BUSOM Presents Pride and Prejudice – The Musical
Communal Hall, Student Central, University of Bradford
Saturday 23rd March 2013
It was a shame that I almost didn’t get to see the latest production by BUSOM – Bradford University Society for Operettas and Musicals – as the final evening of the three performances was cancelled at the Theatre In The Mill, shut due to the unseasonably snowy weather. However, a new venue was sourced and whilst the snow had long since stopped going on, the show continued to go on and the cast got ready for the third and final night of the production.
Adapted from the novel by Jane Austen and featuring music and lyrics by Bernard J. Taylor, it tells the story of the Bennet family whose overpowering mother tries to get them married off with a series of suitable and seemingly unsuitable men in the wings ready to meet them, including the famous Mr “Colin Firth” Darcy.
I have very little relationship with the source material. I’ve never seen an adaptation of the book and when recently finding myself] having it to read as part of a book club I gave up after fifty pages, unable to stomach the tedious plotting and rather dated style. Also, the musical was unknown to me, with some other people seeing it initially thinking it had been created by BUSOM. So it was with some reticence I went to see it, not sure if it would be as boring, in my opinion, as the book.
Luckily it wasn’t and the production turned out to be one of the strongest and most professional I’ve seen from BUSOM yet.
Arriving at the new venue in time to hear the company warming up with songs about grey squirrels and the hokey kokey and one cast member in full period garb anachronistically trying to use the Sports Bar cash machine (once again out of order), I ordered myself one of the specially laid on cocktails (“Lydia’s Giggling Orgasm”, the bar had no cream for me to indulge in the slight less dodgily titled “Darcy’s Wet Shirt”). Not as dodgy, though, as someone's spelling of the word 'Prejudice' on the directional signs to the venue!
Entering the venue, decked out with black tabbing to hide the modernity of the games consoles mounted in the room with a two-piece wall unit and various bits of furniture, it was great to see the weather had not deterred many people getting there and the room was packed with people eager to see the performance.
The opening prologue song, built around the famous opening line of the book (“It’s a truth universal”) was a strong opening number for the company and though conversations with the cast before and after had them confessing they felt this production under-rehearsed, it didn’t show in the performance as it was one of the tightest and spot-on performances I’d heard from the group.
We were then quickly introduced to the characters of Mr and Mrs Bennet, Dave Jennings once more bringing his dry humour to proceedings and Emily Bennett, surely born to appear in this role even if she had an extra ‘t’ to contend with, lit up the stage as the mother, perfectly capturing the Hyacinth Bouquet-esque matriarch (at one point even yelling out ‘Elizabeth’) and bringing lots of laughs to the production, and even though the age gap between husband and wife in reality is a fair bit, they never felt like anything less than a husband and wife tolerating each other.
The group struggled a little in the second number (“See him today”) with the music perhaps a little overpowering, drowning out the quieter singers, but this was an issue resolved by the subsequent song (“Five daughters”) with Emily, who has not had such a large role previously, embracing the songs and showcasing some great power in her voice.
It was also about this point that there was the first in a long running unintentional joke of the production as Joel Blakemore, unfortunately absent from the cast list and thus unable to bring his comedic-touches to proceedings in front of the props, regularly had to swap the scenery around to change the room it was supposed to be. This was a tricky procedure that he did, at least, along with the humour of swapping the sign prop around, milk for laughs, so it felt like he was still involved.
The company continued to perform well on the ensemble songs, especially when none of the numbers are familiar to the crowd due to the obscurity of the musical. I wouldn’t say any of the numbers really blew me away as pieces, but they were plot-driven and perky enough with some interesting musical scores, performed throughout almost flawlessly by pianist Colin Fine, who had a lot of numbers to contend with in the production, and the cast handled them perfectly, with no singer really standing out as being unable to tackle the tunes. Much of the first half felt very much like an ensemble piece as no individual cast member had a chance to shine, but that was something that changed come the second act.
It was becoming apparent at this point that a lot of effort had gone into this production. Though the set was minimal, the props were worked in nicely but it was the eye to detail in the clothing and hair that was impressive, with a wide range of costumes and period details well observed, and it’s a thumbs up to whoever sorted that out, alongside the well done choreography in scenes such as the “Assembly Waltz”, the fifth song in the production.
Though much was based around an ensemble there were some strong solo efforts in the first half. Both Naomi Fowler and Helen Bourne as sisters Elizabeth and Jane respectively carried their songs well and Anna Garlick, one of my favourite actors in the BUSOM productions I’ve seen, stole many of the scenes she was in with her giggly and funny take on Lydia, and even though she didn’t have much to play with, made the most of it.
Stuart Sellens soon made his appearance on stage as Mr Bingley (I was assured he would not be offering banking advice in this difficult financial climate) and his regal style of acting fitted the role and newcomer Mikhail Mladenovic brought a good sense of arrogance and aloofness to his role as Mr Darcy.
“Being Here With You” performed by Bourne and Sellens was a strong number followed by some spot-on acting from Alice De Jong and Naomi Fowler, the latter proving to be a worthwhile lead, carrying songs well. Zoe Howe, in a smaller role, also managed to make the most of her part, playing the less-loved sister well, a sort of period Meg from Family Guy. Emelie Ollila also brought more to her role, capturing her character in the production well, plus the soldier collective of Nick Smith, Ben Bell, Alistair Proudman and Andrew Mottram added something, making up for a weaker male side at the start of the production. Anna continued to impress with her giggly and flighty Lydia, getting more to do when acting with Nick Smith, who felt soldier-like in his performance, with Catrina Lodge as Kitty Bennet turning in a good performance.
Dave Jennings’ line from the script “it looks like it might snow” led to a few laughs in the audience – that boat had already sailed – before “No Design On Love” showed Helen Bourne continued to tackle the songs well.
The first act neared its conclusion with more great use of humour; more scene-stealing from Emily Bennett; and a great showcase of Stuart Sellens in the number “Through The Eyes of a Child”. There were a few stumbled lines from Nick Smith and others, but nothing major, and the set continued to bring some wry amusement during the scene changes. Darcy’s “Isn’t It Strange” allowed Mladenovic to make a bigger impression with the audience, with some strong volume behind his singing, and Jon Carter’s first solo song – the questionable “A Woman Who Knows Her Place” by modern standards – was quieter but well sung and as the act came to its conclusion the cast looked firm and strong with Carter and Fowler enjoying some well-acted and comedic scenes due to a failed marriage proposal, bringing the curtain down for the interval, as the audience went off for more themed cocktails.
As the cash machine was out and my money running low I had to do with the less appropriate Strongpecker. Ooh err, but not as much as ooh err as, say, a giggling orgasm.
With some changes of clothing act two began, in what would be a stronger, more enjoyable act than the first half which had started to drag a little, more down to the source material than necessarily anything BUSOM had been doing.
Act two opening number “An Hour in Church” was one of my favourites in the show with both the upper and lower class halves ready for battle, and I learned that lower-class people speak like Cockneys and 19th century posh people purchase Tesco carrots to help out those less fortunate.
Though the act was more enjoyable, some of the cast struggled in the first ten minutes with some stumbling over lines, but songs such as “How I Miss Her” sung well by Dave Jennings made up for it. Poppy Brooks made her debut solo appearance in the production as upper class Lady Catherine De Bourgh and played the stuck up lady with panache.
Nick Smith and Anna Garlick continued to shine as the inappropriate lovers and Mladenovic as Darcy got more to do after a quieter first half for him.
The highlight of the second half was between Darcy and Elizabeth (Fowler) with some powerful and involving acting from them both and allowed them both a chance to prove themselves. There was even time for a cameo of a photo of Colin Firth in a prop and for Alice De Jong to get a solo song, quiet but perfectly done.
Emily Bennett continued to nail the character of the mother and Jon lit up as he read out a letter as the character of Mr Collins, getting some good laughs from the audience. Stuart Sellens once more proved himself to be a great all-rounder, especially with his song ‘Since We Said Goodbye’ and the lead male and female continued to employ a great on-stage relationship.
As the second act came to a close, there was even time for one more quick laugh from Smith and Garlick, the former covered in lipstick kisses, the latter present with a cheeky smile. And with the role calls done, the production finished.
The final night of ‘Pride and Prejudice’ was an event that almost didn’t happen but I’m glad it did. One of the strongest productions I’ve seen by BUSOM with tight, professional singing and only a few stumbles in the early part of the second half. In fact, a mistake by Darcy at the end of the production was well covered by Mladenovic and Bennett, and added to the piece as they showed off their improvising skills when they could have easily fallen apart.
They were hampered a little by the nature of the source material – it’s a musical not well known with no stand out numbers – but it was a surprisingly enjoyable set of songs and much more tolerable than the book in my opinion, plus the change of venue due to the weather didn’t throw them and it all went fine.
With a large focus on the cast as a whole rather than individual performances, they all carried it well and though the story was my least liked of the productions they’ve done this felt like their strongest, most well-rehearsed yet, and balanced the songs, acting and comedy well. Fowler and Mladenovic made a strong lead couple, especially when they had more scenes together in the second half. Bourne and Sellens made a convincing couple and sang well, and Anna Garlick was as impressively comedic and expressive as always. Bennett shone as a great character portrayal of the mother, and Jennings once more provided some dry wit to the production.
Smith was good as the soldier and Lodge, Howe, De Jong and Ollila all made the most of their smaller solo roles, but all worked well as part of the ensemble. Carter brought some good comedy to the role of Mr Collins and Brooks proved to be another good character actor. Proudman, Mottram, Bell, Ntoutsi and Waterhouse also were strong support in the company.
Overall, ‘Pride and Prejudice The Musical’ felt more like an ensemble piece and BUSOM held it together as a company, but where individuals had a chance to shine they did, whether in the roles with a larger solo focus or ones where they only had a few moments to make an impact.
For a musical with no famous songs to hook onto and a plot that can seem a little quaint to base a musical around, it was great and one of the best, if not the best, production I’ve seen from them.
BUSOM return on the 2nd May with ‘Just For Laughs’, in the Escape bar.
(8/10)
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