Panto At The OK Corral

Reviews

FROM the opening song, The Deadwood Stage, the Blackmore Players' rendition of Panto at the OK Corral, was a lie. The stage was far from dead, and the actors far from wooden, in this hilarious amateur production at Blackmore Village Hall between 18 and 20 January.

Set in the unusual environment of the Wild West, it nevertheless included all the traditional characters - villain, clown, dame, heroine and horse - all be it with a gun-slinging twist. The villain, Sheriff Small Holding, played in an understated yet effectivemanner by Martin Herford, was booed and hissed with venom each time he revealed one of his dastardly plans.
The loudest laugh of the evening was raised by buffoons Butch Casserole, played by Keith Goody, and The Sun-Tanned Kid, played by Craig Stevens, dancing animatedly to Ring of Fire.
Under the guidance of producer Jean Appleton, the comic duo's slapstick antics appealed to both adults and children. Gill Sparks, from Blackmore, said: "They worked well together and played off one another with a huge amount of enthusiasm." Tony, 7, from Brentwood, said: "I liked the bit in the bar when beer was poured down the Sun-Tanned Kid's trousers. That was funny!"

The second loudest laugh of the evening was in response to Dame Winnie Pegg, singing Its Hard to be a Woman, with as much tongue in cheek and there was padding in his bra. However, if it wasn't for his baritone voice, you'd be forgiven for thinking he really was a member of the fairer sex, so convincing was the makeup administered by Liane Brown.
The tomboy appearance of the Dame's daughter, Calamity Jane, played by Sandra Trott, was in complete contrast to her angelic voice. Her pitch-perfect rendition of Eternal Flame, accompanied on the piano by musical director Shirley Parrott, won the hearts of the audience. Ironically, it was the silence of her horse, Lightening, played by assistant producer Pauline Skerrett, which endeared the audience. Their empathy increased when they heard how Pauline had fallen off the stage on the opening night, unable to see sufficiently thought her horse mask. During one of his many entertaining adlibs, Barry Kirk insinuated her short sightedness was the result of a few too many gin and tonics! The dry heat of the Wild West was evoked by the set design and scenery. By the end of Irene Davis' striking rendition of Lazy Bones, during the dusty, gold-panning scene, the audience was desperate for a drink. Perhaps it was the collective body heat of the packed house that caused the thirst; either way, the opening of the bar during the interval was an oasis in the desert.

The script was a laugh a minute, and at two-and-a-half-hours-long, the production contained a lot of laughs. They ranged from a groan, in response to a joke about a cowboy wearing paper underpants and wanted for rustling, through an erudite chortle at the references to Who wants to be a Millionaire and The Weakest Link, to a side-splitting guffaw at self-flagellation with an invisible frying pan!

Most of the players wore their own jeans, checked shirts and waistcoats in keeping with the cowboy theme, but it was the costume detail, which caught the audience's attention. Saloon girls, Buttons, played by Linda Cearns, and Bows, played by Amy Pudney, for example, were identified respectively by the buttons and bows subtlety stitched onto their bustiers. Saloon owner, Diamond Lil, played by Barbara Harrold, could have wreaked havoc with the costume budget, had not sequins been used as a substitute. The money was instead spent on ultraviolet paints, used to decorate a stage-full of Red Indians, who glowed in the dark with the assistance of lighting director Alan Hayward.
The attention to detail of Rosemarie Nelson and Margaret Boreham's costumes was also apparent in Rosemarie's choreography. With a cast of 24 on a small stage, there was (literally) no room for foot-faults during the line dance to I Should Be So Lucky. The lyrics were crisp and clear throughout the performance, thanks to the magic of sound operator Andy Appleton. The hidden microphones proved too effective at times, picking up the set changes behind the curtain and threatening to drown Jim O'Sullivan's stand-up routine. He needn't have worried though, because as loveable simpleton, James the Jessie, he could do no wrong in the eyes of the audience. He drew so much sympathy from them that despite being prompted to call out: "Don't be a Jessie, James", the audience spontaneously changed the greeting to: "Howdy Jessie James."

Martin Sparks, from Blackmore, summed up the sentiment of the audience. He said: "It was a thoroughly enjoyable evening; much better than staying at home and watching the rubbish on the TV."

Carla Pickering, Former Romford Recorder journalist now with BBC's News Round

With a cast list of 14 names, some extraordinarily similar to legendary figures of the American West, this show has a complement of essential panto character types, with the exception of a Fairy (good or otherwise). With no magic powers, either for or agianst him. the villainous Sheriff Small Holding had more difficulty than usual in making an enemy of the audience, but Martin Herford was soon being hissed and booed. Dame Winnie - Pegg, played by Barry Kirk won over the audience in no time, playing with great confidence and humour. The Sheriff's two deputies, Butch Casserole and Sun Tanned Kid, particularly the latter, expended enormous energy in being incompetent, sometimes with the point of the sequence vanishing in the build up. James the Jesse, Winnie's intellectually challanged relation, played by Jim O'Sullivan, provided the quiet comedy.

The whole cast worked well together, though the chorus tended to conserve their energies until the final scene, when the gold for which they had been prospecting had been found. What a pity there were no children in the cast, but it seems there are changing facility difficulties. Home built, and well lit, sets were very good, both for the saloon and the wide open spaces and there was some very creative and well timed sound effects. Costumes too were fine.

Pace was a bit patchy, with timing having its effect. When an otherwise very enthusiastic audience receives a joke and does not react, it tells you something about not only the joke but also the timing. This was an epitome of 'Village' Pantomime, with local people watching local people and everyone having a great deal of fun in the process. A thoroughly enjoyable evening and thank you.

John Warburton, NODA