BUSOM – Just For Laughs [Review]

BUSOM – Just For Laughs

Escape, Thursday 2^nd May 2013, 7:30pm

Sorry for the lateness of this review. May has been crazy!

And so as May arrived the final BUSOM production of the year arrived into Escape, and this one at least managed to avoid any inclement weather that had hit their previous two pieces. Their final show of the year was entitled ‘Just For Laughs’ and was a collection of songs from a variety of musicals, movies and stand up comedians, delivered by the fine men and women of the Bradford University Society of Operettas and Musicals in Escape.

Opener ‘Comedy Tonight’ from the Steven Sondheim musical ‘A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum’ was an appropriate opening to the production held together with some interesting monologues from musical director Jon Carter. The opening was mostly strong though a few performers needed a bit of bedding in.

‘I’ve Got A Little List’ followed and saw Danny Sweeney adapt and perform the Gilbert and Sullivan classic. With West Yorkshire-specific lines scattered throughout the piece, such as ‘Arseholes of Great Horton Road’, the new adaptation was relevant, witty and well done, with some excellent piano work from Colin Fine, once more stepping into the breach as the lord of the black and white keys.

Disney parody ‘After Ever After’ was up next delivered by four of the stronger female performers of the BUSOM collective. The acapella elements were well done but sometimes they struggled against the music. Anna Garlick once more earned her stripes as a funny character actor and the group brought the funny lyrics, told through four Disney princesses to life. There was great acting across the board, though sometimes they struggled keeping up with the lyrics but with Emily also adapting the music for the piece, it was a good achievement.

Cult classic ‘Springtime for Hitler’ was up next and it was an enjoyable rendition by Nick Smith, Danny Sweeney and Chorus but, if I’m being honest, it’s not a particularly good song by Mel Brooks. Chastise me if you wish! The ensemble elements worked well with Nick Smith proving to be the best of the male solos, tackling the high notes well.

Kudos should definitely go to Anna Garlick for tackling a song by one of my all time favourite comedians, and my favourite of his songs. Tim Vine’s ‘Alarm Bells’ is a great song and Garlick captured the character and humour from the short piece, though the lack of a musical accompaniment reduced the tightness of the piece and the tempo changes of the song proved tricky at times.

The Ryanair-spoofing ‘Cheap Flights’ from ‘Fascinating Aida’ was a highlight of the show, with Lyndsey Niven pulling off a spot-on Irish accent, though once more the lack of musical accompaniment reduced the impact of the song. There were, though, strong solos from Niven, Emily Bennett and Catrina Lodge and they worked in partnership to really deliver the song, plus some Irish dancing mixed in went down well.

The first act neared its conclusion with a witty performance of ‘I Got It From Agnes’ by Dave Jennings, though there were a few lyrical stumbles, and ‘Beelz’ saw a fun adlib from pianist Colin Fine alongside a few Bradford-based adaptations, a funny Satanical performance from Lyndsey Niven and a little bit of guitar from Alistair Proudman to add something else into the mix, though I felt there could have been a bit more shredding in the performance.

The first half was rounded off with the Monty Python classic ‘Always Look on the Bright Side of Life’ with an on the mark opening from Proudman. The song lacked a little energy in parts but overall a fun ending to act one, and the added whistling hit the mark.

After a short interval break in a production that didn’t feel as long as others they’ve done, the chorus kicked off with ‘Omigod You Guys’ from ‘Legally Blonde: The Musical’. The effect of multiple vocalists worked well with a nice capture of the atmosphere, but there was some difficulty with the high notes.

Mick Waterhouse took centre stage for the second track (Flanders and Swann’s ‘The Gasman Cometh’), a witty song, nicely performed, accented and acted, as Waterhouse embodied the character well.

‘Make ‘Em Laugh’ from ‘Singin’ In The Rain’ allowed Nick Smith to headline a song and he took good advantage of the opportunity with an enjoyable performance, book-ended as it was by ‘Taylor the Latte Boy’ parts one and two, with Emily Bennett and Ben Bell taking on the roles of stalker and stalkee. The concept of song and rebuttal was well set-up by BUSOM with a great use of hipster specs but the song, outside of the concept, wasn’t more than mildly funny and the lack of a distinct riff in the song made the two parts difficult to latch onto, but it was a nicely done distraction.

Back to what we know and ‘Every Sperm Is Sacred’, the second Monty Python offering of the evening, allowed Nick Smith to once more shine, this time as a Yorkshireman, and only some timing issues – resolved by the second verse – impacting on the performance.

One of my favourite musical songs of all time – ‘Brush Up Your Shakespeare’ – appeared as the penultimate tune and saw the double act of Joel Blakemore and Jon Carter return. They performed the song well as a duo of characters, perhaps lacking a little in energy in delivering the lines with not as much gusto as I’ve heard in other renditions of it, but the song certainly brought a smile to everyone’s faces, especially mine.

The show concluded with the company’s version of ‘Rock and Roll Nerd’ by Tim Minchin, a very accurate and enjoyable version of the song, though it’s not one of the best songs Minchin has done, if I’m being honest. But the company tackled it well and it rounded off an enjoyable show well.

‘Just For Laughs’ was another fun show from BUSOM. Shorter than their usual collections but full of a good cross section of songs, there was, to roll out a cliché, something for everyone. At times it lacked the energy and refinement I’ve seen in previous productions and some of the song choices weren’t my personal cup of tea, but it was another production worth seeing.

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BUSOM Presents Pride and Prejudice – The Musical (Review)

BUSOM Presents Pride and Prejudice – The Musical

Communal Hall, Student Central, University of Bradford

Saturday 23^rd 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 19^th 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 2^nd May with ‘Just For Laughs’, in the Escape bar.

(8/10)

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BUSOM – Villains, Minions and Monsters - Escape, Student Central, 7:30pm

And thus, as we reach the final week of the academic year, there are a few things that are standard: the pub quiz shall come and go, Christmas FND shall be looked forward to and staff at the Students’ Union will be getting ready for the Xmas Market.

But one tradition that shouldn’t be overlooked is the annual BUSOM Christmas show, taking place in Escape, this year themed around the subject area of ‘Villains, Minions and Monsters’. So while other students may have been found in the Sports Bar or the terraces of Valley Parade to eventually toast a Bradford victory over the mighty Arsenal, many staff and students were instead by the bar preparing themselves for another 100 minutes of operetta and musical goodness.

With Escape set out in its regular fashion with the addition of an extra microphone for a soon to be revealed extra, it was on with the show, beginning with the odd-one-out piece of the night – for good reason – of ‘Be Our Guest’ from Disney’s ‘Beauty and the Beast’. Sung by Rachel Mitchell, one of the most reliable and bankable members of the group, was mostly strong on her singing aside from a few early nerves that put her out of sync with the piano. With the chorus coming in to add some more gusto to proceedings, this was a strong opening.

With the drama unfolding after the piece thanks to some 1930s melodrama delivered by musical director Stuart Sellens who, alongside the other MD Christine, bridged the gaps between pieces with a plot line of villains taking over the production. Sellens, always a delight to watch on stage, hammed it up, but this acting fitted in with the piece.

With the theme of the night established, Poppy Brooks delivered ‘Good and Evil’ from ‘Jekyll and Hyde’ and though it has to be said that the chosen song wasn’t particularly exciting to hear and there were a few stumbles over some of the lyrics, Poppy’s voice was on top-form throughout the piece and carried it incredibly well, with dramatic elements peppering her performance and some tricky high notes hit perfectly, if sometimes the spoken-ending to the odd sentence felt lacking compared to when she went for the big notes in other parts.

Emelie Olilia and Naomi Fowler brought in the next number from ‘A Very Potter Musical’, tied together around the middle, voicing Professor Quirrell and Lord Voldermort respectively. The song itself was very funny lyrically and mostly tackled with gusto, both singers bringing the written words to life and sparking the audience into smiles.

The next song, taken from the satirical musical ‘Urinetown’, was ‘Don’t Be The Bunny’, delivered mostly by Dave Jennings, who was his usual powerfully-voiced self, making easy work of a surreal-ish song and bringing them to life. Anna Garlick, part of a perhaps underused three-part chorus, was initially the bunny and though had little to say embodied the character and proved herself again to be a nifty character actor even with nothing but a pair of bunny ears to go on. Ben Bell and James Wheeldon who supported her equally didn’t have much vocally to add in comparatively but adopted the bunny moniker with rigour.

From ‘Bugsy Malone’ ‘Bad Guys’ saw Dave Jennings joined on stage by Jon Carter and Joel Blakemore, always a double-act to look out for for some good laughs. The song, however, didn’t quite gel with the piano and the banjolele – the only time of the night it did to any major deteriment, but it was revealed at the end that Colin Fine stepped in with less than ten days notice on piano duty and did an incredible job anyway, never mind considering that element – but the three on stage made a great trio even if Jon and Joel’s double-act didn’t have the material to truly shine as they usually do. The banjolele playing was fun though and a neat addition to the piece.

‘Just Around The Corner’ from ‘The Addams Family’ was tackled by Lyndsey Niven and she helped bring the comedic lines to life alongside being very strongly sung. The small chorus added an extra element to the piece but could have survived without it.

‘Scrooge’ from the Muppets Christmas Carol added the first of two seasonal flavours to the production and, though the first couple of vocalists struggled to get their lines out, the song was to be one of the highlights of the evening event, with both the group working as a whole chorus but also most members getting at least one line, which really gelled well. Plus Joanne Brotherton made a good mouse, as did the few in the chorus that came back as them, and Anna Garlick’s narrative lines were expertly delivered. Again there were a few piano issues but nothing much to detract from a quality delivery.

From ‘Princess Ida’ ‘If You Give Me Your Attention’ followed with Carl Mitchell on vocal duties, and it was a strong solo and the most enjoyable piece so far with a great collaboration between him and the piano with a very neat choral ending.

The penultimate number of the first act was ‘Macavity’ from ‘Cats’, a personal favourite of mine both in poem and song form. Featuring a guest appearance from a stuffed cat with the longest tail ever, Emily Bennett and Helen Plant brought the song to life and created one of my favourite performances in the night even if the gaps in the piano score, as part of a song, seemed odd. A great story song though and rounded off by perhaps the shrillest scream I’ve ever heard, coming from Christine.

The act was rounded off with ‘Be Back Soon’ from ‘Oliver!’ which saw Joanne Brotherton finally given a substantial part in a song – as the Artful Dodger – and relishing it and the first time I’ve seen her given something meaty to work with, and she made a great job of it, and hopefully this will be the start of larger roles in the productions. James Wheeldon as the main singer was also a delight and the addition of choir took it up a notch.

As the audience now went to “purchase potions from the bar” as part of the interval, we got the regular draw – I won a copy of David Bowie’s ‘Labyrinth’ DVD so I can now, er, enjoy “the crotch”.

The show kicked back in with ‘evil act two’ and the ‘Cell Block Tango’ from ‘Chicago’, one of my favourite performances from the previous BUSOM scratch a few years ago and the tale of death and murder was just as enjoyable. All six of the cast members excelled in the dramatic reading of their individual tales but extra credit should go to Anna Garlick once more for her excellent character acting and to Poppy Brooks who did her bit entirely in French, overall creating the number that was the best of the show in my opinion.

From ‘Camelot’ ‘The Seven Deadly Virtues’ was a neat version of the song even if a few lines were missed. It wasn’t the most exciting of songs to hear but was short and sweet, refreshing after the length preceding number.

‘Stepsisters Lament’ from ‘Cinderella’ saw Helen Plant and Catrina Lodge make easy work of a catchy tune and from the cult classic ‘Rocky Horror Picture Show’, ‘Over at Frankenstein Place’ saw Rachel Mitchell cement herself as a great singer, paired win Joel Blakemore who worked well with her on the chorus but didn’t quite fit the song. An enjoyable addition from Lyndsey Niven coming from the back of the audience benefitted the song and it continued the show along nicely.

‘Magic Dance’ from the previously mentioned ‘Labyrinth’ film followed with James Wheeldon being superb in the role, with the synth-setting on the keyboard adding an extra element to it.

‘Kiddy-Widdy-Winkies’ from ‘Chitty Chitty Bang Bang’ saw Nick Smith don a top hat and becoming successfully creepy as the Child Catcher, continuing to cement himself as one of the strongest talents in the BUSOM line-up. With no care for health and safety (!!) sweets were flung out to the crowd – but sadly not hard enough to reach us in the back rows, sadly – and a fun number was sung.

Another highlight of the show was ‘Dentist’ from ‘Little Shop of Horrors’ with Zoe Howe excelling as the dentist of the title, perhaps the most menacing person I’ve ever seen with a white coat and an electric toothbrush. Complete with plenty of puns nicely inputted by the small chorus, it was a fun number with some good acting in it.

‘You’re A Mean One, Mr Grinch’ from the similarly titled animation was up next and was one of the best interpreted numbers of the night. Jon as storyteller balanced well against the sung lines and Emily’s singing fitted the song really well. Anna once more threw herself into her role – quite literally this time – right against the wall as a bar. Great song, well interpreted.

‘No Way Top Stop It’ from ‘The Sound of Music’ came up next with Zoe Howe and Nick Smith both very strong with an equally enjoyable to hear Christine, who was a little more restrained in this piece than her flamboyant between-song interludes. The track came to a head with a great ensemble piece.

Carl Mitchell was up next to tackle ‘Brand New Day’ from ‘Dr Horrible’s Sing-a-long Blog’, sporting a snazzy pair of goggles. It was a subdued version of the song but a fun listen.

The last advertised number, but the actual penultimate one, was ‘Everybody’s Got The Right’ from ‘Assassins’, a song I’m not that familiar with. It was a little low-key at the start but Emelie, Stuart and Christie, then the chorus, boosted the piece. With the chorus kicking in it was a well-orchestrated ending to the production with a strong, well-held final note.

Joel brought some good humour to the end of the piece as they talked about their next major production – Pride and Prejudice the Musical on the 21st, 22nd and 23rd March – before doing an encore of ‘We Could Be Everything We Wanted To Be’ from Bugsy Malone, with some great vocals from Joel, Jon and Dave who handled the tempo speeding up perfectly, as good redeemed itself and destroyed the villains, minions and monsters of the title.

Overall the latest BUSOM production was an enjoyable 100 minutes of music with lots of high points and it feels that the songs-from-the-shows set-up is where the group is at their strongest with the added acting elements in between. Always a good mix of songs from musicals and more pop-culture entries, it was another fun production from the student group and there are more stand-out performances each time, with everyone getting their chance to shine, but it’s members like Nick Smith, Anna Garlick, Danny Sweeney and Emily Bennett that stood out this time, but the rest all had their own moments to create a true ensemble piece.

BUSOM are next back in January with their 24-hour show. For more information visit www. http://www.busom.org/

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