"Frozen Jr" by Spotlight Theatre Company.

Squire Performing Arts Centre, Nottingham.

It's only recently that I saw the Disney film of "Frozen", I am so late to the party, I know! I've not been the biggest fan of this musical, the film left me slightly cold, but my heart has melted at this production. For those who don't know the story, or need a reminder, this is what it's all about.....

When Queen Elsa accidentally sets off an eternal winter in the town of Arendelle, her younger sister Anna (along with her friends Kristoff, Olaf, and Sven) goes off on an adventure to find her sister and save the kingdom. Facing an unsuspected villain, unpredictable ice powers, and something new waiting round every corner, Anna must fight alongside her friends to bring back summer. "Frozen Jr" reveals how true love can come in many forms, and can at times be deceptive, that the bond between sisters is something truly special. 

Amy Flatman plays Anna on Friday evening, Saturday evening and Sunday matinee. Amy has a wonderful talent for producing believable chemistry with every character she interacts with on stage; Amy also has a lovely control in her vocals which makes her very easy to listen to. I loved the duet of "Love Is An Open Door" and the timing with Preston was spot on.

Erin Hanby plays Anna on Saturday matinee and Sunday evening. 

Hemani Kader plays teen Anna. We don't get to see too much of Hemani, but the taster of her talent we did see shows a promising future on stage.

Emily Taylor plays young Anna. I remember Emily from one of the shows at the Arts Theatre and remember that her smile just lights up the stage, and here she is again lighting up the stage. You can really tell that Emily is having a ball with Spotlight and especially playing young Anna because her enthusiasm is completely contagious. The duet of "Do You Want To Build A Snowman" was packed with fun with Emily and Eliza.

Emily Holder plays Elsa on Friday evening, Saturday evening and Sunday matinee. Emily gets the task of singing that big song from the musical, "Let It Go", and she really did. I was really impressed with Emily's vocals and that big note was pitch perfect, so perfect that it gave me shivers. The scene where Elsa gets an on stage costume change is carried out with split timing and, while Elsa isn't really classed as Disney Princess, there's no doubting that Emily looked every inch a Princess. 

Kayla Burgess plays Elsa on Saturday matinee and Sunday evening.

Karin Hurst plays teen Elsa, and as with Hemandi, her time on stage was limited, but a nice taster for her future stage roles.

Eliza Harrison plays young Elsa. The pairing of Eliza with Emily was heaven made because they are both as cute as two buttons, they compliment each other wonderfully, and their duet, as mentioned above was packed with innocent fun.

Hemi Lewis plays King Agnarr and Lucy Horton plays Queen Iduna.

Jason Thompson plays Oaken, and Jason quite literally stands out due to his height, but not only that but he has a lovely comic feel surrounding him, and this role. The song "Hygge" perfectly represents this fact along with the fun choreography; plus he is another actor who has a great smile, which also makes this scene great fun to watch.

Oaken's wife is played by Mia Kostrzebski. The Oaken children are played by Sophie Brown, Seth Burgess, Hattie Buxey, Lottie Buxey, Tessa Gibbons, Kiera Hicken and Holly towey.

Tom Blakey plays Weselton, the  Duke Of Weasel Town - oops, sorry Weselton. What a marvellous young actor Tom is going to be, well he is already, injecting real comedy into this character. Even when he wasn't acting, I found myself watching him just so that I didn't miss any of his stage comedy.  Tom also went down a storm with the audience on Friday night as well.

Bria Spencer plays Pabbie and Evie Andrew plays Bulda.

Megan Holder is Olaf, the magical snowman who the two sisters created when they were younger. Megan operates the puppet Olaf, created by Amanda Hall, as well as voicing the character. As with any good puppet master, she made sure that my eyes were focused on the Olaf character and not Megan the actor. One of my favourite fun characters in this production.

Preston Nash plays Hans and what a twist of a character for Preston to play. For those who don't know, Prince Hans "falls" for Anna but that's where the twist comes in, as we discover later on in the musical. As previously mentioned the duet of "Love Is An Open Door" has been timed to perfection, showing the hard work not only Preston and Amy have put in, but the Musical Director Laura Ellis has invested in this piece.

George Young plays Kristoff, and another successful character role for George. You can always guarantee that George will deliver a solid performance.

Scarlett Coleman-Smith is Sven the Reindeer. A lovely comedy part for Scarlett which I enjoyed tremendously.

Another actor who really drew me to them was Jack Lamb as the Bishop. His voice is so mature and commanding. He has a voice that will always sound great in the theatre, whether that be musical theatre or in play form.

Snow and Ice are played by Darcey Adams and Hermione Cumbers respectively.

The Snow Chorus are Sophie Benner, Lyla Calladine, Hallie Gregory, jessica Griffiths, Zara halse, Lucy Horton, Willow Hunter, Karin Hurst and Jessica Sutcliffe.

The Castle Staff are played by Ella-Mai Blower, Stephanie Booth, Abigail Cusack, Jasmine Leek, Ace Merkelt and Charlotte Wright.

There are hundreds more who play the Townspeople, Hidden Folk and feature in the "Summer section". Ok, maybe not hundreds but A LOT!!

Directed by Amanda Hall - need I say more? Whenever, and whatever Amanda is involved in turns gold, I think she ought to be renamed Amanda "Midas" Hall.

Choreographed by Bethany Wear, this was a job and a half but what a performance Bethany teased out of everyone. I especially enjoyed the opening section with the young Elsa and Anna as well as the "Summer" scenes, but there was not one piece that I didn't love choreographically.

Musical director is Laura Ellis. This creative team at Spotlight are like well oiled cogs because they work so smoothly together. All you have to do is listen to this cast singing to recognise the work that has been put into this production by Laura.

The soundtrack contains, not only the well known songs like "Let It Go", "Love Is An Open Door", "Do You Want To Build A Snowman" and "For The First time In Forever", but also has some lesser known earworms like "In Summer" and the tongue twisty "Kristoff's Joik Fixer Upper".

Lighting design is by Tom Mowat; basically see above regarding the creative team. There are some lovely touches with the lighting that highlight the intended actor in such a beautiful light. Pure class.

Sound design is by Rob Kettridge, and all I need to say is "ditto" to the above. The sound is perfectly balanced between the soundtrack and the vocals, another indication to the work that has been invested into this show.

A basic set, provided by Spotlight as well as Roydon Charlesworth. You could argue that a backdrop or video design could add something to a production, but I didn't miss any of that because the quality and strength of these performers drew all of your attention to them, so I certainly did not miss any extras in the set department.

This production will certainly warm the cockles of your heart. The cast's energy spills over from the stage like the haze used to replicate the coldness, and of course there's snow falling. Don't get left out in the cold, go and chill out with this fun and immensely enjoyable musical that isn't just for young girls who dream of being Disney Princesses. it's for anybody who appreciates great entertainment from the future stars of Nottingham's stages. And if I can just mention Grace Hodgett-Young who was once a Spotlight member who is now starring with Nicole Scherzinger in "Sunset Boulevard" and recently nominated for an Olivier Award this last week. You never know where your love of theatre will take you! Today Squire Performing Arts Centre.... 2025 London's west End. Just saying!!

"Frozen Jr" is at Squire Performing Arts Centre until Sunday evening with matinees on both Saturday and Sunday.

Photography by Martin Holtom and Liam Arthur Petruccio-Hall

 The Funky Company presents The Last Five Years.

Create Theatre, West Notts College, Mansfield.

Having seen this play with music (as opposed to a musical) before, I was already in love with the music and the play itself, and to set the tone for this review, I will state that this production is already one of my highlights of the year so far.

Jason Robert Brown is one of the most underrated yet talented writers and composers of the modern theatre, in my opinion, and while his songs are complex, from a singers point of view, they are an absolute joy for a musical theatre fan to listen to.

"The Last 5 Years" tells the story of Jamie Wellerstein and Cathy Hiatt, two Americans who fall in love, marry and then break up but is told from the viewpoint of Jamie and Cathy but from the start of the relationship in Jamie's case and from the break up backwards with Cathy.

Where the two overlap, or come together in the middle, Jamie proposes to Cathy, and is an incredibly tender piece especially with the song "The Next 10 Minutes" being performed as a duet.

Jonah Williams and Anna McAuley are so wonderful on stage as a couple, there's so much chemistry anyone would think that they were a couple off stage! They make you feel empathy for Cathy and her anger and tears with the opening song, "Still Hurting", what an amazing song, and in a strange way, from a bloke's point of view, you do actually feel the regret Jamie shows after his one night stand when the marriage is breaking down in "Nobody Needs To Know".

The soundtrack has always been one of my favourites; the lyrics are funny, sensitive, heartbreaking, fun and the music is simply gorgeous. The six-piece group of musicians, and especially the beauty of those lush strings just sound so good in this acoustically perfect space.

Jonah and Anna - and before I get loads of people messaging me to let me know that this pair ARE a couple away from the stage, I do know - give perfect performances, their vocals are so gorgeous to listen to. They hang in the air like delicate feathers, the fragility of the messages in the majority of these songs are like bubbles that disappear if you touch them, but when the fun elements of the songs are delivered, you just feel such a warmth and can't help but smile looking at this pair.

Eye contact is a really special thing that can sometimes be missed in some plays and musicals, but Jonah and Anna have no issues looking into each other's eyes when they sing to each other. But when they are hurting you can feel that pain, not only in their vocals but in their faces. Both Jonah and Anna also connected with their audience with eye contact, which is something you don't often get, but this smaller, more intimate space is perfect for that connection.

Directed by Katie Funk Clarke, I am so pleased that Katie and Funky Company took on this production because not many companies or Directors would be brave enough to take on this two hander, which is probably why it's so rarely produced, the last time I saw it locally was ten years ago.

No set is needed for a production like this and apart from three raised rostrums the set was bare, making sure that there were no distractions from this beautifully sung through piece of theatre. And thank goodness there was no interval because the flow of the story was sublime. 80 minutes of pure joy.

Musical Director is Jon Orton, so I knew that this side of the production was going to be as perfect as the performance of the two stars, and I was not wrong.

Produced by Cat Orton.

This musical gets performed so rarely that you should not miss the opportunity to see what is a beautifully written piece of theatre, performed beautifully by two insanely talented performers like Jonah and Anna.

"The Last 5 Years" is at Create Theatre, West Notts College in Mansfield until Saturday 20 April.

 "Calendar Girls" by Masque Productions.

Mansfield Palace Theatre.

When Annie's husband John dies of leukaemia, she and her long-standing best friend Chris resolve to raise money for a new settee in the local hospital waiting room. They eventually persuade four friends and fellow members of the Women’s Institute (W.I.) to pose nude with them for an "alternative" calendar.

They are assisted by hospital porter and amateur photographer Lawrence, who looked after John in his final days. This is much to the horror of the their local W.I. chairman, Marie.

The success of the calendar goes beyond their wildest dreams and they have soon raised the money needed and much more. Their efforts also catch the attention of the national and international press, who soon descend on the small village of Knapeley in the Yorkshire Dales. Although the calendar is a huge success, Chris and Annie's friendship though is put to the test by their new-found fame.

Tim Firth’s beautiful and emotive play is based on the true story of a number of W.I. members who famously posed nude for a calendar to raise money for the Leukaemia Research Fund in 1999.

First off, let me say that this play is an ensemble piece where every cast member is as strong as the next cast member. This production is most certainly an ensemble piece and every one of these actors shone and complimented the next, so I can't possibly pick any of the cast out for being better than their colleagues.

Annie is played by Elizabeth Wolden. Kay Thomason Vardy plays Chris, Annie's best friend. Suzy Meeson makes her debut for Masque and plays Celia. Ruth is played by Rachel Fletcher. Paula McCrory plays Cora, the pianist for the Knapeley WI. Jessie, a retired teacher, is played by Jan Hodgetts and Liz Brennan plays Marie, the Chairperson of the local Women's Institute. They will make you laugh and they will make you cry.

John, Annie's husband, is played by Simon Brickell. Rod, Chris' husband, is played by Brian Brooks.

Tom Slack plays Lawrence, a porter at the local hospital whose penchant for photography comes in very handy for the calendar shoot. Lawrence's shyness is dispelled as soon as he gets behind the camera.

Justine Wells plays Brenda Hulse, the guest speaker drafted in by Marie to provide an interesting and informative evening's entertainment for the ladies of the Institute.

Ann Colgan plays Lady Cravenshire, the local aristocracy in the village.

Elaine, a make up artist who attends the photoshoot to bring out the best in the women, but brings out the worst in one of the ladies, is played by Lynn Roberts.

Liam, who is directing the shoot for the TV commercial the ladies have been asked to do, is played by Steven Ratcliffe.

Each one of these supporting cast actors provide some humour in their roles and are as important for that as the main cast.

Directed by Andrew Wolden, he succeeds in extracting wonderfully paced performances from his cast, whether it be in pathos or in humour. There's nothing more that Andrew could have done to bring this true and heartfelt story to life on this stage.

Masque Productions are collecting for Blood Cancer UK throughout the run so make sure that any cash you have spare, foldable or otherwise, finds its' way into their collection buckets.

"Calendar Girls" is at Mansfield Palace Theatre until Saturday 20 April.

 "The Life Of Pi"

Nottingham Theatre Royal.

I really did not know what to expect with this play as I can just about remember parts of the film; I knew there was a tiger and a young man on a raft, but not much more, and I'd not read the book, so it was with a feeling of anticipation and interest that I took my seat to watch this stage version of "The Life Of Pi".

The family have to leave India to travel to Ontario, taking their animals with them to start up a new zoo in, to them, a foreign country. Following the sinking of the cargo ship that leaves just five survivors, we are taken to the middle of the vast Pacific Ocean where they are stranded on a single lifeboat. A sixteen-year-old boy, in this production on Tuesday night, Pi was a girl, along with a zebra, an hyena, an orangutan and a hungry Bengal tiger, and are left at the mercy of Mother Nature. Time is against them and they have one mission; to survive. 

The story on stage starts in a hospital where a reporter is intent on getting the full story of what happened from Pi, and through a series of flashbacks, she gets a story, but it's not the story that she wanted to hear, or print. This leads us to an alternative story, but which of the two stories is the true one?

Adwitha Arumugam plays Pi, and is on stage for the majority of the time. 

Ralph Birtwell plays the Father, who has to put the teenage Pi in her place at the start when Pi thinks it fun to enter the lair of the Bengal Tiger, impressing the real danger of all of the wild animals that they have at their zoo in India.

Mamaji is played by Chand Martinez, Goldy Notay plays Amma, Sharita Oomeer is Lulu Chen, Lilian Tsang is Mrs Okamoto, Vinesh Veerasami is the Russian Soldier, Sonya Venugopal is Rani and Antony Antunes plays the French Cook. This group also double up on several roles as well as these main ones.

There are various puppet masters who manipulate, and bring Richard Parker, the name given to the vicious Bengali tiger to life. The group of puppeteers also breathe life into the Orang utan, the zebra, the hyena, plus butterflies, turtles and fish.

One thing that I was not ready for was the reality of the food chain element in this play, with graphic scenes of the attacks by Richard Parker, right from its' initial appearance on stage. This was however, done incredibly well, but maybe not for some of the younger audience attendees.

That said I was completely hypnotised by every single one of the puppet animals. So lifelike were their appearance that you had no issues seeing past the puppeteers and believing that you were watching animals on stage. Their breath, their stealth, their movements were all incredibly well observed, and that is what made the more violent scenes even more shocking.

Directed by Max Webster, this really has to be one of the most stunning and frightening pieces of theatre doing the rounds, and while watching a film can de-sensitise what we see, when you see stuff like this, just feet away from you, you get a real emotional impact, something I am sure that Mr Webster intended, and certainly succeeded in achieving.

The Set and Costumes are designed by Tim Hatley. The set itself folds out into an Indian market place as well as the zoo scenes effortlessly.

The puppets are designed by Nick Barnes and Finn Caldwell. There are no words that I can write to give you an idea of just how lifelike these puppets are. Their design means that the operators have to be in crouched positions for the majority of the play, but suffering for their art - in the knee, back and thigh muscle departments, mean that we get an evening of expert puppetry. After all this is the Nottingham Puppet Festival, and you won't see better than the art shown here.

The Video Design is by Andrzej Goulding. With the hospital scenes, as the story flows back to the scenes in the Pacific, the whole back wall just seems to have a vertical watery film, and not for anyone who suffers from motion sickness.

The Lighting Design is by Tim Lutkin  and the Sound Design is by Carolyn Downing, both areas create such an all round atmosphere that you actually feel that you are there on the journey with Pi.

Words can't really describe the magic that is involved in this production, it's such a stunning piece of theatre that it has to be seen to be appreciated, but maybe not if you have a queasy disposition!

"The Life Of Pi" is at the Nottingham Theatre Royal until Saturday 20 April.