Skits and Vocal Bits

NORFOLK'S GOT TALENT!!!

If you missed NATS "Skits & Vocal Bits" last weekend then you really missed out! What a fantastic assortment of 11 variety items featuring 35 local identities who had us rolling off our seats with laughter. Hadyn (Teddy) Evans was MC extraordinaire and kept the night running smoothly. The talented cast was made up of lots of first time performers along side the "old" hands.

· "The Red Hot Mummas" starred 10 local hot mummas... Cristina McRitchie, Rose Stephens, Raewynne Tarrant, Juliette Grant, Louci Reynolds, Roberta Simpson-Leha, Leia Widdowson, Michelle Hayes, Gill Brown & Tamson Mayo. The Mummas danced to River Deep and set the night's standard for high energy entertainment with their opening number.

Red hot Roberta with 4 children, the youngest is 6 weeks old.

Three of our four k-2 school teachers proving teachers rock!

"I want to be on stage like you Mum."

· "Technology" was a short comedy skit starring Ian Anderson, Monica Anderson & Lexi Tavener and was about how the older generation struggle with computer terms.

· "Blue Moon" was a short play starring Tamson Mayo, Tony Wilkinson & Toppy Wilkinson who showed us that often words have double meanings. Tony really stood out on stage... maybe it was his "equipment" or maybe just his "Lego" hair.

Tony 'lego man' Wilkinson



· "The Dentist" song was a McRitchie affair starring Brandt but also featuring Cristina & Sienna... and Momma as well. Thanks go to Ernie Christian for his cameo appearance and for showing us how NOT to be brave in the dentist chair.

· "Dar Hilli Song" was performed by Lexi Tavener who showed us what the Norfolk version of The Lazy Song would be. Since her Mum wrote the words it had to be a winning song.

· "Nursing Home" was a beautiful, short skit with the best punch line!! Margaret Kiernan hardly said a word yet stole the show playing the elderly mother. Bron South (appropriately) played her daughter, with Louci Reynolds & Toppy Wilkinson on stage to complete the cast.

· ”Wicked Girls" began with 5 year old Sienna McRitchie singing "The Wizard and I". Sienna's solo with microphone had so much emotion and such great vocals that the audience was perplexed and gave her the biggest applause for the night. Her Mum Cristina then sang "Defying Gravity" with backing vocals from Tamson Mayo. These girls were truly WICKED!!!!

· "What's In A Name" was a short skit starring Toppy Wilkinson & Lexi Tavener as the hippy mother and daughter. I think hitch-hiking is still legal on Norfolk Island.... but with the traffic rules all changed who knows.

· "Stunt Ski Show" was one of the most hilarious skits Norfolk Island has ever seen. Lovable characters Kylie & Sharon played by Bron South and Rose Stephens somehow managed to water-ski on stage using a blow-up pool and ski ropes. They made us believe they were really on the water and had everyone in stitches of laughter.



You thought the stunt ski show was hilarious from the audience...look at our view from backstage!



· "Gleece" was a play written and Directed by Jayde Granger. Jayde also starred in her play along with Jessica Hetherington, Emily Meyer, Caitlin Evans, Myka Quintal, Kirsten Gomez, Tiarna Finch, Katie Fitzpatrick, Casey Snell, Heidi Bigg, Siobhan Maxwell and with help from Keeley Williams, Denise Lee, Tariah Magri & Madison Wellington. Jayde was inspired by Glee and Grease and in her great writing managed to portray the lives of teenage girls. The audience really enjoyed the musical elements as well as the deeper issues which unfolded throughout the play.

 

· "Horror On The Rock Stage Show" was the big finale number. Cristina McRitchie and Dave Brown played Janet and Brad, Tony Wilkinson and Tamson Mayo were Riff Raff and Magenta, Rose Stephens was Columbia and Brandt McRitchie shone on stage as Frankenfurter. What a great way to end a very enjoyable night.

The crew did a fantastic job with Ben Hayes on Lights, Brian James on Sound, Lance Miller as Stage Manager and Don Brian as Stage Hand. The many Front of House workers at Ferny Lane Theatre also played important roles in making Skits & Vocal Bits such a huge success. Thank you to the audiences who supported NATS.

Teddy hugs his sister Sienna at interval and says "I am so proud of you, you look beautiful!"

If you enjoyed Skits & Vocal Bits and would like to be involved with the next one (either onstage, backstage or organising) or you have some ideas or material we could use then please approach either Rose or Cristina. And if you enjoyed being in the audience or missed out then keep your eyes and ears open for Skits & Vocal Bits II in about 6 months time.


What the audience said after 'Skits and Vocal bits' at NATS last weekend.

It was Hilarious! I laughed so hard that I embarrassed myself until I looked around and everyone else was laughing too!.


I will never miss another theatre show again if they are all that good.

 "The highlight was Tony's Wilkinson's hair in the 'Last Man on the Moon skit..."


"I seriously thought I was going to wet my pants during the water skiing skit..."



"You guys have got to do a full production of the Rocky Horror Picture Show..."


"I am still giggling whenever I think about any of it..."



"Thanks for all of the laughs last night, it was fantastic!"


An amazing array of talent across the age groups, people I never expected to see.


I cannot believe Rose & Bron cannot ski in real life.



It is unbelievably creepy how Tony W looks with hair.


I really needed a laugh, everything was perfect.

 a shot in the arm thankyou all.


To Bron, you should let your mother fart.


You should have warned us we needed tissues, we wet ourselves laughing.


It was best belly laugh in years.


how come I can't sing? we want to do that too.


what a blast, we loved it


Some comments from down the street even nearly a week later; Great, loved it, a great laugh,hilarious.

Aren't you doing it again this weekend?


Sadly no, It isn't on this weekend, but we do plan to do another skits and vocal bits within the next 6 months, do you have an act that could be in the show? Do you want to be a performer or backstage helper? Please feel free to contact Rose Stephens and Cristina McRitchie with your ideas. AND definitely don't miss the next show!

Talented Sienna Rose

This is from Norfolk Online News edition 29/7/11

Sienna Rose McRitchie…..superstar of the future?

Or just a cute 5 year old who wants to sing? Either way, this little girl sure has a big voice.

As the youngest member of the stage production Skits and Vocal bits, currently playing at NATS Ferny lane theatre she will certainly wow the audience with the song she has chosen (more like begged her Mum to perform).

She is performing The wizard and I from the musical 'wicked' as part of a medley. This is not an easy song to sing, but she manages beautifully.

Her love of singing was discovered at a very young age when a friend of the family who had studied at the conservatorium of music used to look after Sienna for a few hours each week, as a 6 month old baby, this friend used to sing music notes to her and couldn’t believe she would echo them back pitch perfectly. The friend commented “She never gets a note wrong”.
Perhaps it was in the gene pool from both sides of the family as Sienna’s mum and dad, Cristina and Brandt, met each other while performing on stage in musical theatre in Sydney way back in 1991.


Playing piano for sometimes an hour a day, Sienna makes many of her songs up in various styles of music, she seems to know how to evoke an emotion from you through her music. Last week while hanging up the washing, I could have sworn that someone was playing a cd from a movie soundtrack as the music floating up from the house told a story from soft to sad to dramatic (she is very good at dramatic!), but she declines ‘proper’ piano lessons at this time because she just wants to play ‘her’ music.
When it sounds delightful to listen to, who could deny her that.
You may have heard Sienna as a 3 year old singing ABBA with Ebony & Ivory at the RSL or at the Mothers day talent quest or recent Youth Rockz concert at the RSL singing the cute little ditty ‘the cuppycake song’, but Sienna has now discovered the big Broadway musical numbers and the addictive sound of applause that runs in her blood…..who knows what will be next.

(Mum knows that when the show is over, she will still get up and have a run at football as the only girl in the competition she also plays on the green team in NIJRL with her big brother.)



Come and see Sienna and 34 other wonderful performers in Skits & Vocal Bits, Tonight and Saturday night only at Ferny lane theatre. Show starts at 7:30pm and is only $15 for adults and $10 for children.