South Yorkshire Times 27th January
The `Girl Friend´ by the Conisborough Church Operatic Society
For every cinematic usurptation there is a reprisal from the hydra headed amateur theatre. Shutter the local theatre and immediately half a dozen amateur societies will spring up to carry on imperilled tradition.
At Conisbrough, for instance, there is still a large eager appetite for musical comedy, and they are well served by the local Church Operatic Society which for five nights this week is giving “The Girl Friend” in the church Hall. The same sort of thing is happening everywhere: the public is starved and then amateur societies steps in to nourish them.
“The Girl Friend” (by R.P.Western and Bert Lee) was my introduction to the Conisbrough society and I straight away admired the company which is small, and many members of it have no great experience; and they work in a Hall, which can be called “intimate” or “cramped” according to taste. Actually, for musical comedy purposes cramped is the only word: almost anywhere in the auditorium you could read an evening paper in the glare of the footlights.
Right Spirit.
But the society has plenty of the right spirit and though few in numbers is not afraid of tackling a big job. The principles are young, and any lack of maturity in their style is compensated for by enthusiasm. In a year or two they will be able to stand comparison with the best companies in their district.
“The Girl Friend” was a good choice. It involves neither colossal sets nor a big cast, and it gives abundant opportunities for colour in costume and backdrops. Many of the tunes are excellent and of the sort that the memory immediately grips. A weak plot is never the ruin of this type of show, but here we have one which is more strongly drawn than most, and on a theme so popular for years that there is no reason to believe it will pall now. Put simply, it is this: A is married to (or in love with) B, but is compromised by C, who is really very innocent and is in love with D. Then minor principles and chorus are paired off until the alphabet is exhausted.
The whole show is done to a prediction which makes it worth a guinea a box or two shillings for a seat in the stalls. Everything that musical comedy should have “The Girl Friend” gives; almost every chance “the girlfriend” offers the Conisbrough society takes.
Overcoming Difficulties.
I have one regret. It seemed a pity that some of the dancing should have been unambitious. Obviously it is that the dance designer was limited by this stage (a difficulty often admirably overcome), but now and again the principles shoold havegot further away from the conventional. Some of them were perhaps not too confident and lacked gaiety and abandon, but it seemed to me that there were moments when a little more hot dinners and enterprise would be welcome. This mild objection does not refer to the chorus, which under the cramped conditions was used very intelligently and effectively.
In fact the chorus were well handled in every department. They had overflowing spirit in their singing, were agreeably unified in their mass manoeuvering, and did better than many choristers in following the songs and dialogue of the principles with appropriate action. There was no smiling at uncle on the back row when some principle was lying on the rack of disappointed love.
Outstanding Singing.
One of the outstanding qualities of this Society is their singing. All the leading playershad agreeable voices of good strength, and in the group scenes there was always plenty of force and resonance. Not one tune was done half-heartedly; the company gave the songs all they had.
The Society are fortunate to have at call as producer, Mr Jack Snelgrove (who is also producer of the Mexborough operatic society). Mr Snelgrove is not only one of the most able musical comedy actors in the district, but he has had considerable and varied experience in production. “The Girl Friend” bears many of the characteristic marks. There is snap and polish about the show; everything is well timed: there is a chromium plated quality in the neatness and brightness of it all.
His achievement is particularly worth noticing. In view of the fact that he undertook “the Girl Friend” with four newcomers to principal parts. Now these young actors thoroughly deserved their promotion from chorus obscurity; they are keen and gifted. But in musical comedy, where heavy demands are made on all leading players (demands for almost everything theatrical – singing, elocution, dancing, Department, the advantageous displaying of costume), nothing counts so much as experience. Mr Snelgrove has turned them into extremely useful actors. He has done one of his best jobs
Economy in the printing of the program makes it rather hard for me to do justice to the individual players. It is customary for societies to include in the program a synopsis of the songs and dances, but this the Conisbrough Society did not do, and I found it very difficult to apportion credit, as I guessed at tune titles and struggled to remember a face. Perhaps next year we can have a full programme.