Preview
Melodrama, magic and mystery set in the riotous world of 1930’s Vaudeville.
A festive treat with a difference. A dash of ‘Annie’, a twist of ‘Cabaret’, and great big helpings of melodrama, mystery and rip-snorting comedy. Plus some of the greatest songs from the shows you could ever wish for. A great family entertainment for all ages.Macey Maguire has a dream – she’s going to make it big on Broadway. Arriving penniless in New York, Macey gets a break at Delancey’s, the city’s last Vaudeville theater. Soon she’s rubbing shoulders with the troupe of variety artists who ply their trade in the old music hall. But the public’s appetite for burlesque is on the wane, the theater’s finances are on the rocks, and the entertainers are squabbling like rats in a sack. Organised crime wants the real estate the theater’s built on, and worse still, members of the company keep disappearing into thin air… And nobody – not the theater management nor the New York Police Department – can figure out where they go. But they’ve all reckoned without Macey Maguire…
Cast Details:
Macey Maguire – would-be star and ingenue
Indianna Scorziello
Mickey Pavlova – street kid
Anya Destiney
Lola Tzcherksk – street kid
Becka Blanchard
Gipsy Rose Lee – songbird and fortune-teller
Tanya Alizai
Hiram T Bagel – owner of DeLancey’s Theater
Chris Argles
Talleyrand – Stage Manager
Tim Young
Janey Ditsum – Runner
Hannah Montgomery
Jimmy Doo-Dads – street kid & rat impersonator
Noah Payne
Trixie the Vermont Cavegirl
Kimberley Argles
Mixie the Vermont Cavegirl
Lisa Lloyd
Roxie the Vermont Cavegirl
Lucy-Ann Martin
Frankie LeGrand – bit-part actor and dinosaur
Sean Young
Theodore Drake-Henchard – tragedian
Paul Ford
Wierd’ Willy Spondecker – the three-legged boy
Peter Bird
Rosa Crouch – the bearded lady
Rachel Handler
Perluigi Spinetti – local mobster
Bruce Montgomery
Zelda Bortolami – Spinetti’s murderous moll
Dawn Lock
Detective O’Malley NYPD
Mike Brown
Officer Banahan NYPD
Sean Young
Crazy’ Eddie Kuffs – escapologist
Steve Jacobs
The Great Marengo – magician and illusionist
Joe Wilson
Six-Gun’ Annie McGraw – wild-west act
Penny Payne
Band Details:
Piano
Mark Taylor
Bass Guitar – Mandolin
Simeon Dawes
Guitar
Keith Lewis
Guitar – Banjo and Strange Noises
Jeannie Lewis
Drums
Ryan Newby
Viola
Elanor Wexler
Technical Crew Details:
Director
Richard Lloyd
Musical Director
Mark Taylor
Vocal Director
Tanya Alizai
Choreography and Movement
Emma Griffin
Stage Crew
Steve Harris
Stage Crew
Andy Hall
Stage Crew
Guy Harries-Rees
Stage Crew
Trevor Wilson
Prompt
Catherine Vines
Additional Choreography
Becka Blanchard
Stage Lighting – operation and design
Steve North
Stage Sound – operation and set-up
Kathy Dawes
Stage Sound – set-up
Simeon Dawes
Set Construction
Mike Brown
Set Construction
Steve Harris
Set Construction
Andy Hall
Set Construction
Chris Argles
Set Construction
Penny Payne
Set Construction
Anya Destiney
Set Construction
Paul Ford
Set Construction
Trevor Wilson
New York Fire Hydrant
Steve Harris
Marengo’s Magic Machinery of Doom
Keith Lewis
Bagel’s Swordcane
Mike Brown
Wardrobe
Sheila Bird
Wardrobe
Kathy Dawes
Wardrobe
Lyn Hall
Wardrobe
Dawn Lock
Wardrobe
Michelle Tomas
Properties and Ephemera
Paul Ford
Publicity and Promotion
Paul Ford
Poster Design and Photography
Sean Young
Rehearsal Photography
Lyn Hall
Box Office
Julia Young
Box Office
Tim Young
Reviewed by Peter Steptoe for The Croydon Advertiser
Theatre Workshop Coulsdon is always ambitious in what it attempts. On the face of it, a backstage musical depicting the 30’s replete with hit songs from that era does not suggest originality, but what was excellent was their standard of performance. The orchestra under their director Mark Taylor was unobtrusive but compelling musically and the singing commendable. Under the vocal direction of Tanya Alizai we had amongst some great songs a memorable ‘All That Jazz’. Choreography and movement was by Emma Griffin and the latter is extremely important where actors are not trained dancers. Richard Lloyd, the author and director, will not mind me saying that the plot was perhaps a little fanciful and impossible, but despite this kept me wondering and interested. The setting was the last Vaudeville theatre in Lower Manhattan, where the cast kept disappearing without trace. Macey Maguire (Indianna Scorziello) arrives penniless but becomes a sort of star detective in solving the mystery with a good voice and an excellent pair of legs. Hiram T Bagel was played by non-singing Chris Argles with dignity as the theatre proprietor and his dapper stage manager Talleyrand (Tim Young) had the gift of a throwaway line. Among memorable Vaudeville performers were Gypsy Rose Lee (Tanya Alizai), great voice, and Trixie (Kimberley Argles), Mixie (Lisa Lloyd) and Roxie (Lucy-Ann Martin) who seemed like refugees from Cinderella’s Ugly Sisters, except that they were good looking. My only criticism is perhaps fewer in cast to give room for more character development; otherwise brilliant.
