06/09/2021
A good, honest review in Music Teacher Magazine this month for our children's panto.
Musicals Reviews: Matilda & Camelot
Sarah Lambie
Wednesday, September 1, 2021
Sarah Lambie reviews two musicals for primary school students: Roald Dahl's Matilda the Musical Jr., published by Music Theatre International, and A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to Camelot: A Pantomime from Edgy Productions.
A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to Camelot: A Pantomime
by Mark and Lisa Hilton
Meanwhile, Edgy Productions have brought out a new pantomime for school performances: A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to Camelot: A Pantomime, written by Mark and Lisa Hilton and available to perform at a rather lower licence fee of £36 if not charging admission, or £42 if selling tickets. This fun new show hits all the expected panto moments while telling a different story to the usual Aladdins and Cinderellas.
The young Arthur pulls the sword out of the stone, much to his surprise, and heads to Camelot to take up his throne, only to find that his elder sister Morgana is (quite reasonably, as the eldest child) trying to usurp him and marry the treacherous Mordred in order to become queen. Some of this may seem familiar, but Arthur's panto-dame foster mother (just called ‘Mum’) is a jolly addition, as is ‘Gobby’, waitress at the Good Knight Inn, and the gaggle of actors disappointed to be playing trees (again). The show features all the favourite panto tropes (a spooky wood where the monsters turn out to be more afraid of the dame than vice-versa, ‘it's behind you!’ and lots of booing for the baddie, Morgana) – and there is also a good repeating gag in which a couple of furniture delivery men keep trying to deliver a round table and are sent away because they're too early.
As in other Edgy Productions, there's quite a lot of text – some wordy lines and plenty to learn for some characters, however a confident group could definitely pull it off to the great enjoyment of themselves and the adults in the audience. There are helpful tips for teachers in the book, including ideas for staging, costume, audience seating, and for increasing or reducing the cast size. In this latter case, the writers are refreshingly un-precious about new lines being written in the style of the scene in order to involve more performers. They are also directly contactable by email for further tips.
The songs in A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to Camelot are as varied in style and engaging to sing as in other Edgy Productions shows. Performers and audiences will love the homage to Britney Spears' Toxic, to YMCA and to The Addams Family Theme, as well as to Bach's Toccata and Fugue in D Minor. Kids will enjoy singing all the numbers, but perhaps in particular ‘Monster Munchies' in which they can legitimately shout a lot of the lines rather than singing them! Guinevere's solo ‘Rescue Me’ mostly covers little more than a third in range, which is a shame, but comes to life more in the chorus, however ‘Morgana the Queen’ is a winner. Opening with an ‘80s power ballad feel which drops into a rock ‘n’ roll classic, it would be enormous fun for a young actor to perform and has the added bonus of some healthy feminist sentiment!
A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to Camelot is published by Edgy Productions. It is available to licence for £36 if not charging admission, or £42 if selling tickets.
www.edgyproductions.com
