Winghaven Park (workshop)

Quite the cast - booked immediately.

Between the inaudible acoustics of St Paul’s Church and director Gabrielle Barre’s incessant talking while sat in the row directly behind me, it would be somewhat difficult to reach an informed view about this new musical, performed as an on-book workshop to the public.

There were a couple of decent numbers in Lisa Peretti’s score but unfortunately the vast majority was entirely forgettable. Peretti’s book scenes do not fare much better, with much of the script held together by glibly cliched dialogue.

But given the state of the acoustics in the venue, it was not always possible for me to gauge what was going on regardless. Summer Strallen sang and spoke with the most clarity and gave a solid performance as Vera Webster.

But she didn’t have much to work with. Nor did love interest Jim (Jamie Muscato) or Victoria Hamilton-Barrett’s character Lily. Some of the cast were completely inaudible and the sound mix was atrocious. It was also a shame that Charlotte Kennedy was given so little to do.

Aside from the acoustics, for a show advertised to run at 2 hours 10 minutes (including a 15-minute ‘intermission’), the alarm bells were starting to ring when we only reached the interval after 85 minutes. Not great in a church with uncomfortable wooden pews for seating and a hugely irritating director chatting throughout over my shoulder.

The little choreography that we saw was lacklustre and many in the audience appeared visibly bored; a great shame considering the strength of the show’s leading cast members. After the tedium of an almost 90-minute Act One, I cut my losses and walked off into the rain-soaked West End.

I’d be surprised if this show has any sort of future and would be grateful for anyone who stuck it out to cover off the gist of the narrative for those who simply could not hear. One star.

I’ll disagree somewhat with posters above.

I enjoyed it. There was a quaint old-school warmth to this piece. The music was pretty if not bombastic (with a couple of lovely soaring numbers). I actually cared about the characters - even though some had very little “screen time”. It has the vibe of an old film you know well.

Strallen is gorgeous vocally and as a presence. Muscato can read an address book for all I care. 😂

Technical aspects. I was sat at the front and had no major issues following anything except for a few missed mic cues and the general echo-iness of the church. Thankfully everyone in the audience was very quiet around us.

The book was a little clunky at times but I prefer to be generous with workshops. This can work as a cosy small chamber piece of theatre. Very old school and pretty.

If you like to sit near the front I recommend you aim to be in the queue well before doors open at 7.15. I arrived at 7.25, long queue, got in at 7.35 and best I could get was more than half way back.

Of course church pews aren't tiered, sightlines are poor and it's very uncomfortable. I sat on a kneeling cushion at first but that was almost as bad as the seat. I noticed a couple of people near me had brought their own cushions, a good idea if it's practical to do so.

I did  enjoy the show, if someone had told me it was a revival from the 1940s or 1950s I would totally have believed them, it had that vibe. A very undemanding, very traditional U certificate musical.

The main child star, Maisie Mardle, was a stand out performer along with the fabulous  Summer Strallen. Jamie Muscato doesn't have a huge amount of stage time. The sound was really awful at first, did improve but hard to make out every word. 

The handout gave the running time as 2 hours 10 minutes, the opening announcement corrected it to 2 hours 15, the reality was 2 hours 40. Surely they must have known from rehearsals that the first act was around 85 minutes and the second 55 minutes plus a 15/20 minute interval. A handful of people did leave at the interval and I was one of many who hurried out at the end to guarantee catching a train half an hour later than the one I expected though at least the rain had stopped by then.

I thought this was really good this afternoon. A particular standout performance from Summer Strallen but everyone in the cast did great. Some lovely music and a sweet story. Sure there’s work to be done but for a new musical presentation I really enjoyed it.
I sat right at the front by the speaker so I could hear everything very clearly.

After reading the comments and with my thoughts there is a definite split in opinions, it seems to be down to where you were sat! The people who enjoyed it with no sound problems etc… were all at the front and those encountering problem and don’t enjoy it were sat on the sides or towards the back!

I was in the middle / close to the front and thought it was pretty terrible!