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Basingstoke Amateur Theatrical Society
The Haymarket
Until November 24

ONE of the most rewarding things about regularly attending BATS's excellent productions is the joy of watching stars of the future come to the fore.

The company regularly alters the hardworking amateurs who play the principal roles - and, for Carousel, there is a brace of gems in the leads.

These performers will send shivers down your spine as you hear their pitch-perfect renditions of classic, but quite tricky, numbers like If I Loved You, Mister Snow and What's the Use of Wond'rin'?

Experienced new director for the company, Andy Reiss, opens with a great dialogue-free prologue at an amusement park, where drunken sailors mingle with the locals and a bear, before carousel barker Billy Bigelow (David Allard) meets delicate Julie Jordan (Charlotte Barnes).

Her own best friend Carrie Pipperidge (Clare Ryan) is in love with the rather more dependable Enoch Snow (a hilarious Gary J Myers), and Carrie can only watch as Julie's relationship with Billy causes her no end of heartache, anguish which is expressed through some of Rogers and Hammerstein's finest songs.

Although Carousel is almost a sure thing in that its dramatic plot and innately terrific musical numbers make it many people's favourite musical, BATS have really pulled off a triumph.

You'll feel genuine emotion as you watch Allard's hardened Billy completely melt and then come alive during the soliloquy My Boy Bill - it's the first time he properly smiles - or when you listen to Barnes' heartbreaking acknowledgement that her man will never change.

The brilliant Clare Ryan is a real find, her expressive eyes dancing, and her accent never wavering, throughout her first-class performance.

You'll laugh, you may cry - especially when Rita Duncanson delivers the immortal You'll Never Walk Alone - and you'll feel your spirit lifting thanks to the immense gusto of the choruses and real artistic ambition of this production.

In among many elaborate scene changes, it even recreates the film's ballet number from the beach where Billy and Julie's daughter Louise (Lydia Thomson) dances with a carnival boy (Bryn Hughes).

The programme, which has lovely rehearsal shots of the entire cast of locals who work so hard in their free time, very interestingly includes a breakdown of the full cost of your ticket and where your money goes.

By this evidence, BATS is worth every penny. Basingstoke should be proud to call the company its own.

Tickets are available from the box office on 01256 844244.

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