AN impressive roll-call of musicals graced C Venues this year – among them some obscure productions which haven't quite landed yet in the UK, either in the West End or among the amateur circuit's repertoire.
Patch of Blue Theatre Company return with an mesmerising show, which is about more than just spelling words. Like the documentary Spellbound, it explores the delicate psyches of children who are primed to ask for definition, sentence usage and language of origin even before they blink or breathe.
The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee Tony award-winning musical starts with a song (what else?!) while the characters roam the small attic auditorium like caged beasts before their teacher's nostalgic prologue. Audience participation is part of the fun and on entering everyone is asked if they'd "like to be a speller today" – delivered in the chipper accent adopted by customer service personnel across the States.
The young performers create a formidable choral sound and their harmonies are just brilliant. Slick and contemporary choreography (with a heavy dose of irony at all times) bring the often close-to-the-bone numbers to life, with live orchestration making the show an even more pleasing offering.
Character-wise, we have the over-achiever, the dreamer, the misfit, the reigning champ, the crowd-pleaser and the foot freak: their stories are revealed and with revelation comes understanding of the plight of each. The ensemble acting is superb and, even if some of the vocals were getting strained at the end of a month-long run, the emotions and nuances created in the final few scenes will leave a tear in your eye and a dictionary in your hand for a long time to come. Catch their last performance today (6.45pm, C+2).
Down in the C Venues basement, things are a little bit more batty, as Durham University Light Opera Group present Bat Boy, a lesser-known musical in the mock genre of The Rocky Horror Picture Show or Return to the Forbidden Planet. The vocals, especially the mother and daughter lead duo, are fantastic at times and the score is lively and interesting but the balance of the show is not quite there.
The serious faces, bad costuming and stark staging are confusing at first, and so fail to bring to life the necessary graphic comic elements, which would transform the show from the surreal to the sublime.
However, as a chance to catch a show that may not emerge from the darkness for quite some time, but has "cult status" written all over it, it is definitely worth a look.
Also ends today (9.05pm, C-1).
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