Musical Geek - Musical Theatre Reviews

Coming right at you with a magnificent production of Jonathan Larson's Rent at the Dovehouse Theatre in Solihull are the aptly titled Creators Theatre Company and if this is the sort of creation they are going to conjure up on a regular basis tickets will be extremely hard to come by. 'Creators' is the brainchild of Director Richard Agg, Choreographer Suzanne Ballard-Yates and Musical Director Chris Davis who with a stellar cast have set the bar high turning the stage into an effective depiction of the derelict Manhattan East Village on multiple levels to engage and entertain a receptive audience. Matthew James's narrational performance as documentary maker Mark is slick with some fruitful use of facial expression and glances through the fourth wall, reaching multiple heights during musical numbers like La Vie Boheme and Living in America. Ash Clifford as Roger feels like an emotional timebomb, a great piece of acting and perfectly cast opposite Faye Harvey-Smith as the

Even though the performances of this cult musical (it rivals 'Rocky Horror' for me and many others !) are now sadly complete, I couldn't leave it without spreading some words of magic about what was a characterful production in the physically small yet imaginatively immense surroundings of the Old Joint Stock Theatre in Birmingham. Skid Row has never been so full of incredible character performances, topped by the two called Audrey, in a tweet I suggested that Bella Bowen was sublime as the human Audrey, somewhat battered and scarred by her ill-judged relationship with a dentist (more of him later) and I could almost see that pain in her eyes and her nervous reaction to every interaction. Don't think I did Bella justice and I am not sure I have the word to describe how good this performance was (not even mentioning a super powerful vocal) but, let me try with magnificent, that seems to make the point I want to. Matt Bond's human manifestation of the plant, Audrey II