'Sup dudes, UMMTS is gonna show you the light...
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| The cast of GODSPELL! with director Maddie Brooks |
If there were only two words to describe the University of
Manchester Musical Theatre Society’s performance of Godspell it would be these:
high energy! The Council Chambers of the Student’s Union are small, and shabby
from the outside, but the unique idea of setting the musical in a festival tent
works perfectly for the space and show.
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| Becca Hatch |
Director Maddie Brooks’s passion for this show is evident,
as not one line has been left without thought. The first character to stand out
on stage is without doubt the phenomenal energy shown by
Becca Hatch, who is
nothing short of a whirlwind on stage, and a voice to match! Though Aine Mallon
has a quieter physical presence on stage, her incredible upper register makes
her a real star to watch. |
| The Son of God, Dom McGain |
Though the first entrance of Dom McGain as Jesus is somewhat underwhelming, it seems as the show progresses to
be more of a character choice, portraying the calm of the Son of God with a clear message of peace. And whilst we mention the overt religious message of the show, it is worth giving UMMTS praise for handling a musical about religion in such a light-hearted, yet respectful, way.
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| Tom Carswell |
The halves were perfectly balanced; while we saw the raw
energy from belters Aine, Becca and Anuli Changa in the first half, with
hilarious physical comedy from Tom Carswell in the parables, the second half’s
sombre atmosphere was beautifully reflected by the rich, velvety ballads from
June Lau and Catriona Darroch, making an audience grateful for Georgia Brown’s
raunchy and comedic performance. There is not one weak cast member, which is a
pleasant surprise for a university society.
Hopefully it was just first night nerves, but the lighting
let down the cast a little at this performance, by being quite often late to
changes, and occasionally blinding the audience with certain backlight angles.
However, the concepts added to the show wonderfully and showed a clear symbiosis
between the creative team. Musical Director, Matthew Quinn, further expressed
this. Although the band was visible on stage, and he had to direct some
changes, nothing was obtrusive and the band themselves were well rehearsed,
tight and had a great sound.
UMMTS are also putting on Guys and Dolls in a fortnight, so
a fear would be that Godspell, being a lower budget show, would be neglected.
This absolutely is not the case; this cast evidently adores the show and brings
so much emotion to the stage that there was not a dry eye in the house at
Jesus’s betrayal and crucifixion. It’s a limiting script, in the sense that the
first half is just a collection of parables and mindless worship, but the cast
are so passionate that any weaknesses in the form and structure of the script
are allayed. It’s a show I would not necessarily see again, but I would watch
UMMTS perform again.
Guys & Dolls will run from the 30th of November to the 3rd of December in the Council Chambers of the University of Manchester Students' Union.