White Rock Theatre, Hastings  10 April

 Bill Kenwright’s touring version of Joseph has a lot going for it. The large cast provide both the ample choral force and the individual characters, all of whom are convincingly created and warmly appreciated. The text carries well, even if somewhat over-amplified, and the humour makes its mark. The staging is simple but magnificent, with a lighting rig many amateur performers would give anything for.

Some numbers are particularly well done.  The twenties pastiche for Potiphar and the western One more angel  both score highly in terms of vocal aplomb and dancing. When it was first conceived Elvis was still very much alive and working, but today the presence of the ‘King’ does not quite have the same impact as it appears to be a characterisation of a cartoon memory of Elvis rather than an homage. But all of this passes slickly and enjoyably by.

The problem lies with the casting of Joseph himself. While it was obvious many in the audience knew who Keith Jack was from his television history, those of us who tend only to see live performances were somewhat uneasy. He sings quite well, though without any sense of emotional impact or moulding a musical line to create character. But his inability to act or dance was only too quickly heightened by the high quality of the work around him. When the story line effectively came to an end and the company set out to enjoy a knees-up reprieve of all the best bits, Keith Jack vanished from the stage, only to return for a slow rendition of his hit number.

I accept that TV series can help to build audiences, but it is disconcerting to find that the weakest member of the ensemble is a better dancer than the lead. BH

White Rock Theatre Hastings, 24 April

Ballet designers and choreographers love to include balls and grand occasions to allow the dancers to display their expertise. Swan Lake is no exception opening with a series of varied dance styles, with the heroine Odette the leader of the swans not appearing until Act 2 (in theatre parlance a  ‘nine o’clock spot’.) Very well worth waiting for she was, played by the delightful and diminutive Ryoko Yacyu.

With the familiar Tchaikovsky score, it was immediately obvious that the dancers are accustomed to working to electronic music. Following the original choreography of Marius Petipa,  Prince Siegfried, Richard Hackett, meets Odette by the lake of the title, when she explains how she and her friends have been turned into swans by the wicked magician Rothbart, to be restored only by the love of a prince.

The dual role of Odette/Odile, traditionally the one in white tutu, the other in black, has brought fame to prima ballerinas from its premiere in 1877 with the revered Pierrina Legnani, in the 20th century Alicia Markova, Margot Fonteyn, and Darcy Bussell, and today Ryoko, who created an instant rapport with the audience.  In a company of all-round ability, outstanding was the youthful athleticism of Italian Francesco Bruni as the Jester, and the quartet Jodie McKnight, Akiho Sakuraba, Felicity Ramsay and Annie Cannon, who presented as a vital part of the story the frequently-parodied Dance of the Cygnets.

The happy ending was greeted by the audience with resounding applause. MW

Jazz Breakfast  St Mary in the Castle Sunday 15 April

With her sparkling personality and instant rapport with her audience, imported from Hibernia via her Polish parentage and now resident in this area Magdalena is truly multi-faceted, and her programme reflected this.

The combination of Magdalena’s harp with Steve Thompson’s double-bass and Terry Seabrook’s  keyboard under the title  Blue Cafe Jazz is intriguingly original. Certainly the solos of all three, integrated into the action, were much appreciated by an audience obviously in tune with the jazz idiom.

Magdalena’s professionalism based on intimate contact with her audience reached those at the rear of the auditorium as readily as those in the tables at the front. Beginning with a Polish melody Dzigo Roza, she demonstrated her expertise on the harp in her own compositions, changing to a set of familiar standards.  Terry and Steve were dominant in The Waiting Game, the trio closing the first half with a hit from The Sound of Music, My Favourite Things.

Openng the second half Magdelena gave the full treatment to the ballad The Nearness of You, the second chorus in jazzed-up format, leading into an up-tempo version of the  Al Jolson number Bye Bye Blackbird.  A harp solo was the wistful reminder of the Jacobite era Charlie is My Darling, the trio joining for My Love is Like a Red, Red Rose.  Terry at the keyboard sequed into Autumn Leaves, Steve joining for the second chorus, Magdalena following for The End of Love.

Magdalena bowed to the audience’s request for more with a sympathetic treatment of Edith Piaf’s signature La Vie en Rose, repeated in the English version Take me to You Heart Again.     
A greatly applauded first visit by this unique trio to St Marys with hopefully more to come.

The next Jazz Breakfast is on Sunday May 20, welcoming the return of vocalist Tina May.  Admission  £8, members £7. MW

 Rye College Sunday 22 April   Donald Mackenzie

Exchanging the Metropolitan aura of the organ of the Odeon Leicester Square for the blossoming spring of the Rye countryside, Donald Mackenzie opened his programme on Rye’s Wurlitzer with a selection from Broadway musicals, Cabaret, Hello Dolly, Everything’s Coming up Roses from Gipsy. Then came a whistle-stop tour of Western Europe with Tulips from Amsterdam,  Sous les Toits de Paris, Funicule Funicula, Anton Karas’s Harry Lime Theme,  Falling in love Again, ever associated with Marlene Dietrich, That’s Amore, and a foot-tapping selection of Strauss Waltzes ending topically with Voices of Spring.

Jack Strachey, famous for These Foolish Things, wrote other hits as well.  Donald chose In Party Time, remembered as the introduction to BBC’s Housewives’ Choice.   A selection of Gracie Fields’ favourites began with Sing as We Go, Sally, the comedy number I Took My Harp to a Party, Now is the Hour, The Isle of Capri, Wish Me Luck as You Wave Me Goodbye, and ended with Everything Stops for Tea appropriately announcing the interval.

The second half opened from Eric Coates’s suite The Three Elizabeths,  the topical Springtime in Angus, and the third movement now termed Youth of Britain.  Jerome Kern contributed numbers from the scores of Showboat and the Astaire-Rogers  Swingtime,  Look for the Silver Lining,  Smoke gets in Your Eyes, Why Do I Love You,  Can’t Help Lovin’ that Man, Let Yourself Go, All the Things You Are and Ole Man River.

A request item was Highland Cathedral (not penned by a Scot but two German tunesmiths).  Donald ended with a reminder of the music of  Noel Gay, the public persona of Reginald Armitage, organist of Wakefield Cathedral, The Sun Has Got His Hat On (a Thirties film number for comedian Jack Hulbert but with renewed popularity in the West End revival of Me and My Girl,)  The Fleet’s in Port Again, Hey Little Hen, and most of all The Lambeth Walk.     MW