BLONDEL

 
Blondel
 


Neon Bar

DIRECTED BY:


Claire Cooper



Neon Bar

Musical Director:



Kate Mould



Neon Bar

Choreographer:



Penny Cooke



Neon Bar

The Cast:

Monk 1 Su Widd
Monk 2 Rachel Johnson
Monk 3 Margaret Mould
Monk 4 Mike Cooke
Blondel Nick Brooks
Fiona Jo Manning
Blondette 1 Julie Turner
Blondette2 Debbie Hiles
Blondette 3 Megan Abbott
Prince John Matt Kerslake
Baron Harvey Chip Carpenter
King Richard Ian Ding
Assassin Ian Anderson
Duke Leopold Steve Brooks
Fraulein Schwar Zenberger Susan Power
Arch Bishop Brian Turner
Dancer1 Kate Ayres
Dancer 2 Lisa Elliot
Dancer 3 Beverly Gelder

The Chorus

Kate Ayres Gemma Brooks
Chip Carpenter Penny Cooke
Ian Anderson Kristen Coucill
Nic Henry William Johnson
Lizie Spavin Brian Turner
Irene Whithouse Steve Brooks
Susan Power  

The Orchestra:

MD & Piano Kate Mould
BAss Guitar Chris Coady
Drums Debbie Hiles
Saxophone Mike Cooke

Neon Bar

Watlington Players Blondel Performance Reviewed!

Blondel… but not dumb


Director: Claire Cooper
Blondel is a satirical comedy centred (loosely) around King Richard The Lionheart, the crusades, and his resident lute player Blondel.  Watlington Players selected it as their 2008 musical and I was intrigued.
The chorus were a little thin on the ground and gave the suggestion of being a touch bewildered at times.  The volume reflected the numbers which was a shame.
The four monks (Su Widd, Rachel Johnson, Margaret Mould and Mike Cooke) did a fine job of singing the narration with Rachel Johnson standing out with perfect expressions for lyricist Tim Rice’s gags.
Megan Abbott, Debbie Hiles and Julie Turner were great as backing trio the Blondettes and Susan Power’s brilliant cameo as Fraulein Schwar Zenberger went down particularly well with the audience as did Steve Brookes as King Leopold.
Of the leads, Ian Ding was excellent as firm but fair King Richard, and Matt Kerslake was good value as evil King John.  The comic lead went to The Assassin, brilliantly played by Ian Anderson with The Assassin’s song getting many of the best laughs.
As male lead Blondel Nick Brooks was solid enough and managed well with the difficult tunes.  He looked a little uncomfortable with the light opera style where most of the dialogue is sung and I could not work out why he was wearing jeans and not tights like everyone else.
I last saw Jo Manning in pantomime at Watlington and I thought she struggled with the format.  Her portrayal of Fiona was a coming-of-age performance.  Her beautiful singing voice was ideally suited to the difficult songs.  She worked tirelessly throughout with a range of expressions and depth of characterisation that never faltered and meant that you could not take your eyes off her for a moment.
Congratulations to producer Claire Cooper and her team.

        Stephen Hayter.
        Lynn News
        6th June 2008