LUCKY
STIFF
Directed by Liz Ritson and
Lorraine Keenan
CAST
John Preston
Francesca Leigh
Natalie Crompton
Daniel Ellison
Dax Owen
Joanna Gillespie
Tim Redmond
Joanne Cunliffe
Martin Pearce
Debbie Smith
Hannah Liddle
Alan Levesley
Natalie Mortimer
Nicola Stringfellow
Lorraine Sullivan
Alice Hallidy
Chorley Guardian review : Vanessa Taylor
Chorley Guardian Review by Vanessa Taylor
IF you've not yet got your tickets to see this show, then
hurry because you really don't want to miss this evening of
sheer entertainment.
It takes a lot for me to give up a summer evening, even if
the weather isn't brilliant, and to be quite honest a
'musical farce' is not my cup of tea when it comes to
theatre.
However, this show changed my perspective completely.
It was fun, and fast, slick and pacy it made you laugh, the
music was excellent and the quality of the cast was a joy.
All the pre-show hype, quite rightly, centred around
musical director Karl Pendlebury who was back in his home
town hot from the West End and working with stars such as
Elaine Paige, Wayne Sleep, Barbara Dickson, Michael Ball,
Glenn Close and John Barrowman.
It was quite a coup for CADOS to have him involved in the
show and there is no doubt that the music was absolutely
fantastic, it really was the best music I've heard in a
production at Chorley Little Theatre.
But whether the music inspired the cast, or whether
director Liz Ritson was inspired when she chose her cast I
don't know, but it really was the best cast I've seen for
sometime.
The principal characters, the ensemble who played several
characters and the dancers all set such a high standard.
John Preston was brilliant as the hapless Harry
Witherspoon, Francesca Leigh was a delight as Annabel
Glick, Natalie Crompton excelled as the 'moll' Rita La
Porta, Daniel Ellison put his all into Vinny Di Ruzzio,
Joanna Gillespie was great as the 'sexy' Dominique du
Monaco, Tim Redmond was good as Luigi Gaudi and Dax Owen
was wonderful as 'The Stiff'.
The set was brilliantly designed, different levels making
up for the lack of room, and all centred round the three
piece band.
If you don't see any other show this summer, don't miss
this one, it really does underline just how much talent
there is in town.
