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A stage set for splodging Bugsy Malone The New Alexandra Theatre *** STAGE Experience, now in its ninth year,
is a wonderful way of giving scores of youngsters just that – a chance
to see what goes into putting on a show in the professional theatre. And they took their chance with bags of energy in
Bugsy Malone, the stage version of Alan Parker’s quirky 1976 film spoof
about mobsters all played by children. I have never been sure that what was a novelty
film ever transferred successfully to the stage. It is a very bitty and
disjointed and where on film you can get away with short scenes,
sometimes no more than a couple of lines of dialogue, on stage it can
get very messy breaking any continuity or rhythm. It is easy to see the appeal for schools and
youth groups though. For a start all the cast are meant to be children
and there are not a lot of those around and let's be honest, it is a lot
less brutal and much more fun than Lord of the Flies. The size of the cast with chorus girls, mobsters,
paper boys, police, boxers and night club customers is limited only by
how many people you can cram on stage and pack in the dressing rooms
which means everyone can have a part – important in schools and youth
theatre. This production has 14 principals and 86 others.
A cast of 100 plus an orchestra of nine and even though the stage looked
like a crowd scene from Ben Hur at the finale all credit to the
youngsters for making it look natural rather than a scrum. LOOKED GOOD The chorus girls, Fat Sam’s Dancers, deserve
praise in particular for not only dancing well and in unison but doing
it seemingly effortlessly often on a crowded stage, which means a lot of
hard work went in there – they also looked good which always lifts a
show. Last year’s production, Fame, gave principals a
chance to shine with characters, songs and dialogue they could get their
teeth into. Bugsy does not really give that sort of
opportunity. The music is pleasant , even catchy, but none of the songs
have become standards and the one dimensional cartoon characters are not
meant to develop. Leading us through this comic book world is Bugsy
Malone, a sort of Runyanesque character who is not quite legal but not
quite crooked, played with some confidence by Dale Phillips from West
Bromwich. As in all good gangster tales Bugsy is smitten by
a broad, in this case wannabe star Blousy Brown played by Imogen
Wellsbury from Wolverhampton who produced one of the musical highlights with
Only a Fool when she thinks Bugsy has let her down. Coventry’s Travis Blake-Hall gave us another
notable song as the Fat Sam’s speakeasy sweeper-up Fizzy with the
soulful Tomorrow, the usual reply from Fat Sam whenever Fizzy
asked for an audition. Leah Walker from Sutton Coldfield shows a fine
voice as Tallulah, Sam’s singer and girlfriend and when it comes to
confidence look out for Annabel Mae Russell, aged just nine from
Leicester, who plays Broadway star Lena Marelli and can really belt out
a song Behind it all Fat Sam (Keiran Palmer) and his gangland rival Dandy Dan (Samuel Stone) are at war with Dandy Dan taking out Sam’s gangsters with his Mark II Splurge guns - old school Sam’s custard pies are no match for new technology, weapons of mass custard cream like that. It all leads up to the final battle after which everyone appears to live happily ever after and ready for a lively finale with a reprise of the numbers in the show to make mums, dads, brothers, sisters, friends and relatives proud and happy. Just a small point for directors though. The view from the circle ends at the perimeter of the stage so any action offstage in the stalls and the aisles is unseen by those in the circle and the gods. And Bugsy did have a lot including for some unexplained reason a chase set to the old Benny Hill show tune Yakety Sax. To 27-08-11. Roger Clarke
**** WHAT a joy to drive into Birmingham city
centre and see 110 young people displaying talents that do not include
lobbing bricks through windows or looting property. Mind you, there were a couple of shootings
in the opening five minutes of this musical which tells the story of
gang warfare in 1920s New York. But its all good fun, with the victims'
suffering no more than a squirt of foam from the splurge guns used by
the hitmen, and while the story has now real depth there are several
song and dance scenes which bring the best out of the cast, ages ranging
from nine to 19. And, just like in the professional theatre,
this production has a show-stopper - little Travis Blake-Hall, playing
Fizzy, a sweeper-up at Fat Sam's speakeasy. His attempts to get an
audition from the boss always earn the response 'Tomorrow', and he
delivers the touching song, Tomorrow, with great aplomb. An up and
coming Michael Jackson here. This is the ninth consecutive year of the
Stage Experience project at the Alex, which gives talented youngsters
the chance to show what they can do on a professional stage, and as ever
they benefit from the impressive direction and choreography of Pollyann
Tanner. There are fine performances from Dale
Phillips, 18, from West Bromwich, playing Bugsy, and Wolverhampton's
Imogen Wellsbury, 16, as his girlfriend, Blousey Brown, while Leah
Walker caught the eye and ear as night club singer Tallulah. Kieran
Palmer (Fat Sam) and Samuel Stone (Dandy Dan) also make strong
contributions. The really big moments of the show come
with Fat Sam's singers and dancers turning on the style. Bugsy Malone runs to Saturday night 27-08-11 Paul Marston
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