18th - 23rd March 2002

Carousel, the great Rodgers and Hammerstein classic, was staged at the Stockport Plaza in March, 2002. This was Romiley's second staging of the show, having originally been performed in 1987 at the Davenport. The show was again directed by Rod Goddard, with Clare Sweeney as Musical Director. The choreography was a team effort, with the Ballet being set by Shellie-Beth Sinclair, and ROS members Sue Cox and Sarah Hope responsible for the rest of the show. Sarah and Sue were later nominated for Best Choreographer at that year's Manchester Musical Awards.

The following is a copy of Sheryl Haydock-Howorth’s review of ‘Carousel’ which appeared in the May 2002 edition of NODA North-West News. As most of you will know Sheryl is our new NODA Regional Representative.

The opening of this show got off to a good start with an effective UV carousel, and the scene gradually built up into the hustle and bustle of a showground. Characters in colourful costumes were quickly established as the story began to unfold.
Lucy Roylance was well cast as Julie and sang with warmth and emotion. Kathryn Penton, playing her first principal role of Carrie, sang nicely and with Ian Goddard as Enoch Snow both certainly looked the part. But I felt that some of the humour was sadly missing. Rob Haslam, as Billy Bigelow, delivered his numbers well and had a good balance of stubbornness and remorse, but I felt Jigger, in contrast, played by Shaun Penton, could have been more sinister and threatening. Jill Ratcliffe, as Mrs Mullin, was good and showed her experience as a character actress and another credible performance was given by Katharine Brown as Nettie Fowler. Congratulations also to Jenny Taylor as Louise whose dancing was strong as was her understanding of her character. The Snow children came across confidently and were all well drilled.
Some strong chorus work and dancing throughout, especially Blow High, Blow Low, and the choreography was good and well performed. The Dream Ballet was particularly well choreographed with total understanding by all concerned. There were some very nice touches to the production of this show but I did feel that some of the scenes were rather dark at times and characters tended to walk out of area lighting on occasions.
The final scene and the finale were good and as always brought a tear to the eye. Overall, this was a very pleasant evening and I thank you for you kind hospitality.