Strictly Musicals by Darlington Operatic Society - Battling GTA

There's no better show in town !

Darlington Operatic Society is battling against Grand Theft Auto, FIFA 14, Sky Movies and Netflix to grab the attention of local people and prove that a trip to the theatre is more fun than simply staring at a TV screen, and you know what - they are winning, hands down !!

In an ambitious attempt to demonstrate theatre is available for all ages and backgrounds, Darlington OS started their Autumn show last Wednesday to rapturous applause.  Strictly Musicals is a 2 hour spectacular of 25 of the best known & loved show tunes, performed by over 40 of the North Easts most talented amateurs.  Evita, Les Mis, Blood Brothers, Wicked, Hairspray, Phantom, Miss Saigon and many more of the biggest shows in the history of musical theatre provide the numbers with Director and Choreographer Joanne Hand providing a completely unique show.

Normally, for a show review it's easy to focus on the lead characters and give a passing 'well done' to the support; well for this show every single performer is a lead, they are all given their chance to take centre stage and none of them disappoint - there's not another show in the UK that can boast of having almost 50 leading actors and what a wonderful acknowledgement for the huge talent Darlington is blessed with.

Over the course of the run I am catching time with the audience to get their thoughts & feedback; speaking to those at last nights performance, their highlights were The Disney Medley and One Day More.

Disney (see if you can guess which shows are covered........) opens with Hayley Walker sending shivers down everyone's spines as she calls for the Arsenal Manager (well it sounds like "Arsen Wenger" to me & her mum, who apparently used to be a Spurs fan).  You could well imagine Hayley's voice carrying right across the Serengeti and is a perfect call to anyone late back from the interval that" you're missing it".  From there we have homage paid to some of Walt's most endearing musical movies including; Leighton Taylor's chirpy cheeky cockney Burt (with a far more believable accent than Dick van Dyke); Michael Hirst's totally mischievous Jamaican calypso as Sebastian the crab and Selena Blain playing the epitome of a mermaid,  a gorgeous & angelic Ariel;  and some quite brilliant casting - Eddie Jones with a wonderful faux French accent as Luminaire, Neil Gooding and Stefan Curtis as Timon and Pumbaa, who seemed to have a fascination with potatoes!  Ending with a real demonstration of verbal dexterity and physical coordination led by the delightful, pocket dynamo Angela Chapman,  Walt himself would have been chuffed to bits.

The casts' rendition of One Day More is as rousing as any of the full Les Miserables productions - there were many who commented that it had all the West End impact and was quite amazing to think that it was performed by an amateur team.  There were more than a few in last nights audience who commented on Suzie Harvey's Eponine as being quite hauntingly beautiful and that Kat Newman, playing Madame Thernadier stood out, not just for her voice but also that as an inn keeper's wife, she was far foxier than any of her predecessors in previous versions of Les Mis. (Granted they were all men that I asked but I'm sure the women were just as appreciative).

What is most impressive is that all these actors are involved in almost all of the other numbers too; this is not a talent show where people are wheeled out to perform their number, not to be seen again - if they are not leading in one number then they are chorus line, dancing, supporting or performing one of a multitude of costume changes ready to launch into another high octane tune which in most musicals would be a headline in it's own right.

This is a fabulous story of local pride, a tremendous amount of hard work & dedication and some very seriously talented  people (bearing in mind that these are all amateurs with day jobs & studies too) all aiming to give the Darlington audiences a wonderful evening and further promote the Civic Theatre as one of the best venues in the North East.

There are still tickets available for this weeks performances so put down that game controller, hide the Sky Remote and call Graeme on 01325 244 659 to not only have a magical evening, but also give your support to one the UKs best loved amateur theatre societies - and it's all ours !