Honk! The Ugly Duckling Musical - What WE Say...

On a cold and rainy Friday night I took my eldest, my friend and her daughter to see ‘Honk! The Ugly Duckling Musical’. It was at the beautiful Royal Theatre in Northampton and it was the first time I’d taken my eldest to a production in a proper old theatre. From the minute we took our seats a look of awe appeared on his face and it only disappeared when he fell asleep in the car on the way home!

The Royal Theatre was built in the Victorian era, refurbished a few years ago and is just utterly gorgeous. I always get a little bit of a thrill when I sit, waiting for the lights to go down, gazing around at it’s sumptuous wallpaper, perfectly pitched seating and glorious safety curtain!

When the lights dimmed and the orchestra began we all settled back in our seats and felt very excited indeed (and remembered to quickly stash the noisy, crinkly chocolate packet)! I was so glad they had a live orchestra because you just can’t beat it and I could see the children all around making little stretched-neck-peerings from time to time, looking down to see where the music was coming from and how.

The stage setting and scenery was fantastic. The Royal’s stage isn’t the biggest yet the clever steep ramp at the back and the bits and pieces of scenery that the cast helped to move around as part of the show was inspired. It gave just the right amount of space needed for the story as well as interest in watching how some of the mechanics of the show are carried out.

The characters and their costumes are very clever indeed. Not an easy thing to do, bringing to life a cast of various fowl and a few cats. There were lots of small details to be discovered as the story unfolded and the members of the cast, every one of them, were fantastic with their carefully studied and brilliantly executed mannerisms of their particular bird or cat. The children especially, playing the non-ugly ducklings, did an amazing job. We read in the programme guide that they are local children and my friend’s daughter was thrilled to see the name of older girl from her school!

The one tiny bit of disappointment we four agreed on was the lack of sparkle to Ugly’s costume when he had transformed to a beautiful swan. We felt it would have been just that smidge more magical if he’d emerged with more than a white hoodie, white jeans and black trainers.

The songs in this show are just great. We especially liked Ugly’s song about being different. I sat there, sneaking looks at my eldest to see if he was absorbing the clearly sung words and their message about acceptance and kindness. I had nothing to fear, he was taking it all in with his very wide open eyes and ears!

When, after the show, we talked about what our favourite bits were, the children said;

“When the ugly duckling and the tom cat were running around with the flashing lights like in a cartoon” – it was a very funny Tom & Jerry slapstick moment indeed!

And; “when the goose with the glasses was facing the wrong way!”

Also; “Mum, I thought the best bit was when he turned into a swan, that was really, really cool.”

Honk! has achieved that rather difficult task of being very engaging and entertaining to children and grown-ups alike. The jokes, subplots moral messages and slapstick can be enjoyed at by all. We here at LittleStuff can highly recommend Honk! as a wonderful adventure for children and their parents alike. If you’re able to get to Northampton’s Royal Theatre or know of a production of Honk! near you, it’s definitely worth going to see.

Honk! The Ugly Duckling Musical is on at Northampton’s Royal Theatre from 1st Dec 2009 until 3rd Jan 2010.

Website: www.royalandderngage.co.uk

Honk! The Ugly Duckling Musical - What THEY Say...

Have you ever had the feeling that you go “Honk!” when everyone else goes “Quack!”? From the moment his egg cracks open, the Ugly Duckling knows there is something different about him. Follow Ugly’s adventures in Honk!, a hilarious musical comedy adventure based on the classic Hans Christian Andersen fairytale. As Ugly is lured away from his bullying siblings by an ever-hungry Cat, he embarks on a mission to find his way home, meeting a cast of eccentric creatures along the way!

Website: www.royalandderngage.co.uk