I Met A Man Who Wasn't There , White Rock Theatre ,Hastings

I Met A Man Who Wasn't There 

Cast

Amanda Schilling (Journalist) - Cathy Shipton

Edgar Ryme (Clairvoyant) - Brian Capron

9-11 June 2011

performance seen 9th June

Or I could rename this I Sat In An Audience Who Weren't There

Now I have sat in some pitifully small audiences lately but this was small to the extent that I am surprised Brian and Cathy went ahead with this. There were 4 of us in the front row followed by row after row of empty seats with just an odd person dotted here and there and a couple of small groups at the back.

If there were as many as 50 people I'd be surprised. It really did seem truly weird sitting in such an empty, cold feeling, auditorium.

I guess it may not be helped that the White Rock Theatre haven't used Twitter for almost 2 months (Twitter ID @The_White_Rock) to keep their followers updated. I honestly don't know how much effect social networking has with putting a few bums on seats but, when it costs zero to do so, surely you try anything?

Other than the price of tickets, I honestly can't fathom why the figures were that appalling. Here are people who I consider to be very fine actors and who are performing for Bruce James Productions who have been respected over many years for staging many popular shows to suit all tastes.

OK there was one recently I didn't enjoy, OK hated actually, but people aren't going to rave over every show they see and to be fair I've still not found a soul who did like it.

I met a man who wasn't there is a totally different kettle of fish. Journalist Amanda Schilling is visiting clairvoyant Edgar Ryme to undertake an interview. Unsurprisingly it's not as simple as that and Schilling gets far more than she bargained for from the very mysterious Ryme. But does Cathy Shipton end up being a casualty? (I know terrible pun) Does she deserves what she gets?

It's a spooky tale with a good balance of humour and drama. The story is believable (especially if you believe in ghosts) and easy to follow. Capron and Shipton deliver the fine performances you would expect.

For me there were just two issues. One is something that happens in so many plays and I hasten to add not specific to James productions. That is that the first half leading the audience to the traditional interval cliffhanger seems very drawn out.

There are plays that can have you gripped from the off, you find yourself just absorbed in proceedings. Indeed my next review will be of a show that is just that. Then there are those, like this one, where it takes quite a while for the 'scene setting' to take place.

My second issue is lack of atmosphere but this was purely down to the lack of audience. I think any play suffers from a lack of viewers and this was no exception. No oooohs, no aaahs , nobody jumping at moments when they are meant to. Between sets you are never quite sure whether to applaud or not because there's a danger somebody might just throw you a fish for your efforts. Then there's laughter  - you laugh at a line and believe you're the only one that did - was it meant to be funny? Do I have a warped sense of humour? Or did the joke just go over the heads of everybody else?

Back to that first half and it showed that the initial build up was failing to hold the attention when from high above the stage a rectangular piece of paper about 2"x1" slowly descended into the auditorium. A slow decent it was indeed because being the shape it was it just rolled over and over and fluttered gently down. It caught my eye, but when it was about half way down I remembered it was not part of the show and looked around and everybody was doing the same. I thought I was bad getting distracted by such a small thing but by sheer fluke it landed at the feet of one of the few audience members. Clearly the temptation to look at it outweighed the onstage action as she bent down to pick it up and examined it.

I know I laughed at this point. Here we are watching a ghost story involving clairvoyancy and I had to wonder if she was expecting a message from the other side?

Anyway, the few of us that were there got back to reality. Once you know who's who and Schilling's and Ryme's backgrounds have been explained this is actually an extremely enjoyable drama. As with all similar tales things are never what they seem with the characters and there are the twists and turns you expect to keep you fascinated. This makes the second half very entertaining indeed.

These are really hard times for theatre and it was somewhat heartbreaking seeing two well known 'household' names such as Brian Capron and Cathy Shipton unable to attract even a moderate audience. Even describing it as a small audience seems an exaggeration.

It really is getting to a stage where whoever decides on ticket prices has to think about whether they can be justified to continue at current levels. Not just for this show but for all shows, everywhere. 

Audience levels are getting down to pathetic numbers. Take this production as an example. Prices ranged from £13.50 to £18.50. I'm no marketing or economics expert but if a price cut of approx 30% was set making tickets £9.50 to £13.50 I'm sure the under £10 tickets would have filled a darned site more of the auditorium then we experienced and I daresay net takings would have been much higher.

It's about supply and demand. When petrol prices reached their peak and people stopped filling tanks the oil companies reduced prices. Wake up theatre land the Government is slashing arts budgets enough and if you don't start getting folks enjoying live entertainment at a price they can afford they are not going to come and once they stop it's going to be harder than ever to get them back.

Don't people in the theatre industry get together to discuss audience numbers, prices and current issues? If they don't it's high time they started otherwise we will see theatres going the same way the Public Houses have - closed, sold off, demolished or converted into trendy wine bars or housing.

If you ask anyone who goes to the theatre why they don't go so much the answer is always price of tickets. So powers that be in theatre wake up and smell the coffee because it's starting to get cold.

Cinderella Pantomime, White Rock Theatre, Hastings, Review 2010/2011

Cinderella

White Rock Theatre

Hastings

Sat 11th Dec 2010 - Sun 2nd Jan 2011

Performance seen 31st December 2010

CAST

Buttons : Jimmy Osmond
Baron Hardup : Graham Sherman
Trinny : Ben Stock
Susannah : Gareth Wilde
Cinderella : Shinead Byrne
Dandini : Matt Dempsey

Prince Charming : Matt Wilman

Fairy Godmother : Amy Anzel
Lord Chamberlain : William Banyard

Churchill : As Himself

Ensemble : Aston Bradley, Kerry Histed, Matthew Holland, Charlotte Lee, Rebecca Tutt, Kane Verrall
Juveniles : The White Rock Babes

OK that's it Cinderella mania comes to an end for me,
 at least in 2010. Now that all 3 shows have been seen each panto now has a star rating.

Having seen the star studded Eastbourne production I honestly didn't think anything was going to equal it in entertainment quality but well done to QDOS entertainment, the White Rock Theatre and the cast and team behind Cinderella for what was a brilliant end to 2010.

I was already aware this production was the only of the 3 Cinderellas I was seeing not to have a live band.

Having seen shows before where the artists sing to prerecorded music with backing vocals I have witnessed the poor quality that can occur as a result.

However, whilst I love appreciating a live band, QDOS have proved that you can have a 5 star production without employing any musicians.

This was nowhere near a capacity crowd on New Years Eve. But those that weren't pub crawling or celebrating the New Year at home with family still made up a good size appreciative audience. I do know that this show has achieved excellent audience numbers and that the final shows on 2nd Jan are fully booked. It was only the fact it was New Years Eve that this show wasn't better booked.

Jimmy Osmond was quite a coup for Hastings as the star of their pantomime, probably one of the biggest names appearing in any UK panto.

I was never in any doubt as regards to this youngest Osmond brother's singing ability. What I couldn't get my head around was how they were going to build his own well known hits into such a traditional show.

This is where a very good script comes into play. His numbers work well with the Buttons/Cinders love story and making Buttons the cabaret at the ball gives the perfect excuse for a Jimmy Osmond medley of hits.

Now I know that many Americans can't get their head around the UK love of our pantomime tradition. Jimmy Osmond is an exception having now been in large productions for the past 3 years.

Very good at panto he is too! Despite being older than me ,with his cheesy grin and seemingly permanent youthful looks he also ,rather irritatingly, looks much younger than his age.

The older members of the audience really appreciated the great vocals and nostalgic old hits. The younger audience members didn't seem to care they weren't familiar with the hits clapping along to the music and appreciating Jimmy's acting and comedy ability as well as his music.

A lady behind me explained to her daughter that Jimmy Osmond was the 60's equivalent of today's Lady GaGa or Katy Perry. Mmmmm maybe a same sex comparison may have made more sense for starters?

Jimmy coming down into the audience and singing and dancing with audience members was a part of the show that got a great reception. Although to the 3 miserable women in the front row who all passed up the chance to have a once in a lifetime experience having a quick twirl with Jimmy what were you thinking? It was well deserved that you subsequently got a ribbing from Baron Hardup (comedian Graham Sherman) for being '3 miseries'.

Like Tunbridge Wells we had to resort to the water pistols at one stage for a bit of humour. OK I do personally find this desperate, but I'm also not one of those wingers in the audience who is going to complain about a drop of water.

Besides, I found it somewhat surreal that Jimmy Osmond was standing down in the stalls right in front of me squirting me in the face. It's not something that happens every day that's for sure!

I've mentioned Graham Sherman already. I know in some reviews he has been described as the star of the show. I don't know about that as it is just a great overall production but there is absolutely no doubt he is a very funny man indeed and a real asset to this pantomime.

Comedians nearly always build a few local places into their routine. Graham is no exception but he had clearly done a lot of work into putting many familiar localities into the hilarious script. I found the vast majority of the material to be fresh, funny and yes even cringe worthy at times as many of the best jokes are.

Graham, as is tradition, undertakes the "audience call outs" and the childrens' goodie bag sections of the show which are equally professional and entertaining in delivery.

Cinders is played by a young lady with a beautiful voice, Shinead Byrne. It's a lovely, well played, role and I can't fault her performance at all. I couldn't help feeling that, unlike the other two shows, she starts off looking more like Snow White than Cinderella both in appearance and costume but that is a minor qualm.

A good moment here to mention Cinderella's coach and Shetland ponies. A beautiful way to end the first half. This is a beautifully lit coach and the cast did what Tunbridge Wells should learn. They led the lovely ponies pulling the coach on from the wings and then turned them to come towards the front of the stage so that the audience could fully appreciate them before the curtain came down.

Churchill (the well known insurance company mascot) makes an appearance in the second part of the show. The company sponsors the production and fortunately the "Oh Yes" and "Oh No" sequence is short lived.

The ugly sisters, Trinny and Susannah, are nothing short of superb. Ben Stock and Gareth Wilde look brilliant in their diverse range of wacky costumes and the rapport between these two fine actors works well throughout the show.

The great thing about this panto is that the cast ,when things don't go quite according to plan, know what to do to get even more laughs. Trinny and Susannah are masters of unscheduled mirth and Jimmy Osmond  proved why he would never have made it as a baseball pitcher as he threw props the wrong way.

Matt Dempsey and Matt Wilman are great as Dandini and Prince Charming and it made a change having an American actress, Amy Anzel, as a very glamorous Fairy Godmother.

Watching 3 versions of the same pantomime has actually been quite interesting in seeing different variations of the same theme. The Fairy Godmother role being one of the most differing. Eastbournes funny, scatty, heavily used version. Tunbridge Wells more refined 'posher' take on her with the emphasis more on vocals than on humour. Finally Hastings truly glamorous fairy, not heavily scripted, when she appears its always with a pyrotechnic flash in true fairy fashion.

Actually I think I also ought to praise here the pyrotechnics which were used on many occasions but not overused and which were very effective. Loved Jimmy Osmonds 'firework spraying' keyboard too !!

The dry ice control man at the White Rock also seemed to have better control of his 'fog' than the other theatres did.

There is also one further thing I liked about this show and that is that local kids are given the chance to have their moment of acting glory. Both the other productions use the very talented youngsters from the Deborah Lamb Theatre School. Nothing wrong with that, they are always excellent. However the local kids who had auditioned for the Hastings show did just as good as job and hopefully made many parents very proud.

This show was a pleasant surprise for us. Hastings with their 2010/2011 panto didn't just get a top quality celebrity performer. The town got a premium quality production which was well cast with a continuously entertaining script too.

Final thanks go to Jimmy Osmond for the unscheduled signing he did for Great Ormond Street Childrens Hospital. Despite not being prearranged, a crowd of people, poor lighting and his family waiting we still managed to achieve this for a worthy cause. Thanks Jimmy! If you are a fan of the Osmonds clicking my picture of Jimmy with the card will give you details of how you may wish to bid on a unique collector's item during 2011 and help sick children in the process.

The White Rock Theatre Hastings has a sad new view

Here is the White Rock Theatre just 36 hours after the arson attack which destroyed 95% of , the already derelict and closed, Hastings pier directly opposite.

Emergency vehicles were still in attendance as flames could still be seen in the front most buildings on the pier even after so many hours.

What a sad view is now to be had from the White Rock Theatre and its bar area.

Because of the disaster the theatre closed early at 4pm on 6th Oct. It would probably have benefited by staying open as many, like me, just had to see this utter devastation which is really hard to take in.

Whilst photographing the pier people were looking at the theatre's posters and saying "Oh look that's on.... lets book it!" only to find it closed. A few missed booking opportunities there as I haven't seen the seafront so busy in years.

It was reported on the news that some people had been in tears at the loss of the pier. Whilst it is very sad indeed it was the sight of thousands of now homeless starlings which brought the lump to my throat. Time after time they would swoop down to their nesting sites at the end of the pier only to come straight out again the other side. What on earth did they do to deserve that?

Will the pier have a future? It would be nice to think so. But wouldn't it be great if this ever happened that Hastings could have something different from the pier norms of kiddies rides, amusement arcades and bingo. Something that will put Hastings on the map for the right reasons rather than for reasons of crime like this.

Entertainment could be a part of that development. Yes the White Rock is opposite but as Eastbourne has proved there is a diverse range of entertainment out there.

I have posted a few pictures on here but if you click on any picture to my Flickr Page you will find many more sad tragic pictures of the arson aftermath.