College Productions

[Dr Tom]

Big Fish - Mountview

Loved this! Seen at the first matinee performance in one of the nicest small theatres in London.

For some reason, I had the whole of the front row to myself. The second row was not so well populated either, but some people moved down after the interval. The rest of the theatre was pretty full. Lots of friends and family of the students in and I know they don't always like to sit in a conspicuous spot.

The band is in the wings, so the front row has plenty of leg room, and there are scenes played out on the floor, right in front.

I've only seen Big Fish once before, which was the Kelsey Grammar starring production. I remember enjoying it, but hoping for more. Going into this version, which is performed on a set made up mostly of cardboard boxes, I could see all the charm of the show. The lady behind me was sobbing uncontrollable at the end.

This is an MA production, so you also get the advantage of having students of a variety of ages, some with wider experience, some who have specialised more in music or have studied elsewhere and are there to take the next step. This shows in the standard of students on stage, even more so than with the undergraduates.

I hesitate to single people out, but Daniel Chettoe (who played Will Bloom) has a beautiful voice. His role is not double cast, but otherwise, I saw the Hero cast. There were several people in the cast who I believe deserve to have careers in the industry and, as always, I wish everyone success.

My only regret is this is only on for six performances and I'm struggling to work in a repeat viewing. All top class.

[Talisman]

Lamda are doing Into the Woods in July prior to taking it to Edinburgh festival

[capybara]

Big Fish (Mountview)

Another excellent student production as the talented Dragon cast at Mountview take on Andrew Lippa’s spirited adaptation of the 1998 novel. Although the film released five years later is perhaps better known, I have never seen it so went into this totally blind.

This was a really enjoyable piece, genuinely moving at times and a compelling story to see unfold. Oliver Lidert’s direction, in collaboration with Tara Young’s choreography, is vibrant and energetic, while the cast is stacked with talent.

Frankie Bounds puts in a masterful performance as dad Edward Bloom to the point that you forget he is portraying a character presumably about three decades his junior. His delivery of the dialogue is perfect and he gives a strong vocal performance to complement that also.

Meanwhile, Daniel Chettoe makes for an excellent Will, covering a range of ages across his father’s life. Guro Elethon is great as mum Sandra and a special mention ought to go to Nida Savage who brought the house down during the Witch’s Act One number.

Overall, with no knowledge of the source material or Broadway production, I thought this was a really strong production with excellent individual performances.

[Talisman]

Booking open for Into Woods at Lamda in July . They have lovely well raked theatre and productions are usually of a very high standard

Also at Southwark Playhouse by National Youth Music Theatre in Aug. Again usually very impressive.

[topaz]

Booked for Into The Woods at both RAM and LAMDA, but think that may be my limit for the summer - especially as they were both under £15 and the NYMT one is £35!

[Talisman]

Pleased to hear that
I really enjoyed Spring Awakening at RAM but I feel the play is far more powerful

[thistimetomorrow]

does lambda do a musical theatre course now? or is it still their straight acting students doing a musical?

[Talisman]

They are doing a Master of Fine Arts course in musical theatre

[FrontroverPaul]

West End Masterclass Showcase at Orchard West Theatre Dartford Friday 26 July at 7pm. " Come and see tomorrow's stars of the West End as they present their final showcase performance"


Not strictly speaking a college production (I think) but this show is COMPLETELY FREE. Just opened for booking, choose your seat(s), not even a booking fee. Part of the inaugural Dartford Music Festival.

[Talisman]

Enjoyed great production of Into Woods at RAM with outstanding exuberant Jack and aggressive Red Riding Hood. Production included occasional interruptions from stage manager which didn’t work for me. Sound balance rather variable as it was for spring awakening.

[topaz]

Also really enjoyed this last night! Agree that Talia Mai's Red Riding Hood was outstanding, and also wasn't totally sold on the stage management. Madeleine Morgan, playing the Baker's Wife, recently won the Student Sondheim Performer of the Year award for her Moments in the Woods, which was indeed a highlight - although I'd maybe have given it to Josh Rosewood by a hair, who was also shortlisted for his Finishing the Hat and who I saw recently in Mountview's Sunday. Otherwise, I enjoyed Chad St Louis' Witch and Christina Licatalosi's Cinderella a lot.

I'm really grateful to this board for introducing me to and keeping me aware of these productions - I can't believe I've seen three fully staged Sondheims already this year!

[Talisman]

Jun 28, 2024 10:26:01 GMT topaz said:

Also really enjoyed this last night! Agree that Talia Mai's Red Riding Hood was outstanding, and also wasn't totally sold on the stage management. Madeleine Morgan, playing the Baker's Wife, recently won the Student Sondheim Performer of the Year award for her Moments in the Woods, which was indeed a highlight - although I'd maybe have given it to Josh Rosewood by a hair, who was also shortlisted for his Finishing the Hat and who I saw recently in Mountview's Sunday. Otherwise, I enjoyed Chad St Louis' Witch and Christina Licatalosi's Cinderella a lot.

I'm really grateful to this board for introducing me to and keeping me aware of these productions - I can't believe I've seen three fully staged Sondheims already this year!

[Talisman]

LAMDA also doing Woods

[thistimetomorrow]

For anyone who's seen Into the woods at RAM and bought a program, please could you post a picture of the cast list and/or type one up? The fiver for a paper thin program at RAM is just not worth it

[topaz]

This is only half-helpful as it's just Cast A (both Thursday shows, Saturday 7pm) and there is a Cast B where some but not all people swap - I also couldn't justify the fiver so asked a neighbour to take a photo of theirs but only got the one page!

Baker - Tom Newland
Mysterious Man - Zach Burns
Baker's Wife - Madeleine Morgan
Witch - Chad Saint Louis
Steward - Anna Eckhard
Cinderella - Christina Licatalosi
Jack - Cormac Diamond
Little Red Riding Hood - Talia Mai
Wolf/Narrator - Sebastian Diaquoi
Rapunzel - Mafalda Falcao
Cinderella's Stepmother - Amelia Rose
Florinda - Valentine Fauste-Gay
Lucinda - Paulina de Pavia
Cinderella's Prince - Kristian Thorkildsen
Rapunzel's Prince - Christian Clark
Jack's Mother, Granny, Cinderella's Mother, Giant's Voice - Naarah
Milky White - Madeleine Jackson-Smith

[capybara]

Into The Woods (RAM)

This Royal Academy of Music production of the Stephen Sondheim classic was fantastic. Really, really good. Probably the best student production I’ve ever seen, although of course Sondheim’s captivating score lays a pretty spectacular foundation.

Bruce Guthrie’s directional choices were understated but worked really well, with several comedic nods to the fact this was indeed a staged production of a show, allowing events to transcend into ‘reality’. It wasn’t consuming but added an extra layer of light comedy to the James Lapine’s book. I also couldn’t tear my eyes away from Ben Hartley’s choreography, especially during the ensemble numbers.

And on that, Into The Woods is a stunning piece of ensemble musical theatre. It’s impossible to pick individuals out for praise but I’m going to try, starting with Talia Mai as Little Red Riding Hood. I just know I’m going to be thinking about that performance for a long while; the character was vibrant and hilarious.

Zach Burns and Madeleine Jackson-Smith Borough great chemistry as the Baker and his wife, Anna Eckhard was a genuinely enchanting Witch, while Kristian Thorkildsen and Christian Clark were side-splitting as Cinderella and Rapunzel’s princes’. Also worth adding the 15-piece orchestra sounded absolutely sumptuous in the gorgeous surrounds of RAM’s Susie Sainsbury Theatre.

This was my first production of Into The Woods. I’ve always loved the score but now I’m totally in love with the show. I can’t wait to see future productions, student or professional. It doesn’t matter; it’s just so good.

[Steve]

Jun 28, 2024 10:48:18 GMT topaz said:

It's just Cast A (both Thursday shows, Saturday 7pm)

Baker - Tom Newland
Baker's Wife - Madeleine Morgan
Witch - Chad Saint Louis
Cinderella - Christina Licatalosi
Jack - Cormac Diamond
Little Red Riding Hood - Talia Mai
Wolf/Narrator - Sebastian Diaquoi
Cinderella's Prince - Kristian Thorkildsen
Rapunzel's Prince - Christian Clark

I saw Cast A on Thursday, so thanks for that lol.

The whole cast was utterly delightful, and this was a very entertaining show from start to finish!

The comedy was exceptionally strong with Talia Mai's hilarious, tiny, prancing, darting, wide-eyed, avaricious, assertive, super-screechy, smartphone-obsessed Little Red Riding Hood, who made Sebastian Diaquoi's sneaky, charming, conspiratorial wolf look like he bit off WAY more than he could chew, despite her being the smallest cast member lol.

The comedy was also strong with Kristian Thorkildsen's Prince Charming, a cardboard cut-out, Kevin-Kline clone, strutting stiffly and showing off at every opportunity, his manner and performance putting me in mind of Henry Shield's Chris Bean at his most brazenly arrogant but without any of the self-consciousness.

The comedy was strong too with Cormac Diamond's Jack, a kind of cross between an uber-sensitive, teary, flame-haired Luke Thallon/Ben Whishaw type, who like Michael Palin's Monty Python accountant aspires to be a "lion-tamer."

The drama and the music were especially strong with Madeleine Morgan's Baker's Wife, whose every thought could be discerned in the micro-expressions of her empathetic face, even as she sang her songs with ultimate heart and feeling.

The drama, the music and the comedy too were all present in Chad Saint Louis's forceful, feisty, aggressive, belting Witch, who cut a camp scheming, entertaining thrust through the entire thrall of players.

Among the other ensemble, Tom Newland as the Baker was likeable and tuneful, Christina Licatalosi's Cinderella was a near match for all the empathetic powerful melodic singing that Morgan brought to the Baker's Wife, and Christian Clark's Prince enhanced the comedy of the two prancing Princes with some wonderful off-the-wall line readings. Both Princes' backward horse-riding, and dashing forward dismounts were also ever a hoot.

All in all, an excellent, entertaining "Into the Woods," meriting 4 stars from me.

[Being Alive]

Interesting production of Into The Woods at RAM today that was not without it's issues (but what production of Into the woods isn't without issues 😂)

I've no idea the cast I saw as I didn't buy a programme so if anyone can help with names that'd be great.

A lot of the modernisation really worked - having Little Red using Google maps to get to grannies was hysterical, the Stepsisters voguing was great and lots of other small choices.

The main issue was the Narrator was very sick, and as such could not sing at all. He could barely speak. This also made his multi rolling as the Wolf a disaster, as he did not sing a single line of Hello Little Girl and this...it was eggy as hell. I appreciate agents etc were probably in, but they should have subbed someone else in from the other cast because he just...had no voice at all.

The framing device worked at times but didn't work at others - and it was a bit of a cop out for Act 2 as it starts turning into a slasher flick (but other than the Terry Gilliam production at Bath, no production of Into The Woods has been brave enough to properly go dark enough with Act 2)

That said, I thought most of the cast were great - particularly loved Cinderella, the Baker and Little Red, and the Witch had some great moments (including a pretty good transformation tbh)
Bakers Wife took some time to warm up, but really found her stride in Act 2.

Great to hear the orchestra absolutely smashing this score out of the park - so great to hear such talented musicians playing Sondheim to its fullest, and you always get that at RAM.

3 stars from me, but I had a nice afternoon.

[topaz]

Jun 30, 2024 21:01:27 GMT Being Alive said:

Interesting production of Into The Woods at RAM today that was not without it's issues (but what production of Into the woods isn't without issues 😂)

I've no idea the cast I saw as I didn't buy a programme so if anyone can help with names that'd be great.

A lot of the modernisation really worked - having Little Red using Google maps to get to grannies was hysterical, the Stepsisters voguing was great and lots of other small choices.

The main issue was the Narrator was very sick, and as such could not sing at all. He could barely speak. This also made his multi rolling as the Wolf a disaster, as he did not sing a single line of Hello Little Girl and this...it was eggy as hell. I appreciate agents etc were probably in, but they should have subbed someone else in from the other cast because he just...had no voice at all.

The framing device worked at times but didn't work at others - and it was a bit of a cop out for Act 2 as it starts turning into a slasher flick (but other than the Terry Gilliam production at Bath, no production of Into The Woods has been brave enough to properly go dark enough with Act 2)

That said, I thought most of the cast were great - particularly loved Cinderella, the Baker and Little Red, and the Witch had some great moments (including a pretty good transformation tbh)
Bakers Wife took some time to warm up, but really found her stride in Act 2.

Great to hear the orchestra absolutely smashing this score out of the park - so great to hear such talented musicians playing Sondheim to its fullest, and you always get that at RAM.

3 stars from me, but I had a nice afternoon.

If you were at the matinee then you’ll have had capybara’s cast, above — I think the issue is that only some parts (Witch/Steward, Baker’s Wife/Milky White, Baker/Mysterious Man) were doubled, and some were the same for both casts, including the narrator.

[loopyjohn]

I found this post on X helped with working out the cast that I saw on Friday:

Only a few roles were double cast and you can work it out from the bio photos. I'm not sure why RAM don't make a cast list available online like some of the other colleges.

There are a few nice photos of the production in RAM's own post here:
mobile.x.com/RoyalAcadMusic/status/1806719364298580352

[Being Alive]

Ahhh, that'll be why they couldn't sub the narrator out!
He was REALLY sick and it was quite distracting if I'm honest.

[Dr Tom]

Into The Woods - RAM

I liked it, didn’t love it. There were some talented individual performers, but it was also quite a slog (3 hours 5 minutes with a 15 minute interval). There were some really unfunny bits with a stage manager coming on stage and the use of a map GPS speaking app. Well, unfunny to me.

I did feel rather sorry for Sebastien Diaquoi, the type of very good looking person who instantly draws your eye, and has an excellent CV. I’m sure they will get work in London. Problem is, their voice was gone, the worst time this can happen when it’s your graduation production.

Thanks for the cast list post, but I’m still not sure of the who played the doubled parts. The Witch was the standout for me.

[Someone in a tree]

Into the woods @ RAM

I had high hopes for this as Bruce Guthrie directed a stunning Merrily in this venue previously. His Woods was over choreographed and played way too much for laughs. I got sick of that bit of scaffolding geting wheeled around and the whole thing seemed really long. But my four friends all loved it!

[Talisman]

RAM
Hansel and Gretel opera
19 - 22 Nov

[peterbrook]

I'm looking forward to seeing "Into The Woods" (my favourite musical) at the LAMDA college next week. The ticket prices are remarkably low and there is always the likelihood of spotting some stars of the future. Tickets seem still to be available on the LAMDA website.