Moana Jr staged by Artz Centre at Lathom High School, Glenburn Road, Skelmersdale on Friday, 12th July 2024.
Written by Jim Briscoe for NODA
Disney’s Moana JR is a sixty-minute adaptation of Disney’s 2016 animated film, which brings the adventures of Moana and her village of Motunui to life on stage. Adapted from a book by Susan Soon He Stanton with music and lyrics by the prize-winning composers Lin-Manuel Miranda, Opetaia Foa’i and Mark Mancina, it tells the story of Moana, an adventurous teenager who, with help from mighty demigod Maui, sails out on a daring mission across the open ocean, encountering huge monsters and impossible odds to prove herself a ‘Master Wayfinder’ and fulfil the ancient quest of her ancestors … to save her people! From the moment I first saw this film, I was ‘hooked’, it became MY all-time Disney favourite. My eldest granddaughter and I must have sat through this movie at least thirty times … at one point we were watching it every other day! The movie provides us with powerful statements that resonated so much with me, ‘like finding your truth’, ‘being aware of your fears’, ‘finding your way’, ‘not letting anything define you’ and ‘finding who you truly are’ … great messages preached from someone so young! Moana’s passion and perseverance are contagious, and I defy anyone to tell me they weren’t won over by Moana by the end of the movie! So, this was my first viewing of Moana Jr the stage musical, so, knowing what I knew, I sat back and waited for MY favourite movie to unfold on stage, was I to be disappointed … I think not!
Production Team … Joe Howard (Director) & Alfie Watt (Assistant) did a great job with the casting of this show. With a very young cast aged between 8 years and 11 years, with a few teenagers acting as ‘Peer Mentors’, this was a production were everyone came together, and you could just tell gave us their all. They supported each other and what was obvious from the word go… was the obvious enjoyment that all these young people were having, whilst entertaining us! I’m not sure we had a ‘showstealer’ … this was very much an ensemble coming together and giving their all and when that happens, and its happened a great deal of late, then to suggest that someone was better than someone else would, in MY opinion would be wrong, but I do feel, that I must give a few shout outs to my favourite characters… but before that, let’s see who played who within this very capable cast …
The Cast … the role of ‘Moana’ was played by Sofia Summers Harwood. Sofia had a real difficult start to this production, when her personal mike went rogue at her first entrance! But this is ‘live theatre’ and things like this happen! The show was stopped … the mike changed … the show re-started from the beginning! Something like that can throw the most experienced of actors let alone a ten-year-old… it did throw Sofia, possibly a little, but as the show progressed, her confidence grew, she then provided us with a great character, she belted out all the songs and guided us through the many adventures of Moana and took the terms …’finding your way’, ‘not letting anything define you’ and ‘finding who you truly are’ to a whole new level… well done Sofia, be proud! Ben Chane (Peer Mentor) played ‘Maui’ and made a really good job of it, worked ever so well with Moana. Amy Burns played ‘Pua’; Amaya Shinner played ‘Hei Hei’; Lilly Fowell played ‘Gramma Tala’; the Three Chief Ancestors were played ever so well by Leighton Goodier Davies, Pippa-Bleu Gallagher Cameron and Ollie Sanders. ‘Chief Tui’ (Moana’s father) played by Jack William Hancock, ‘Sina’ (Moana’s mother) played by Amber Rogers; ‘Tamatoa’ played by Nevaeh Williams, ‘Right Claw’ played by Olivia Parlour; ‘Left Claw’ played by Rosie O’Brien; ‘Tafiti’ played by Lacey Lowday; the Ensemble included … Aaron Fletcher-Davies; Aistis Dzikas; Alannah Rea; Arabella Atkinson; Benjamin Hall; Evelyn-May Jones; Grace Gibson-Thomas; Harvey Wilkes; Hazel Saunderson; Hector Holloway; Iris Walton; Jack Chane; Jason Lackland; Libby-Sue Lawless; Lily Ross; Madeline Scott; Martha Wall; Mila Vaughan; Poppy Mitchell; plus we also had the young people who were playing the ‘lead roles’ on the other nights including Ada Baybutt doubling as ‘Moana’; Maddie Barker-Gaskell doubling as ‘Gramma Tala’; Myla Rotheram doubling as ‘Chief Tui’; Isla Hunter doubling as ‘Sina’; Harriet Britton doubling as ‘Hei Hei’; Lexie Kaill doubling as ‘Right Claw’; Rosalee Hughes doubling as ‘Te Fiti’; plus our ‘Peer Mentors’ … Abi Meadows, Amy Lewis, Ben Chane, Caitlin Porter-Bimpson, Charlotte Ineson, Emily Thompson, Lexie Kaill,
Maddie Finegan and Rosie O’Brien.
As promised, lets me identify MY four favourite characters …
- Lilly Fowler and her portrayal of ‘Gramma Tala’ is MY first. Lilly, did a great job with this role, providing us with a totally believable character. Her diction was great as were her vocals especially in
‘We Know the Way’ with the Ancestors. Be proud Lilly great job! - ‘The Chief Ancestors’ … Leighton Goodier Davies, Pippa-Bleu Gallagher Cameron and Ollie Sanders, three for the price of one. All three narrated the opening of the show ever so well… narration requires great diction which all three had … I loved their rendition of ‘In the Beginning’ with the ensemble, plus I loved the support singing they provided throughout the show… again be proud!
- Sofia Summers Harwood did a great job with our Lead Moana, especially after the trials of the rogue ‘mike’ (Something that could throw an experienced actor, let alone a ten-year-old)… so be very proud Sofia not something you wanted to happen, but it did, you recovered and you really didn’t ‘LET IT DEFINE YOU’! be ever so proud!
- Amaya Shinner is my final choice … who took on the role of the dim witted, comically incompetent rooster, ‘Hei Hei’ who is one of Moana’s best friends. If I’m honest, Amaya just made me laugh…
loved the character created, loved the mannerisms and facial expressions … be very proud!
Stage/Set/Tech … a simple set, set on two levels, was used throughout and which provided the cast with the space, access and redress points they needed to do their thing well! In charge of all things on stage was Joe Lucas and Charlotte Halton (Stage Management). The Set was designed by Lexie Kaill, Lola Ratcliffe, Ben Chane, Madeline Lucas and Joe Lucas. Lighting Design was put together by Joe Lucas and Joe Howard… it enhanced the production and provided nice changes of atmosphere to each scene. Sound… we did obviously have that one major problem at the beginning, not something the ‘techy’ could foresee … but we did have a
few other slow mikes, but overall, the sound was good … being looked after by Ethan Bragger (Technician)
Costumes were fabulous and added so much to the production … under the watchful eye of Tina Ball and provided by the Spotlight Costume Hire Company
Constrictive Advice … things to work on for everybody!
- Diction … is so important when on stage… if your audience can’t hear or understand what you’re saying then we have a major problem. There were some wonderfully clear voices on the night and some that just faded a little and left the storyline a little short! Project, slow your lines down and ensure that everything can be understood… if you’re using an accent, don’t let the accent overpower the ‘spoken word’ … accents can and do enhance your character, but make sure it can be understood!
- Just Knowing your lines isn’t enough … it’s wonderful when you know your lines – but knowing them without using ‘light and shade’ will never work. Add Emotion / Accentuation … its vital for dialogue to come alive!
Thank you so much for inviting me to your production, I thoroughly enjoyed the show and from the smiles, the applause and cheers throughout and that greeted the finale… a production enjoyed by everyone present.
Stay safe, keep well…
‘Stronger Together’
Jim Briscoe
NODA NW
District 6 Rep