42nd Street
As a multi award winning society Peterbrook Players had a very hard act to follow with 42 ND Street as the “Producers” was such a resounding success. Peterbrook’s production team must have had a daunting task when trying to choose their principals from such a large cast of over 60 adults and kids, in my humble opinion, they chose well. Andrew Alton (Bert Barry) and Cathy King (Maggie Jones) were the enthusiastic writers of a new musical Pretty Lady. I loved Maggie’s over the top rendition of “Shadow Waltz “and Bert in “Shuffle off to Buffalo “ Whilst the auditions are ongoing Billy Lawlor played well by John Rawlins ,spot’s a talented new girl in town Peggy Sawyer played by Charlotte Bickerton who with the correct amount of innocence balanced with being a fab tap dancer ensured a delightful performance. Mark Hughes gave a strong confident performance as the producer of “Pretty Lady” Julian Marsh as did Sharon Tozer as prima donna experienced star of the show ,Dorothy Brock, whose little dog Beau was such a perfectly behaved lap dog; most definitely had the ahh factor. The above were well supported by many other named characters to many to mention individually, I strongly feel there was not a weak link to be seen on anywhere on stage. The large number of good tap dancers proved a spectacular sight in the chorus numbers, with a special mention to the superb Philip Watson – Smith who an outstanding dancer is playing the role of dance captain /motivator Andy Lee. Well-loved chorus numbers ,including “We’re in the Money “ and my favorite “Lullaby of Broadway “were performed by all concerned with exuberance. Colourful costumes in keeping with the time period added to the overall affect. Everyone on stage looked like they were enjoying every minute; the audience felt this camaraderie and were very appreciative with a standing ovation from many. Congratulations to all and well done on a fast moving entertaining evening of musical theatre.
