tenements of New York City and rival gangs marking their territory with violence in this dark production. Sam Quested directed with dynamic flair, wowed with contemporary choreography (Christina Finn and Emily Try) and showcased the immense talent of every cast member.

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84 Charing Cross Road, Lyndhurst Drama and Musical Society, The Vernon Theatre, Lyndhurst

10:03am Monday 22nd April 2013

WHEN witty New York script-reader/ writer, Helene Hanff, reads an advert for a London mail-order bookstore, she begins liaising with Frank Doel, the bookseller who works at Marks & Co, 84 Charing Cross Road.

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Little Shop of Horrors, RAODS, The Plaza, Romsey

10:10am Thursday 18th April 2013

LITTLE Shop of Horrors began life as a horror flick spoof before morphing into a cult show with an appealing mix of surrealism and kitschy humour, with an unfolding 1960s romance between down-trodden Seymour (Steven Lilly) and eager-to-please Audrey (Kerry Butcher).

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How to Succeed in Business without Really Trying, Ringwood Musical & Dramatic Society

9:44am Tuesday 16th April 2013

AMBITIOUS window cleaner reads selfhelp manual and, through scheming and good fortune, becomes the company chairman and wins the hand of the office beauty.

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Scorched, Titchfield Festival Theatre, St Margaret's Arts, Titchfield

11:21am Monday 15th April 2013

A South-sea island may seem like Utopia to us, but its’ occupants considered everything English as their own idea of heaven.

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Utopia Ltd, Pocket G & S, Hanger Farm Arts Centre, Totton

11:20am Monday 15th April 2013

A South-sea island may seem like Utopia to us, but its’ occupants considered everything English as their own idea of heaven.

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The Boys in the Photograph, Music Theatre South, The Hub, Southampton

10:00am Saturday 13th April 2013

Most am-dram productions have a point of reference, with companies often playing safe by staging well-known shows. Not the case here, the opening night of the UK amateur premiere of Andrew Lloyd Webber and Ben Elton’s musical based around a football team in the religious war-zone that was Belfast forty years-ago. Director Adam Myers can be relied-upon to pick his own team-of-many-talents and this one was of Premiership quality. In the lead-role of Mary, Vikki Jo Keens was truly exceptional as an actress and singer, with Jonny Mousley giving strong support as her young husband. Eliza Dunn (Christine), Natalie Baker (Bernadette) and Peter Ward (ill-fated Thomas) are all gifted players. Elle Wolf expertly choreographed the ensemble through atmospheric football and fight-scenes and an excellent set was easily adapted to create different scenarios. Teddy Clements led a note-perfect band, although a little over-loud in the opening act. No bore-draw this game!

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Prin, Chesil Theatre, Winchester

9:00am Saturday 13th April 2013

Seeing Producer MARK FRANK and Director CECILY O'NEILL'S excellent revival of ANDREW DAVIES' 1989 play gives us, in this week when our nation is coping with the loss of our very own blue rinsed Stalin, an opportunity to ponder the changes that seem to have occurred in recent years in our culture, morality, education and class systems. The comedy is top notch, though Davies may not give us quite enough to mourn here.

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Curtain Call previews

3:44pm Friday 12th April 2013

NEW version of West Side Story comes to the stage of Theatre Royal Winchester, presented by a brand new amateur group.

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Curtain Call previews

4:01pm Monday 8th April 2013

PREPARE for mayhem as Pocket Theatre return to Hanger Farm Arts Centre with an explosive production of Gilbert and Sullivan’s (G&S) tropical tuneful comedy Utopia Limited In their fourth production together as a group, Pocket G&S have decided on one of Gilbert and Sullivan’s least performed works to which they have given their own special treatment.

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Curtain Call previews

11:46am Friday 5th April 2013

FAST-paced wisecracking show How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying is brought to the stage by Ringwood Musical and Dramatic Society.

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Jekyll and Hyde - The Musical, Southampton Musical Society, Theatre Royal Winchester

10:46am Tuesday 2nd April 2013

SCIENTIST Dr Henry Jekyll (John Earwood) desperately tries to find a cure for his mentally ill father believing that the conflict between good and evil within man is what afflicts him.

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Whistle Down The Wind, CCADS,

10:37am Tuesday 2nd April 2013

MIX Phantom of The Opera with Bat out of Hell and what do you get?

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Sweeney Todd, Performing Arts Winchester, University of Winchester

9:07am Wednesday 27th March 2013

RETURNING to London after being deported to Australia, Benjamin Barker changes his name to Sweeney Todd and sets out to find his wife and daughter, vowing revenge against Judge Turpin, who convicted him.

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Gothic musical masterpiece

10:29am Tuesday 26th March 2013

AN EVOCATIVE tale of the epic battle between good and evil, Jekyll & Hyde is based on Robert Louis Stevenson’s classic story about a brilliant doctor whose experiments with human personality create a murderous counterpart.

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Love, Loss and Latte, Chandler's Ford Methodist Church Hall

11:05am Monday 25th March 2013

FORMER dinner-lady Lil owns and runs the traditional village café, full of home-baked goodies, always with a keen eye on the competition and providing the personal touch to all her customers, whether a cheeky aside or a shoulder to cry on. She is right at the heart of the community, welcoming them in for a cuppa and a chat.

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A Double Bill, Maskers Theatre Company, Maskers Studio, Shirley

11:03am Monday 25th March 2013

Forward to the Right

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Summer Holiday, Fareham Musical Society, Ferneham Hall

11:01am Monday 25th March 2013

FIFTY years after the release of the film featuring Cliff Richard and The Shadows’ hits, we follow the romantic adventures of four London Transport bus mechanics as they drive a converted double-decker across Europe.

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Calendar Girls, Lee Players, Crofton Community Centre, Stubbington

11:00am Monday 25th March 2013

A GROUP of extraordinary women in a very ordinary Yorkshire Women’s Institute challenge each other to produce a charity calendar with a difference.

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Curtain Call previews

11:46am Friday 22nd March 2013

This year marks fifty years of uninterrupted twice yearly productions from Chandler’s Ford Methodist Drama Group the MDG Players, Since they first put on Christmas Rose by R. Wilfred Massey in 1963, the group have won a host of Curtain Call awards.

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Ladies Down Under, RAODS, Plaza Theatre, Romsey

11:26am Wednesday 20th March 2013

WITH the actors reprising their roles, this felt like a welcome and timely update to the characters depicted in Ladies’ Day last year.

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Tomorrow I’ll Be Happy, CATS Youth Theatre, The Sidings Theatre, Brockenhurst College

9:44am Tuesday 19th March 2013

HOW much drama can you pack into 50 minutes? A massive amount, as Jonathan Harvey’s intense and deeply affecting new work focusing on a homophobic hate crime attests.

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Laburnum Grove, Titchfield Festival Theatre, St Margaret's Arts,

11:57am Monday 18th March 2013

A LONDON suburban family from Shooters Green, late 1930s, just before the outbreak of the Second World War; George Radfern is so fed up with his sponging relatives, he tells them a secret that will burst family values and challenge their view of him.

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