"A Murder Is Announced" by Agatha Christie.

Your Chance Productions.

Duchess Theatre, Long Eaton.

An ad in the personal column of the local newspaper announces that someone will be murdered on Friday 13th October at 6.30pm at Little Paddocks, the home of Letitia Blacklock. The lady of the house is convinced that it must be a joke but the village of Chipping Cleghorn, including Miss Marple, turn up to see what all the fuss is about.

Set in the 1950's where afternoon tea and servants are the norm for a well to do lady, everything takes place in just the one setting, so there's no scene changes, which keeps everything simple for the audience.

Now I am not going to give anything away here because I love the books, films and plays of Agatha Christie, but I've never been any good at working out whodunnit. This play is no different, thanks to the many twists and red herrings in the storyline. And even having seen the play a couple of times over the years, I still couldn't remember whodunnit! Within the first twenty minutes or so we get a body and a murder, so the advert came true. But all is not as it seems as we try and discover who the murderer is, and why the person who was murdered, was murdered.

Jane Marple is played by Philippa Buchanan and I have always secretly thought that Philippa would make a brilliant Miss Marple or Jessica Fletcher type of character, and now that has materialised. Philippa absolutely looks the part and has all of those special foibles and expressions that the more mature female crime fighters have; in short everything that we love about Christie's female supersleuths. 

Samantha Badman is Letitia Blackstock. First off, the costumes for Letitia are spectacular and very of the time period. One thing that I have grown to love about Sam's acting skills is that she can morph into every character she plays, as she does with this one.

Dora Bunner, Miss Blacklock’s childhood friend, is played by Gill Cook. Gill is always fun to watch on stage, and I know that I have said this in other reviews, but she plays the eccentric characters so well and Dora Bunner is a fabulously eccentric role. Gill has a brilliant facial repertoire range which is used to great effect with Bunny.

Paige Kimberley is Julia Simmons, a difficult but beautiful young woman studying pharmacy. There are some lovely sibling moments with her brother where they both try to get the upper hand in certain argumentative situations that all brother/sister relationships experience. But this isn't quite like every other brother/sister relationship as they seem very close, when they're not bickering!

Patrick Simmons, Julia’s brother, is played by James Taylor. I love just how camp Patrick Simmons is and just how marvellously James plays up to the role, and it's that character playing that, maybe, belies what lies beneath their typical sibling relationship. Patrick, we soon discover has a secret of his own, but where does the secret fit in with the murder plot, if at all? I loved James' facial expressions throughout the play, something that Agatha Christie specialised in with many of her characters.

Emily Burgess plays Phillipa Haymes, a young widow working as a gardener, and from the moment she stepped on stage, you got the feeling that something felt as if they didn't fit in with the rest of the characters. Could this be a red herring though to throw us off the trail? Haymes is a very confident character who's not afraid to speak out and comes over quite boyish, but then again that strength od character could come from working in, what was at that time, a male dominated job as a gardener. That again though is in contrast to the wonderful clothes Haymes wears inside the house. A fascinating character, played by a talented actress.

Mitzi, Miss Blacklock’s dramatic and suspicious housekeeper, is played by Chantelle Ruston. Here's another character that I love; Mitzi is over the top in her speeches, rants and tirades she delivers in that Middle European accent. Mitzi manages to get a few phrases wrapped around her neck, like being a "bucket-washer" as opposed to "bottle-washer" and when she was going to walk out advised Letitia that she was "giving her the sack". Mitzi provides quite a bit of the comedy, as well as a some of the twists! And listen out as to how she ends many of her sentences, as after hearing it for a few times almost becomes like a catchphrase noise for her. I can imagine that Chantelle had an absolute ball playing Mitzi.

Martin Weston is Inspector Craddock, the police detective assigned to the case. First off, let's acknowledge the wonderful projection that Martin has, his vocal skills would have been heard right to the back of the theatre

Edmond Swettenham, Clara Swettenham's bolshy and cynical writer son, is played by Oli Watts. Now we all know that by a certain age, no son wants to accompany their mother to an evening soiree, unless there is some reason for him to be there. Is he just being a good son, or is there another motive?

Alison Martin-Jones plays Clara Swettenham who seems to be a tad over interested in the ad in the paper, and the scene just before the closure of the first act seems to indicate that there may be something more of an interest, or maybe I'm reading too much into that entrance and the honey?

Wil Morgan-McLean doubles up as Rudi Shertz, who works at a hotel, but why does he turn up at 6.30 at the house, after all he isn't family nor is he friend? Sergeant Mellors is Inspector Craddock’s assistant.  

Directed by Jessica Morgan-McLean who manages to capture the feel of that 1950's style Agatha Christie murder/mysteries absolutely perfectly. There was just one little thing that niggled me when I first saw it, but then the reason for "it" fell into place for me. Patrick and Julia smoke but the cigarettes were false so there was no smoke with the pretence of smoking a cigarette. It also meant that lighting the cigarette wasn't there. Now, I was thinking, unless there's a reason for the siblings smoking why wasn't those sections where they smoked just left out; but the fact that they did need to smoke to be part of the storyline was made clear as the play went on. Jess brought out every bit of comedy from Christie's script and also kept the secret and suspense and also made sure that all of the red herrings were all made very clear parts of the story. A marvellous job.

The costumes, as you've probably discovered from the earlier part of this review, were yet another high point of this show; an area that Jess and Philippa Buchanan has obviously paid great attention to, and that attention to detail paid off.

The set design is by Philippa Buchanan, Katie Bird and Adam Guest. With the colourful lighting, which made the walls as colourful as the characters, the style was not flashy or posh, but this plain background for the walls gave a nice canvas for the props and furniture on set which indicated a more well to do image.

Talking of props, I loved the fact that the food was real, as was the coffee in the posh coffee dispenser and the other liquid refreshments and the remaining props were many and varied.

Sound and Lighting is by Dave Martin. there were a few odd sounds that maybe should not have been heard, like the sound when a message comes through on your computer or a pop up noise, but that aside the visual red and blue lighting indicating the arrival of the police lit up the whole stage and the sound through the three microphones at the front of the stage gave out a bit of a hum but that was only because I notice things like that, probably going unnoticed by everyone else. With good projection from the stage actors, they were probably not needed anyway. 

I started off by saying how much I love a good murder/mystery, especially by the Queen of Murder/Mysteries. I had seen this play before but I never tire of seeing a good production of Christie's plays, and this production was a marvellous production filled with mystery, comedy, suspense and fun, delivered by a wonderful cast. What a brilliant start to the week. Get your tickets for Tuesday as soon as you can and see if you guess who the killer is, and who is in the firing line, and why!

"A Murder Is Announced" is at the Duchess Theatre in Long Eaton until Tuesday 31 March.

 "Miss Saigon" by Claude-Michel Boublil and Alain Schonberg.

Nottingham Theatre Royal

"Miss Saigon" is an epic, stunning adaptation of Puccini’s opera, "Madame Butterfly", by the writers behind "Les Miserables", Boublil and Schonberg. In the dangerous days before Saigon’s fall in 1975, Chris, an American GI, and Kim, a destitute Vietnamese orphan working her first night as a prostitute, fall in love. Listen closely and you'll hear whispers of "Les Miserables" in several of the songs, and that's no bad thing!

This production has the explosive thrills of "Mad Max" or "Die Hard" with the romance of "Titanic" mixed with the tragedy of "Romeo and Juliet", all wrapped up in one tear-jerkingly beautiful staging.

When the city falls, the lovers are forced apart, and each must find their own way, alone. Three years later Chris is able to return to Vietnam and brings with him an American wife. Kim, who has waited for Chris, has raised their son, Tam, who is “bui-doi”- a term for a child conceived during the horrors of war. With so much devastation behind them, Kim, Chris and his new wife must decide how to move forward. 

The musical has a sung-through score and tour-de-force roles for actors.

The Engineer is played by Seann Miley Moore, whose name may ring a bell with fans of "The X Factor" as he burst upon the UK entertainment scene with his version of Queen's "The Show Must Go On". A decade on and he is ripping up the stage with his version of The Engineer. I have seen several Engineers over the last twenty years or so, but not one comes close to the entertainment value provided by Seann. There's so much sauce in his performance that it makes you want to run out and get a hot dog to slaver that sauce onto. The Engineer is extremely naughty, but very nice, but apart from that and the campness, there's an amazingly versatile voice. "The American Dream" sequence is entertainment at its' very best on stage and Seann rides that wave like a seasoned Aussie surfer. What a performer he is!

Kim is played by Julianne Pundan. The whole story of love and loss is all there with Kim. She is forced into prostitution by the Engineer, is "bought" for Chris by John while in Saigon and she falls head over heels for Chris. She sees Chris as a ticket out of Saigon to America but that was just not on the cards when Chris had to go back home. Three years down the line in 1978 we discover that Chris a little of himself behind in Saigon in the form of Tam, the son borne by Kim that Chris didn't know about. Julianne has the most amazingly expressive and emotive voice and acting ability. The song I always think of when I think of this musical is "The Last Night Of the World"; I have loved that song from the first time I heard it, and sung by Julianne and Daniel it brings to the fore a hunger and sadness in song. It is a song of yearning, reaching out to be mended; it doesn't just pull at the heartstrings, it rips them out and ties you up in knots with them. Another amazing song is "I'd Give My Life For You" which she sings to Tam. The ending scenes with Kim still gets me every single time.

Chris Scott is played by Daniel J Brian, and when you talk about emotional vocals, this man almost cries emotion on stage. I had never really taken that much notice of the song "Why God Why?", but tonight I really took notice due to Daniel's emotional delivery of this song. He is an incredibly emotional actor, for when we see him to start with, compared with his final scenes, through the scenes with his wife in the hotel room, Daniel must come off the stage absolutely spent of emotion as he leaves everything on stage - and this he does at every performance he does.

Dominic Hartley-Harris plays John Thomas, an American GI stationed in Saigon during the Vietnam War alongside Chris. As Chris' best friend, John becomes instrumental in the development of Kim and Chris' relationship as well as their reunion later. Another expressive set of vocals throughout but you really get to her the quality of Dominic's voice in another one of my favourites from the "Miss Saigon" score, which comes at the start of Act Two "Bui Doi", which heralds the search for Kim and her child.

Ellen who, after Chris has left the Vietnam conflict, becomes his wife, and is played by Emily Langham. Chris has not told Ellen about Kim, but when Chris finds out that he has a son with Kim, he has to bring Ellen up to date. There's a most beautiful song that Emily gets to sing after the hotel room confrontation called "Maybe", again one that I hadn't paid that much attention to in the past, but with vocals like Emily's, who could fail not to notice yet another emotion packed song?

Thuy, a Vietnamese man who is Kim's cousin and betrothed and is played by Mikko Juan. After learning of Kim's wedding to Chris, he gatecrashes the ceremony, verbally abusing her and warns her that she will be cursed for it. Years later he finds her again, but is not aware that she now has Tam, which doesn't make Thuy a happy chappie, forcing Kim to make a rash decision that comes back to haunt her later in life.

Gigi Van Tranh is played by Thao Therese Nguyen. Gigi is perhaps the most prolific show girl in Dreamland working for The Engineer prior to the arrival of Kim. Gigi, like all the other girls in the bar, dreams of having a better life away from the war in Vietnam through the American soldiers who come to the club, hoping one of them would take her as his wife. On the outside Gigi is a tough, streetwise woman, but you see the more mellow side of her when she is around Kim.

At Wednesday night's performance the role of Tam was played by Favian Costales. There are eight young actors between the ages of five and six sharing this role, and Favian is the cutest little thing ever.

The cast is completed by Aaron Teoh, Jamil Abbasi, Aaron Aisoni, Ann-Marie Craine, Luoran Ding, Ben Fenwick, Aaron Gonzales, Owen Johnston, Evita Khrime, Caleb Lagayan, Rayhan Lee, Zina Lin, James Mateo-Salt, Shania Montevalde, Riko Nakazono, Ryan Ocampo, Julius Sahr, Tonny Shim, Kerry Spark, Aimee Yue and Carmen Zhu.

Directed by Jean-Pierre Van Der Spuy. This is the best production of this incredible musical that I have seen; it even has the helicopter that rescues Chris and John from Vietnam hovering and lifting the pair into the Vietnamese skies, something that this musical is well known for, but sadly something that isn't always seen in the productions.

Choreographed by Chrissie Cartwright and Carrie-Anne Ingrouille. This show has such a large cast and the choreography is stylish and smooth, also incorporating at times the moving on and off of the scenery and props into the routines. The show is exciting and full of thrills and that is also highlighted in the choreographical side of the show.

The orchestra was under the baton of Ben Mark Turner, who is also the Musical Director. It was lovely to hear the subtle changes in the musical arrangements in the score, which keeps everything fresh, but this score is so gorgeous I could listen to it for hours on end.

The Set and Costume Design is by Andrew D Edwards. Both areas are absolutely breath-taking. The Costumes range from plain working girl costumes through to the army apparel and on to the eye boggling costume worn by The Engineer in the "American Dream" scenes. That set design is as mind boggling as the costumes for everyone involved in that scene. The rest of the set design one of the best designs for this musical I have had the pleasure to see. Parts of the set are on a revolving circular section of the stage with parts of the scenery gently sliding towards the back of the stage. There is so much to take in when it comes to the set design as well, but everything in this part of the production only seems to make the stage seem even bigger than it is. 

Sound Design is by Adam Fisher. The orchestra bring the intensity of the war to life but there's also sound effects that also drive home the horrors of war, combining to deliver a sensory experience that will make your jaw drop. I did hear a couple of people saying that it was at times too loud, but not for me as I love to feel the power of a big orchestra and a soundscape that makes you tremble.

Lighting designer is by Bruno Poet. I don't think I could cover this area fully if I stayed up all night and morning because there is so much to describe lighting wise. Needless to say, it matches every single section of the production team by being the best design for this musical ever. It draws you in closer at the darker parts and creates a celebratory atmosphere in the big dance numbers.

The cast are exceptional, and while I have seen this show several times over the years, they made it feel as if I was watching it for the first time again. The standing ovation at the final bows was always going to be a given due to the quality of this production. It really did seem as if the West End had uprooted itself and found a new resting place in Nottingham.

If I were one of those people who gave stars to show the quality of the show, I'd give this one six stars out of five. Grab your tickets and don't forget your hankies as well!

"Miss Saigon" is at the Nottingham Theatre Royal until Saturday 4 April.

 "The Drowsy Chaperone"

Central Musical Theatre Company.

Duchess Theatre, Long Eaton.

Here's a musical that I've known about for quite a few years, have loved the soundtrack, but I've not seen it performed around the area, so have never seen it before... until this evening! And first off I have one question. Why is this brilliantly fun musical within a comedy not performed more often?

The story is told by a musical theatre fan as he sits alone in his home. He finds the double album of the soundtrack of the 1928 musical and starts to play the record, which suddenly starts to come to life and play out on the stage. The unnamed "man in the chair" interject at intervals by stopping the record, which stops the action on stage, to relate what is going on at that stage of the musical, or to give us some background information about himself and his life. The musical ends up more like "Four Weddings And A Funeral", just without the funeral.

So what is the story of the fictional 1928 musical "The Drowsy Chaperone"?

When wealthy widow Mrs. Tottendale hosts the wedding of the year, she gets a lot more than a write-up in the society pages: Janet Van de Graaff, glittering starlet of Feldzieg’s Follies, is leaving the stage for the love of a good man, a turn of events which horrifies the angry and anxious Mr. Feldzieg, whose chief investor has sent two gangsters disguised as pastry chefs to make sure he stops the wedding. Hiring Aldolpho, a Latin lover more vain than virile, to seduce the bride, is unsuccessful, as Janet’s chaperone, a drunken diva, gets herself mistaken for the bride and seduced in Janet’s place. It is left to the eager best man, George, to quite by accident break up the happy pair, when he sends groom Robert Martin out to the garden, blindfolded, and in roller skates. Such are the antics of "The Drowsy Chaperone", a fictitious 1928 musical comedy. 

Chris Banks is The Man In The Chair  and starts the narration on stage, in his chair in complete darkness for about a couple of minutes. Now, I'm thinking, "what's wrong with the lights?", but this is all part of the story and is explained by The Man In The Chair. The character is played deliciously camp, and you start to think, "ok, musical theatre fan, all on his own, camp persona 2+2 = (in this case) 5", there's another story which is told later on in the musical! Throughout the musical The Man interacts by sweeping up, opening doors and moving the story on, almost as if he is part of the story that he is telling. Chris, I don't remember seeing on stage before, is brilliant and his timing is excellent and I love this character; I can actually see a lot of myself in this character.

Lady Tottendale, who is one lady that I have seen on stage in the past, is played by Lorna Kirkland. Another very funny character brought to life by Lorna. There are so many musical highlights from the score, but one of them is "Love Is Always Lovelier In The End" which is performed by Lady Tottendale and Underling, and is a lovely whimsical song.

John Wedgwood is The Underling - the Butler or Manservant, however you want to describe the character. A wonderfully dour-faced character performed by John, who reminds me so much of another famous actor whose name I just can't quite recall. The duet with Lorna on the aforementioned song is marvellous.

Robert, the Groom, is played by Chris Moss, who gets to show off several talents. Apart from his singing and acting abilities, Chris has a tap dance section with his Best Man, George, and he also has to perform on roller skates while blindfolded!

George, the Best Man, is played by Gabryl Oleshko. I have been watching Gabs on stage for nearly a decade now and have watched his talent grow with every show that I have seen him in. I love a good tap routine and in this, with Chris, it's like something out of an Astaire/Donald O'Connor musical. The song "Cold Feets" has an additional element of comedy when, out of breath, Underling brings them both a glass of iced water - or is that vodka? - and then Underling taps his way off stage. Gabryl has a certain look about him which fits in so well with the 1920s as well. His voice is as strong as ever and his comedy timing, which I've mentioned in some of my other reviews of him, is as sharp as ever.

Feldzeig is played by Adrian Redfern. There's a brilliant scene in the second act where Feldzeig breaks loose with the choreography, which contrasts with the disgruntled character at the start of the musical. 

Ellie Carter is Kitty the Incomprehensible and makes her debut with Central Musical theatre Company, and what a way to do it. Kitty is the image of the archetypal 1920's flapper with the squeaky, Betty Boop high voice and the not so high IQ and is incredibly entertaining. Another highlight for me from the score is "Toledo Surprise" which also involves Kitty. Ellie looks the part and sounds the part and is one of those actors who makes you believe in the role they are playing, enabling you to see past the actor. Brilliant characterisation and her costume and wig has to be one of my favourites in this musical.

Bridget Wyatt and Tim Hand are The Gangsters, disguised as the Pastry Chefs. Every character in this musical is an entity in themselves and this pair are like the comic double act you get in panto. they bounce off of each other perfectly with their back and forth comedy routine, especially with their section involving pastry puns. Great fun to watch operate.

Adolpho, the Italian stallion, is played by Tony Luke. Adolpho's image makes you smile and even though his song "I Am Adolpho" is filled with fun, you can tell what a great tenor voice Tony has. The balance between comedy carousing and tuneful tenor is spot on, and that accent made me smile every time Tony opened his mouth.

Janet Van de Graaff is played by Sarah Towle, and this is not the first time that Sarah has played this role, which may be why she looks so at home with this brilliant character. Many highlights with Janet but there's a section in the first act that left me reeling. Another favourite of mine from the soundtrack is a song called "Show Off" that Janet sings. Not only is this fantastic song performed brilliantly by Sarah but there are about four costume changes completed within the choreography and while never leaving the stage; the final change being absolutely sensational and drew gasps from the audience. 

Laura Bigland is The Drowsy Chaperone, a lush who loves a drink even when she is supposed to be chaperoning the bride to be and even providing advice of a dubious nature to Janet just prior to the marriage. There's also the scene of mistaken identity which is a brilliant slice of comedy. Laura's big song is the show stopping number "As We Stumble Along", quite literally stopping with the reprise version of this song due to something beyond the control of The Man In The Chair!!

Sarah Tiso is Trix the Aviatrix. This is only a cameo role who appears close to the end of the second act, but involves the biggest change in the stage set, which is done wonderfully. I won't spoil anything by saying too much but all of a sudden an aeroplane appears on stage which leads into the four weddings scene and flying down to Rio after proclaiming "I Do I Do In the Sky".

Richard Symes, who makes his Central Musical Theatre Company debut in this show, is The Superintendent, who appears near the closing of the show. More than that I shall not elaborate, but his appearance in the Man In the Chair's residence is quite electric!

The Ensemble consist of Kerry Britnell - another actor making their debut for the CMTC, Ella Hill, Chantel McLaren and Rachel Redfern. 

Directed by Abbi Burns, this show is fun, fun, fun all the way through. The pace is sharp and the casting is perfection in every role. This is the first time that I have seen this show and it really is like watching a professional touring production with the energy and enthusiasm that emanates from this cast.

Choreographed by Sharon Stringer. There's a lot of energy in the show and part of that is thanks to the choreography. The 1920's style choreography is incredibly stylish and the tap sequence was divine. The ensemble routines bring back the feel of the old Hollywood style Buzby Berkeley musicals, which I have always been a fan of.

Music Director is Jonty Banks. I have experienced Jonty's MD work in the past, and this is a completely different style, but this sound shows that Jonty's flexibility within various music genres is sharper than ever. The whole sound is of this particular period and creates the perfect feel of the era, and what a brilliant and fun score to play with. The band was conducted by David Blackwell.

Stage Managed by Chris Margett, who also designed the set. I love getting into the theatre so that I can have a really good nosey at the set, and this set is gorgeous and completely fills the whole stage from top to bottom and from wings to wings. The clever use of sections of the set to become something completely different is a great idea to lessen the movement on and off stage of larger sections of the stage set. The area central stage at the back of the set changes cleverly from a large fridge freezer to an entrance way for the actors to enter and exit through. The Stage Crew are Ellie Nicholas and Sarah Stone.

Props Managers are Elaine Lawrenson and Chris Margett.

Marion Fisher is the Wardrobe Mistress and there are some gorgeous costumes, especially Janet's array of changes as I've mentioned earlier. This show is full of classy and stylish outfits for both male and female characters.

Production Assistant is Lynn Towle.

Sound Designer is Dave Dallard. Crisp and clear throughout and I heard every word uttered on stage with a nice mix between the vocals and the band, who were tucked away on stage, but visible through the windows of the set.

Lighting is by Stephen Greatorex, complementing the sound perfectly and bringing together a lovely bright feel of this fun musical comedy.

There's also a BSL Interpreter, Natasha Redfern, on the Thursday and Friday performances.

I have mentioned several times throughout regarding the classiness of this show and that doesn't just go to what you can see and hear on stage. The Front of House staff are suitably decked out in suits and bow ties bringing ever more class to this stylish production.

Get your tickets for this show as soon as you can because it's a brilliant musical; the soundtrack that I have and have listened to several times really comes to life when you see the songs on stage. It's a family musical as well, as proven by a few children in the audience who looked and sounded to love this show as much as the grown ups.

"The Drowsy Chaperone" is at the Duchess Theatre in Long Eaton until Saturday 28 March.

 "Sycamore Gap" by Al Smith

Flying High Expressive Arts CIC

Bonington Theatre.

Performed by Flying High Young Company and Senior Youth Theatre groups.

Sunday evening saw a special performance of a new play called "Sycamore Gap" about the destruction of one of the most famous trees in history. This play is a new vision of what may have happened and who may have been responsible. This play will also be performed at Derby Theatre as part of NT Connections Festival running from 23 to 26 April. Every year, Connections commissions new plays for young people to perform. The programme brings together some of the UK’s most exciting writers with the theatre-makers of tomorrow.

"Sycamore Gap" is a whodunnit about the felling of the Robin Hood Tree at Sycamore Gap. Set on the day after the felling, the local police are "in school" conducting an investigation. The twelve members of the school’s eco-club are held in a classroom, being taken out and interviewed one by one, until the culprit cracks and confesses. While they wait for their turn, the pupils interrogate each other. Who could have done something so monstrous? What possible motivation could they have had? What impact will it have on their club and their community, now that the tree is gone? And will it be possible for any of them to move on?

Sam Pratt (Linden), Poppy Ogburn (Rowan), Sam Barber (Crab), Harrison Bird (Boxer), Liv Ali (Spindle), Lily Smith (Hazel), Ella Flewitt (Cherry), Ophelia Johnson (Willow), Ash Byrne (Birch), Amelia James (Holly), Ellie Pickering (Ash) and Tim Burns (Elder) are the twelve club members who are all under suspicion and as an ensemble piece they are all wonderful actors who make you feel as if you're a mere fly on the wall, spying on this teenage group of The Jackdaw Club. There are several standout performances for me, on a personal level, but that said the whole ensemble succeed in telling the story and discovering who was responsible for the tree felling and the reason for doing it perfectly and with lovely splashes of humour and character throughout.

Adding to this delightful dozen are The British Court Of Public Opinion represented by Esther Burton (Queen), Bella Impey (Farmer), Ruby Nehra (Builder0, Scarlett Machin (Journalist), Oscar Straw (Lawyer), Willow Evans (Politician) and Elspeth Bull (Loyal Subject), all interjecting with their personal opinions. I must say that the costumes for these characters are rather good and immediately separate their titles and positions from the twelve Jackdaw Club members.

The set is also something that needs mentioning as its' set on several levels to also raise the height level of the British Court Professionals, bringing their stature to physically laud over the other twelve. The lighting is all green with the base of the felled sycamore emitting a green glow and the floor resembling a grassy area as per the location of the original tree.

It's a fascinating twist on the factual findings of who did lop the tree down and their motives, and much more entertaining than the real story, and it really keeps you guessing as to who and how it was carried out.

Before this main feature though, we were also treated to two other short plays which were just as entertaining.

The first was titled "Macbeth X 5", written by Kirsty Housley, which was set in a school and nicely blending modern day education systems and detention with some of the major talking points in Shakespeare's "Macbeth" like ambition and what the ambitions of the kids in detention were. I particularly had to smile when one lad's ambition was to simply grow a beard; how simplistic a young person's aims can be.

The main players in "Macbeth X 5" were Ali - Anya Pengally (Ali), Nikita Cosslett (B) and Will Burley (Jay). A different trio will feature at the Derby Theatre performance. 

The second was called "Cloudbusting", written by Helen Blakeman, and carried important messages in its' narrative.

Sam fully believes that today will just be another ordinary day – but that’s before Mr Mackie tells Class 8M to write a poem about someone they care about. Unexpectedly, Sam volunteers to write about Daisy… Daisy was Sam’s friend – not that Sam wanted anyone to know that. While the cool girls in the class thought Daisy was "cute in a sad dog sort of way", the tough boys – Morgan and his crew – just saw Daisy as different. Daisy liked to dance. Daisy liked to look at the clouds and see the shapes they made. Daisy liked looking at the world in a different way to everybody else. But no matter how much Sam liked being with Daisy, he always denied their friendship. Then one day, the bullying goes a step too far… It’s not the ordinary day Sam thought it was going to be.

The main characters are Lauren Glover (Sam), Amelie Wyvill (Daisy), Dylan Whistance (Morgan), Lily Rose Mr Mackie), Martha Clowery (Alicia), Other girls – Maryann Townsend & Madiyah Hussain and Studious girls – Anna Winnett & Heidi Worrall.

Three fascinating and entertaining plays all with a twist on what you may have expected, well certainly from what I had expected from just knowing the titles of the three pieces. This also shows some extremely mature performances from the young actors involved.

 "Sweeney Todd - The Demon Baber Of Fleet Street"

Nottingham Arts Theatre Youth Group.

Nottingham Arts Theatre.

You've probably seen that commercial on TV with the woman who warned that she was about to gush; well I'm about to gush, just not in the same way, I just wanted to prepare you!

Sweeney Todd, real name Benjamin Barker, uses his new alias to resume work in his barber shop above Mrs. Lovett’s struggling pie shop after being wrongfully sentenced to life imprisonment by the corrupt Judge Turpin. After swearing vengeance against the Judge that tore his family apart, Todd and Lovett plot a unique plan that helps them both and leads them down a dangerous, thrilling path with deadly consequences.

I never tire of watching this musical, partly due to the wonderful Sondheim soundtrack, and partly because the productions have always been excellent. No difference with the excellent quality here in my attendance of the tale of Sweeney Todd, but there are a few differences to look out for!

I had heard and read that Wednesday night (opening night) was incredible. Thursday night was equally incredible, so you can guarantee that whichever night you attend, you're going to get an amazing experience.

The role of Sweeney is shared by Jonathan Jaycock (Wednesday/Friday/Saturday Matinee) and Joshua Preston (Thursday/Saturday Evening/Sunday). I have so often mentioned the quality of Joshua's voice, and in this role that deep baritone sounds better than ever. The complexity of Sondheim's lyrics hold no fear for Joshua but it's also Joshua's face and eyes that tell this story. there's an unhinged look about him and you just know that danger is afoot. Even with the humorous scenes, mainly with Mrs Lovett, you can feel that Todd was going to switch personality at any time. Joshua is one of those passionate actors, like so many involved in this production, and that passion is evident in this role.

Mrs Lovett is played by Emily-Hope Wilkins (Wednesday/Friday/Saturday Matinee) and Maddi Woodland (Thursday/Saturday Evening/Sunday). Maddi has such ease in singing wonderfully with, and without an accent, as well as delivering much of the comedy dialogue with natural ability.

Anthony Hope, the young sailor who saved Todd, befriended him and then fell in love with Johanna, is played by Noah Bator (Wednesday/Friday/Saturday Matinee) and Lenny Brady (Thursday/Saturday Evening/Sunday). I could say the same thing vocally about everyone in this show, but Lenny has a wonderfully controlled set of vocals, especially in the song "Johanna". Lenny is fast becoming an all rounder in the world of local theatre, but it's always good to see him on stage and playing a character that you can't help but root for.

Johanna, Sweeney Todd's daughter, is played by Grace Jones-Eccles (Wednesday/Friday/Saturday Matinee) and Mia Rathbone (Thursday/Saturday Evening/Sunday). I have seen Mia on a couple of occasions and every time she blows me away with her voice. You can hear that Mia has a natural flair for the operatic, as also shown when she played Cosette in "Les Miserables: School Edition". Her voice is clear, controlled and powerful, and the duets that she has with Lenny are complex and timed wonderfully, and this pair sound so good together.

Amelia Scurfield (Wednesday/Friday/Saturday Matinee) and Amelie Adams (Thursday/Saturday Evening/Sunday) share the role of the Beggar Woman. This character is one of those wonderfully quirky characters who,m if you have never seen the show before and don't know the story, holds a surprise near the end of the show. What can I say? Another great voice.

Tobias Ragg, the young lad who works for Pirelli, who, after Pirelli "disappears", is informally adopted by Mrs Lovett to help with the pie making, is shared by William Curtis (Wednesday/Friday/Saturday Matinee) and Lizzie Kennedy (Thursday/Saturday Evening/Sunday). It's no secret that I have been a fan of Lizzie's for a few years now and have had the pleasure of reviewing her several times over the years and seeing her grow, not only in height, but also in confidence and stagecraft. This role is such a playful role, which suits Lizzie's personality so well. One of my favourite songs from the score has always been "Not While I'm Around", a fiercely protective duet with Mrs Lovett, and this version could not have been any more heartfelt, simple but tender.

Pirelli, the "Italian" barber, is played by Jamie Adlam. Jamie is another actor who I have every admiration for because of the passion that he has for theatre. Every role that he has taken on that I've seen shows just what a marvellous character he is. This role has been perfectly cast with Jamie in the role due to Jamie's sense of humour which shines through as Pirelli's character. the accent is brilliant and Jamie's vocals have never sounded better, with or without the Italian accent, plus his vocal range also seems to have expanded.

Judge Turpin is played by Tom Telford. His history in musical theatre shines through in this production; the vocals are powerful and the nastiness of Turpin, and the anger that explodes in the second act make you sit up and take notice of this slimeball of a baddie.

Beadle Bamford, Turpin's right hand man, is played by Oliver Sheard. This is another actor that I have plenty of time for. I love the posh accent Oliver gives to Bamford making the character appear more important than his station. In the second act there's also a section where he sings at Mrs Lovett while investigating a report of foul smells coming from the shop at night. The mix of the posh voice and the folk singing made me smile, and this is one of the sections that I couldn't remember seeing in other productions - there are several different bits in this production scattered throughout the show that I don't think I've seen in other shows. A great piece of comedy acting which emerged from a nasty and slimy character at the start. I know from Oli's past roles that he likes to shake it up with his parts and this year he's set to play an outlaw as well as a pig in his next two shows.

Dr. Fogg, a major antagonist who owns the asylum where Johanna has been sent to keep her away from Anthony and Todd, is played by Harvey Scott.

The Lantern Bearers are another new addition to this musical and appear when Sweeney's mind starts ticking over. They're like the inner workings of Todd's mind and as Todd dispatches his victims, the Lantern Bearers also appear and escort the victims away from the stage. It's almost like those dark shadows who come to collect the evil souls in the film "Ghost". The Lantern Bearers, who look decidedly mysterious, almost like the Droogs, the teenage black eyed gang in "A Clockwork Orange" are played by Ben Canning, Evie Midgley, Caitlin Young, Alisia Carolea, Florence Everitt, Hermione Cumbers, Craig Youngman - who has the most amazingly deep singing voice - and Liam Brown. 

The ensemble consist of Robert Murphy, Zain Abed, Evie Jones, Andrei Morris, Neve Boyles, Lexie-May Hart, Annabelle Black, Connie Webster, Connie Tegerdine , Kate Whittaker, Kayla Burgess, James Cragg, Edward Young, Leo Capaldi, Zach Silcock, Lizzy Rhodes, Eliza Szejda and George Ward. The sound made by The Ensemble, as well as The Lantern Bearers is so powerful; it's like a tidal wave of vocals crashing over the stage and into the audience, such was the power. Both groups featured different soloists who really stood out.

Directed and Choreographed by Abby Wells who has really created a very stylised and different production, adding roles like the Lantern Bearers and The Vultures, which added a certain clarity to the roles that may have just been labelled as "Ensemble" roles. Just when I thought that I had seen everything there is to see in such a great show like "Sweeney", Abby adds additional touches of magic within the show, a couple of them I have highlighted throughout, but I don't want to give any more spoilers for what may be as new to you as it was for me. The pace was excellent and every character made you focus on them; even the ensemble characters gave off different vibes, there's so much to see and take in that you may need to attend more than one show in this run. There was nothing at all that I did not love about this show.

Musical Director and Conductor of this thirteen strong orchestra is Jonah Williams. Sondheim's score is notoriously complex and Jonah has done a fantastic job with everyone in the cast and with the orchestrating of this musical. Vocally there are several part harmonies, duets that twist and turn and wrap around the singers, key changes, so many different ways of singing the two names "Sweeney" and "Todd" in various parts of the songs; this is not just another score, it's one of the most intricate musical scores and when it's mastered as Jonah and the cast have mastered it, then you get a performance that is as amazing as this. Vocal captain is Ben Canning.

Several times I had to remind myself that this is a Youth Group, not a professional troupe of adults, and anyone who looks down on "amateur" productions need to see this one and they would soon change their opinion on what they think the word "amateur" means. For the record "amateur" means "for the love of", and it is very obvious that everyone on, and behind the stage, love what they are doing.

Set Designer is  by Nik Hudson who has given the whole look more of a steampunk image. As soon as you step into the auditorium, this mass of blood red scenery hits you. The mechanical elements at the back of the set gives an industrial feel about it. There are two levels with Sweeney's Barber Shop being above the pie shop with a metal staircase leading up to it.  The Deck Hire is from Roydon Charlesworth at Stage To Hire. The two barber chairs are frightening enough to look at, knowing what was going to be taking place in them. The enormous oven where the pies are baked open up to reveal a deep red and glowing interior. This is one set design that should be a winner of a set design award anywhere.

Sound Design and Operation is by George Wilson. maybe only a couple of late mic cues, but when there's such a lot of people, as far as I could see, practically all of them with mic packs, making sure that those faders are up, and not forgetting just how quick the score twists and turns with different characters involved, I think that George did an excellent job in this area. The sound was crystal clear, well balanced and at the perfect level. What more could I ask for?

Lighting Designer and Operator is Oliver Read. If you create a show as good as this, it's only apt that the people in charge of sound and light are also the best. Need I say more?

In charge of Wardrobe are Jessica Royce, Paige Walker and Connie Hatchett. the costumes are also quite different to other productions, also help bring that Steampunk feel to the show. Pirelli's costume was wonderfully colourful to reflect the personality of the character.

Stage managed by Nik Hudson. With a show that has this size cast, this role is made all the more difficult to ensure that timings are kept to and to have all the right props etc on stage. This area ran as smooth as everything else with this show, but then again, Nik is a smooth operator in this area. Deputy Stage Manager is another member who is vital to the smooth running of the stage, Nigel Newton. The Stage Crew consist of Roman Moroziuk, Emme Gunn, Ian Rice, Ben Bradley, Jack Kent and Cathy Bodman.

Production Manager is Jessica Royce assisted by Eloise Rees.

This week I have been spoilt by three out of three incredible pieces of theatre, and all very different, but with a theme that runs through the trio of productions; killers. By supporting local theatre you get the advantage of seeing the future West End stars of tomorrow on stage today, and there are so many on stage at the Arts Theatre that could make that dramatic transition. Just ask Grace Hodgett-Young and Matty Collins, both actors who are now professional actors whose roots are in the Nottingham Arts Theatre. This is partly due to the amazing tutelage we have in Nottingham local theatres.

"Sweeney Todd" is at the Nottingham Arts Theatre until Sunday 22 March.