"The Hollow" by Agatha Christie

Your Chance Productions.

Duchess Theatre, Long Eaton.

An unhappy game of romantic follow-the-leader explodes into murder one weekend at The Hollow, home of Sir Henry and Lucy Angkatell. Dr. Cristow, the Harley Street lothario, is at the centre of the trouble when, assembled in one place, we find his dull but devoted wife Gerda, his mistress and prominent sculptor Henrietta and his former lover and Hollywood film star Veronica. Also visiting are Edward and Midge whose romantic assertions are likewise thrown into the mix. As the list of romantic associations grow so does the list of potential suspects when Cristow is shot dead. Nearly everyone has a motive but only one of them did the deed!

Graham Buchanan as Dr. John Cristow, the victim of Agatha Christie's murder mystery. Dr John is a successful doctor in London and has an ego as big as his bank account. He knows what he wants and he usually gets whatever and whoever he wants, no matter what.

Philippa Buchanan as Gerda Cristow, Dr John's wife. Gerda is the polar opposite to her husband's former love, the exciting Hollywood actress, Veronica Craye. Seen as dowdy, naive, dull and a character who wouldn't say "boo" to a goose, there aren't many in The Hollow who actually like her, maybe because her husband's extra marital excursions are known to them, making her seem weak and slightly ignorant in their eyes. But how weak and ignorant is Gerda when the truth comes out?

James Ash as Sir Henry Angkatell, a retired Statesman who lives at The Hollow. He is the quiet and sensible type who likes to keep himself to himself. He has great respect for Dr John, but wishes that the good Doctor would do the same, as Sir Henry does not like scandal. Is the latest basketful of dirty laundry enough to make the mild-mannered Henry snap?

Samantha Badman as Henrietta Angkatell, Dr John's mistress and a sculptress who lives at The Hollow. Henrietta is one of the few people who actually has time for Gerda, despite the affair with her husband.

Jackie Cooper as Lucy Angkatell. Lucy works hard around The Hollow, tending to the gardens and her chickens, the Lady of the Manor. She cares deeply about family, and Dr John is an outsider whose been causing chaos in the flock. Did she finally lose her temper and decide to remove the fox from the coop?

Martin Weston as Edward Angkatell, the current owner of Lady Angkatell's former home, but hopelessly in love with Henrietta. Henrietta, as we know has eyes for the Doctor, the exact opposite, personality wise, to Edward. What hope could he have of winning Henrietta's heart unless something should 'happen' to his rival?

Hayley Wood as Veronica Craye, Dr John's ex girlfriend, who is in danger of ruining the relationship that Henrietta has with John when she turns up on the steps of The Hollow, attempting to win Dr John back. If she can't have him, does that mean that no one else can? Is that a motive for murder, and if so, will this Hollywood actress risk it all in a crime of passion?

Chantelle Ruston as Midge Harvey, the youngest and most practical and level-headed of the guests at The Hollow. Her heart belongs to Edward but all he does is pine after Henrietta. Could all that practicality and level-headedness go out of the window and turn Midge into a murderer?

Dan Bates as Gudgeon, the Butler at The Hollow. A long time service employee of The Angkatell family who will do anything to make their lives as easy as possible, but would that include murder? Did the Butler do it?

Jeff Tullin as Inspector Colquhoun who is leading the investigation into the demise of the Doctor, along with his sidekick, Detective Sergeant Penny, played by Wil Morgan.

There are some really good performances here, like Samantha almost spiralling out of control as the realisation of her "lover's" death starts to sink in. Graham is always at the top of his game whatever character he plays and Philipa's mousiness just makes you want to give her a hug. Hayley 100% looks the part of a statuesque Hollywood star, in complete contrast to her secondary role as the maid. Jackie's slightly nutty antics provide even more light relief, and there's quite a bit of that as Christie knew how to write a good comedy scene and create comic characters. Wil got laughs with almost every line and action while squirrelling away the sandwiches laid out for the family. Jeff created a really realistic persona for Colquhoun; one where we trusted him from his first entrance. Dan acts as if the Butler had something to hide, which kept me confused throughout, and he has great pace and physicality in this role. All in all a very strong cast who kept everyone guessing right to the very end.

Directed by Jessica McLean, she really makes sure that you get your money's worth with this Christie classic; the production lasts three hours including the interval. 

There are some classy costumes for the cast and I loved the set design, especially with all the various and relevant props.

I love a production where mics are not vital to the production, and the projection from the cast is strong. Cast members like Graham, Dan and Martin seem to naturally have the ability to project to just the right volume. there were mics at the front of the stage to help amplify some of the characters who did not need as much projection or volume.

So, was it Edward, the jealous every-man who wants Henrietta to himself? Or was it Lucy, who cannot for the life of her remember what she was doing with her eggs? Veronica Craye might have done it; after all, that Marilyn Monroe act of hers doesn't exclude fury, as exhibited in one particular scene. Or perhaps it was Midge, the one we least suspect? There's only one way to find out whodunnit!

"The Hollow" is at The Duchess Theatre, Long Eaton only until Wednesday 31 July, so get in there quick!

 "An Officer And A Gentleman" - A Made At Curve production.

Nottingham Theatre Royal.

Based on the 1982 film starring Richard Gere and Debra Winger, it's quite difficult to imagine this particular film being transformed into a stage musical, but here it is; a jukebox version of the film.

The musical follows the story of Zack Mayo, who enlists in a gruelling twelve-week training programme to become a naval officer. Alongside him is Sid Worley, following in his adored older brother's footsteps, who died in service. The two of them meet local girls Lynette and Paula, who are both desperate to get out of the small factory town they live in, but both have alternate ideas of how to do that. Also on the training programme is Casey Seegar, one of the only women on the programme, and desperate to fly jets.

Zack shows that he doesn't want to follow the course his Father took in life; drinking and womanising, while Sid wants to make his Father proud, be a pilot and have a family. On both accounts, the intentions don't quite go the way either the Officer and the Gentleman had envisaged.

With the nature of the storyline, especially the training programme, the show is also a really physical piece of theatre. You see Zack performing a multitude of press ups and pull ups on stage, neither impede his vocal talents one bit.

Luke Baker plays Zack Mayo. I had seen Luke before a few years back at Leicester Curve when he played the part of Tony, Billy Elliott's older brother, and was impressed by his acting and vocal talents. Here, he is the main man, so you get to see more of those talents. As a leading man, he is everything that you'd expect; he's good looking and his voice is incredibly strong, but he's also the type of person you could have a pint down at the pub with. 

Not only has Zack a strong solo singer, but his voice is one that blends well with others. His duet of Jon Bon Jovi's "Blaze Of Glory" with his stage Father, Byron, is a really good blend of vocal styles, but his vocals on Hall and Oates' "Family Man" are truly superb.

Georgia Lennon is Paula Pokrifiki, the "nicer" of the two leading girls; the one who actually falls in love and wants everything that true love brings with it, and she falls in a big way for Zack. The chemistry is there and you almost feel the heat in the duet with Zack of Foreigner's "I Want To Know What Love Is". 

I did feel that a couple of the songs for Georgia didn't quite hit the spot, on a personal level. Georgia has a wonderful voice for musical theatre, but the choice to have her sing Heart's "Alone" was maybe just a step to far away from musical theatre stylings. I loved that really long note at the end that Georgia absolutely smashed, but I didn't feel Georgia has a rock voice; she has a fantastic musical theatre voice, just not a raw, rock voice, it was a little too nuanced for me. Let's face it though matching that rawness of Ann Wilson is always a big ask for anyone, no matter what a great singer you are. Why she was singing "How do I get you alone?" though seconds after Zack had left after the family meal, plus they seem to have been spending quite a bit of time together; Paula had definitely not been alone for the previous few weeks!

Jamal Kane Crawford as Gunnery Sergeant Emil Foley. This character really knows how to get under your skin. He cajoles and pokes and prods until you want to retaliate, but of course you can't when you're in the Forces. Jamal is excellent in bringing all of this out of Foley; and then of course at the end, you discover that he may not be such an obnoxious person after all. Good job Jamal!

Paul French as Sid Worley, the character who falls deeply in love, only to get his heart broken, but what his reaction is, is quite upsetting. Paul is another powerful vocalist, which is bore out in the wonderful power ballad arrangement of "Family Man".

Sinead Long as Lynette Pomeroy, whose idea of getting out of her town by bagging herself a wealthy pilot who will marry her. Unfortunately when Sid proposes to her, it does not tick all the boxes that she wants and her refusal of marriage has devasting consequences.

Melanie Masson as Esther Pokrifki, Paula's mother and fellow factory worker. Melanie is also a very powerful singer; just hear her belt out lines from James Brown's "It's A Man's, Man's, Man's, Man's World".

Tim Rogers as Byron Mayo, Zack's Father. Like Luke, I've seen Tim on stage before, and know what a fine singer and actor Tim is. This role is quite different to  other roles I've seen him in as this is quite a seedy and unlikeable character, always belittling his son. Thank goodness Zack manages to change his opinion of him.

Olivia Foster-Browne as Casey Seegar who is aiming to be the first woman pilot. She is told over and over again that the Navy have never had a woman pilot, and that she would not be the first. Zack manages to boost her confidence enough to get her through, but does she break with tradition and make the grade for a woman pilot?

Lucas Piquero as Eduardo Cortez,  Chris Breistein as Finman, Wendi Harriott as Aunt Bunny, James Wilkinson-Jones as Troy and Sam Stones as Craig complete the rest of the candidates.

The cast is completed by Julia Jones, Etisyai Philip, Mia Harrison, Lukin Simmonds, Sam Stones and Ellie Grace Cousins.

Directed by Nikolai Foster, the Artistic Director at Curve Leicester. Let's face it, you can't go wrong with a Curve Leicester production when Nikolai's name is firmly attached.

Choreographed by Joanna Goodwin, and there's some very nice choreographic pieces here, as you'd expect military based, and the scene involving Seegar completing her training routine, finally, to "When The Going Gets Tough" is excellent, using slow motion choreography with the rest of the candidates.

Musical Director is Christopher Duffy. The sound was just on the right side of loud, but not loud enough to drown the vocalists. Almost like being at a party with all your favourite 80's anthems being performed live.

The soundtrack features songs  made famous by Status Quo (although there was a slight change of lyrics from "In The Army Now" to match the naval connection), Madonna, Bon Jovi, Cyndi Lauper, Heart, Martika, Foreigner, Blondie and more. It also includes the big hit from the film, "Up Where we Belong" which was, of course, where Zack wafts in to the factory and scoops Paula up and carries her away, resplendent in full naval attire, to wild cheers from some female audience members - obviously wishing that Luke would do the same to them. In their dreams of course!

The lighting design is by Ben Cracknell and the sound design is by Tom Marshall. Both areas covered superbly.

The Set and Costume Designer is Michael Taylor, who excelled in both areas. The set was utilised brilliantly, incorporating one large, movable metal structure for several different uses. The set props were moved on and off stage with great ease and speed by cast members, making the scene changes swift and smooth, which helped move the scenes on at a cracking pace. The costumes were wonderful, especially the suits for the scene for "Material Girl" (Can I have one of the jackets when the show ends, please?).

I had read earlier reviews (I don't normally, but I hadn't seen this musical before), and they were a real mixed bag of reviews. Personally, I only agree with a handful of the reviews; the ones who enjoyed the show for what it is; a brilliant night out packed with great songs, sung with gusto, with that boy meets girl and falls in love but nearly loses girl until the end scene scenario, with just a smidge of sadness in the secondary pair of lovers storyline. 

I had read that the songs bore no resemblance to push the story on. I didn't agree, I thought the choice of songs (apart from "Alone" - possibly another Heart song may have been better suited "All I Wanna Do Is Make Love To You", as this pair were besotted - at the time) were well chosen and arranged.

Jukebox musicals can be an excuse to throw a load of songs by an artist, group or era together and then throw a flimsy story over the songs and try to make the melting pot tasty. This wasn't that sort of jukebox musical as the story is strong and relatable and the songs were relevant to the situations.

It's as cheesy as a cheese-fest at a cheese counter at Cheddar Gorge, but who doesn't love a good cheesy rom-com now and again? That and some wonderful classic hits from the 1980's.

"An Officer And A Gentleman" is at the Nottingham Theatre Royal until Saturday 3 August. Don't let this ship leave port without boarding, at least for one evening!

Photos by Marc Brenner.

 "Madagascar The Musical"

Nottingham Theatre Royal.

Based on the DreamWorks animated motion picture, "Madagascar The Musical" follows all of the film's characters as they escape from their home in New York’s Central Park Zoo and find themselves on an unexpected journey to the madcap world of King Julien’s Madagascar.  

Alex the lion is the king of the urban jungle, the main attraction at New York's Central Park Zoo. He and his best friends – Marty the zebra, Melman the giraffe and Gloria the hippo – have spent their whole lives in blissful captivity before an admiring public and with regular meals provided for them. Not content to leave well enough alone, Marty lets his curiosity get the better of him and makes his escape – with the help of some prodigious penguins – to explore the world.

After escaping to the New York City streets and being arrested and put into boxes to be shipped out, the penguins hijack the boat, which results in all the animals, in their boxes becoming shipwrecked, and guess where they ended up?

Karim Zeroul plays King Julien. Karim, younger children will know from CBBC, but the older TV viewer will know him from being on "Strictly Come Dancing" back in 2019 where he reached the final. Although the majority of Karim's career has been on TV, he initially started in the theatre, so he is going back to his roots.

It's therefore no surprise that he is so at ease on the musical stage. His voice has power, his face shows the fun that he is having, his legs and body show his dancing skills, highlighted in the first act, and his knees probably show quite a bit of hard skin as he performs on his knees throughout the second act in his role as The King - think the stature of Lord Farquaard in "Spamalot".

Joseph Hewlett towers over everyone, almost everyone, as Alex the lion, with a voice as big as his stature, and with Alex's mane, he looks even taller. 

Jarneia Richard-Noel is Gloria the hippo. Now, all of these roles are really fun and all the actors have great voices and know how to move it move it!

Francisco Gomes definitely has earned his stripes as the adventurous Marty the zebra. The contagious comedy from Marty is almost akin to that of Donkey in "Shrek"; a role that would also suit Francisco down to the ground in my humble opinion.

Joshua Oakes-Rogers is Melman the giraffe. This is a wonderful character as Joshua is also the puppet master with this role as he is definitely head and shoulders (do giraffes have shoulders?) height wise above the other animals.

Laura Marie Benson (Kowalski/Candy), Ella Howlett (Rico/Lynn), Brogan McFarlane (Private/Mort), Connor Keetley (Skipper/Maurice) and James Hilton-Foster (Mason/Lars/Ship's Captain) complete the cast with Gabriel Hinchcliffe and Aidan Harkins, all playing various puppet characters.

Directed by award-winning Kirk Jameson, with Laura Marie Benson as Resident Director, this show is primarily aimed at kids, of course it is, and while the first act maybe is a wee bit on the slow side, the second act ramps everything up. Of course, we need to set the story and introduce the characters in the first part, and that I noticed was when the young audience were at their fidgiest. Come Act two, and that opening of "I Like To Move It" really hyped them up to maximum.

Puppet Design by Max Humphries and Puppet Direction from Emma Brunton. Now, these puppet creations are incredible, with the lemurs being the cutest of puppets with their big watery looking eyes, in complete contrast to the evil looking, cheetah like, voracious creatures that would have made a swift meal of Marty had there not have been that intervention by Alex!

Darren John is the Musical Director with Musical Supervision from Mark Crossland. there are some real bangers in this show; not just the BIG song that everyone was waiting for which was then repeated as the finale, but songs like "Best Friends", "Together Forever", "It's Showtime", "Relax, Be Cool, Chill Out" and the track that always reminds me of Europe's "The Final Showdown introduction, "King Of Madagascar".

Choreographed by Fabian Alouise. This is a wonderfully, energetically choreographed piece of theatre that maybe the kids might not appreciate, but, as an adult, you can see the work gone in to creating this area of the show, especially in the second act for King Julien.

Tom Rogers set design is based on the original set and costume designs. It captures the zoo feel. the streets of New York, and then the lush flora and fauna of the Madagascan jungles.

Howard Hudson's lighting design is everything a young audience wants. It's colourful, bright and exciting when matched with the crystal clarity of the sound design, by Chris Whybrow.

It's great fun and there's a happy ending, so what more could you want to entertain your little ones this week, and with the whole show and interval coming in at just over a hundred minutes, there's not time for the kids to get bored with anything they see on stage.

"Madagascar The Musical" is at the Nottingham Theatre Royal until Saturday 27 July, so gather the kids up and move it move it to the jungles of Madagascar, via Nottingham, and have a crack a lackin' time!