The students from Music Theatre Warwick join a hoard of performers hoping to entertain at the Fringe with an improvised musical. With there being more than one group to choose from, it’s important that the show goes off with a bang and this one certainly did.
For their first time at the fringe, Music Theatre Warwick’s performance showcased a lot of talent.
Opening the show was the charismatic producer Matthew Gill. Gill must be commended for his work with the audience as he drew out our daft and outlandish responses. He worked well with our suggestions and made sure we all got our say. His enthusiasm was contagious and certainly got us all joining in and cheering along.
For this particular show the location was a convent, the characters vampires and Mary Queen of Scots and a title of Nun the Wiser. The decisions made by the audience gave the main cast some key themes to work from, religion and drinking blood being some of them.
The cast as a whole were very good. It can’t be easy generating tunes and lyrics whilst standing in front of a live audience but this group handled the demand well. Although there were some stronger voices in the group, all members could certainly sing and generate harmonies without warning. The show occupies a reasonably large space at C and therefore occasionally some of the sound was lost, for the most part though the group performed with clarity and bags of enthusiasm.
A special mention must go to Joseph Henshaw and AJ King for their comedy duo representation of vampires. From their wonderful voices through to their hilarious dance routines, these two actors gave their all to the performance, resulting in a room full of raucously laughing people who definitely felt the value of their ticket.
Generally improvised musicals are aimed at adults so I was a little unsure what to expect when I heard that this show was PG rated. Due to the unpredictable nature of audience members I wondered if they would be censored. There was one child as part of the audience and at one point I felt this show was heading slightly in the wrong direction when suggestions of toilets and sausage factories were received. It is very hard to pitch a show for both adults and children alike but I would like to commend this group for their inclusion of the little girl. Although she only asked for the show to be darker, the group made sure they spoke directly to her, included her idea and made sure she felt as much a part of the experience as everyone else.
For their first time at the fringe, Music Theatre Warwick’s performance showcased a lot of talent. As with all new shows and companies it takes time to build confidence and a completely slick performance, although there were a few dips in performance I think in time this company will only get better.
