Like the previous musical, you need a strong lead-one that can pretty much hold the show together. Fortunately The Met has come up trumps with Emma Gordon-Smith. Blessed with a gorgeous figure, killer smile and an amazingly free voice, she commands the stage when singing. Her acting is also more than up to the challenge and she makes the most of the often patchy dialogue she is given. She is also doubly blessed to be dressed in the professional costumes originally created for the show's original star, Tamsin Carroll. Her backstage dressers must be commended for the lightning quick changes they have to do.
Gordon-Smith is joined onstage by a strong band of actors. Belinda Price is wonderful as Mary O'Brien (the young Dusty), Adam Harrison and Fiona Aitken make a great comedy duo as Dusty's best friends Rodney and Peg and it's wonderful to hear Kaye Hamlyn sing again onstage in the role of Dusty's mother, Kay O'Brien. Max Rayner defies some atrocious wigs to bring several characters to life as well. Alisa James as Dusty's lover, Reno, does struggle with the meatier aspects of her character. She sings up a storm, but there seems little connect between herself and the character she portrays.
Jo Hunt has, once again, done outstanding work with her chorus- especially Dusty's backup singers. Her orchestra is generally well balanced but the brass struggled towards the end of the night and intonation got flatter and flatter.
Rebecca Stanley has provided some wonderful choreography to match the various moods of the show.
Director Amanda Rowe has done a great deal of work here and it shows, I hope The Met use her skills again.
Kudos must also be given to David Lampard for his set which is practical and colourful and to the cast who move the furniture around seamlessly, silently and effortlessly so that the action doesn't drop.
All up, this is a wonderful show with an enormous number of highlights- especially if you're a fan of Dusty Springfield.
No comments:
Post a Comment