"35mm: A Musical Exhibition" by Ryan Scott Oliver
Djanogly Recital Hall.
I was invited along to the dress rehearsal of this production before its' destination at The Edinburgh Festival Fringe 2023. Knowing absolutely nothing about the show, I didn't even know the title until I reached the venue, so absolutely everything about this musical was completely new to me.
The photographs used were a mish mash of wonderful art as well as quite odd photographs, each depicting self expression of the artist and giving a visual depiction of the song that accompanied that particular section. This in turn creates a visual and aural snapshot.
The photos, the music and the actors bring to life various scenarios of life, religion, death, a possibly evil doll, vampires and even a touching love story between a writer and his muse. All the while asking the viewer to just stop, smell the roses and focus on life. Something we should all take time to do.
There are five cast members; none have been given names, instead recognised as voice one through five, with solos, duets, trios and full cast pieces and is sung through. The five cast members are Joseph Straw, Riley Halls Backler, Bella Crowne, Ewan Waddell and Evie Mace.
The music in this show is stunning to say the least. There's a gorgeous acapella piece and a heavenly piece that sounds like it should have come straight from a church; the choral atmosphere produced gave me tingles. You get the full range of vocals to match the wide range needed for this show.
I've seen Ewan in several productions for Musicality, but I've not heard his vocals as powerful and as soaring as this afternoon. That can also be said of Bella, who not only looked like an operatic diva but sang like one.
One particular highlight for me, and one that lightened the mood was a song called "Caralee" sung by Riley; one of those songs that you really have to listen to the lyrics to get the full incite as to what the story was about. It's also one that Riley could really inject some drama into, as well as comedy.
Evie has such a tender voice that at times it was difficult to hear her, I was though sat about half way back in the large Recital Hall at Djanogly. the venue at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival is a smaller one altogether, so I don't think the audience there will have any trouble hearing her.
Another performer that I've seen in several productions, so knew his calibre is Joseph Straw. It's strange that when you see any actor in a musical, you seem to focus more on the performance but, in a show like this, which is sung through, you get to focus entirely on the vocals, and that is why I really noticed Joseph's tone and control. And this applies to all five in this show, when you focus on just one thing, like a voice, you really hear the tone, the power and the feel of the vocalist.
Sometimes, in musicals, you can focus on the whole performance and miss out on a lot of vocal capability. This show makes you focus on vocal ability, and you get to really appreciate what good vocalists they all are, because their are no distractions. Joe, Riley, Bella, Ewan and Evie all showcased their vocal strengths, especially in the "Transition" sections and the beautifully arranged "Mama Let Me In". Some of the other tracks that really stood out for me were "The Ballad Of Sara Berry", "Good Lady", "Cut You A Piece" and "Make Me Happy"
Directed by Emily Lord. I can only imagine that this show was not the easiest to direct, it's definitely not one of the most well known; I'd never heard of this until this afternoon. But it was smooth, and having all performers on the stage, sitting when not needed in any scenes I am sure helped with entrances and exits. While being ever present though, they were no distraction to the viewer of the person centre stage. The show flows well, which makes it sound like a concept album from days of yore - ask your parents. You could close your eyes and just let it all flow over you. Lovely fluid direction from Emily.
Produced by Emily Trappen, assisted by Ifi Tsolaki. The production values for this show may visually look minimal but simplicity often gets the better reaction. That's not to say that hard work and many hours work have not gone into this area of the production.
Kat Beck is the Musical Director and AJ Hill provided the musical accompaniment. I believe that AJ stepped in at the last moment, and while the excellence that was seen this afternoon took just four weeks, AJ had short of that timescale to make it sound as if he had known this musical score a lot longer.
The show is thought provoking and different, it's an intelligent production that should sell really well on The Fringe when the cast and crew travel up to Edinburgh later this week. It's a production that I would definitely look forward to seeing again.
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