Poster Competition Winners!!!!!!

Many thanks to everyone that entered the competition and CONGRATULATIONS to the winners!! Of course, thanks go to Marti for signing the posters!!

For those that weren't lucky enough to see Witches Of Eastwick there was draw for one of the posters.

Question - What was Marti's first solo single and when was it released?

Answer - Close To You, released on 4th June 2001

Winner - Geery Miedema, Holland

The remaining 4 posters were available for the best reviews of the show. The winners were chosen by an independent judge.

Here are the winning reviews, in no particular order.

By Angie Cash

I'd seen the film and found it strange,

How would it be staged? What would they change?

I saw it in Wolverhampton and in Brum,

What a show, what a cast, what fantastic fun!

The story of three bored women in a strange little town,

With lives and jobs that were getting them down.

Eastwick's matriarch, Felicia must be obeyed,

But from the straight and narrow these three strayed.

They made a wish, now knowing their powers

For the man of their dreams (and all ours!!)

"Be careful what you wish for" the devil warns

Marti arrives on stage but where are the devil's horns?

His voice superb, he belts out the songs

Making saucy suggestions, doing all sorts of wrongs.

He seduces all three witches, gets them under his spell,

He wreaks havoc in Eastwick, what will happen, who can tell?

Death and destruction follow him round

Those horns, well hidden, don't let him down.

He plays it pure evil, but we love him just the same,

All wishing we could be Alex, Sukie or Jane,

He gets his comeuppance and Eastwick is saved,

The witches are fantastic, their dues have been paid.

The devil is gone, Banished to hell,

We're emotionally drained, Marti played it so well.

A brilliant show, a great night out,

Marti's the best horny devil without a doubt!

By Angela Plested

It was the perfect character for Marti Pellow as the devilish Darryl van Horne in the recent production of Witches of Eastwick. The cheeky chap’s sexy moves and naughty comments wowed me and his voice was as fantastic as ever. The three witches complemented him well and I am sure we would all wish to be one of them getting as close to Marti as they did! The charismatic singer brought laughter to all as the character of Darryl wreaked havoc through the town on Eastwick.

The show saw three lonely women from different walks of life who were friends and comrades wanting more from their lives and dreaming of their perfect man. Then one night a new figure explodes onto the scene. He’s confident, stylish and sexy and seduces all three women. The four of them create a powerful union and with this power use magic on their enemies in the town. However, this eventually leads to a death and when they realise what they were responsible for it breaks down the union and Darryl is rejected by the women.

Darryl soon finds a new woman to seduce but the three witches have grown strong together and realise they have the power to create magic without him and so run him out of town in a blaze of glory.

It was an excellent representation of female solidarity and all women have gone through times where we have dreamed of the perfect man only to be let down by the reality of him. The Witches of Eastwick was an absolute pleasure to see and although hilarious in parts it also brought a tear to my eye in the last scene. A must see musical for all.

By Helen Clayton

“As the night grows hot …. Let them give us all they’ve got” ….. that is exactly what the cast do in this spectacular production of Witches of Eastwick. 

From the show opening with a young girl setting the scene of Eastwick, you know you are in for something special.  We are introduced to the whole of Eastwick in the opening scenes.  The tension starts to mount and. the air gets hotter until onto the stage swaggers Darryl the devil himself, you can feel the temperature rise as he hits the stage, mayhem breaks out and the town’s quickly knocked off it’s guard.

The audience are then taken on fast romp of sexual innuendo, comedy delivered with excellent timing and get to see each side of Darryl, the sleazy, the caring, the sharing and the downright sexy, as he cleverly seduces each Witch.  They wished for every manner of man, and in this horny little devil they got just that. The show takes many twists and turns and leaves you barely able to catch your breath,

The interval comes for the audience to catch their breath before the second, more sinister half opens.  Things turn dark down in Eastwick with the death of the busy-body Felicia and her hen-pecked husband Clyde.  The question is who’s really to blame …. Has the devil really got a hand in this or is it purely down to the Witches?

The guilt of the Witches rises, it’s time to send the devil back from whence he came, enter the wedding scene as Darryl prepares to marry the daughter of Clyde and Felicia, a bit of voodoo ensues …. Ultimately they banish the devil. The town and it’s folk will never be the same, but calm at least descends once more.

A MUST SEE PRODUCTION

By Mary Auty

Disruptive, dashing, disarming, disturbing Darryl Van Horne! Marti portrayed all these sides of the devilish character superbly!

It is entirely believable that Alex, Jane and Sukie, wishing for something new and exciting in their lives would be intrigued and attracted by someone like Darryl, even if at times he was vulgar and disrespectful!

I loved the colourful costumes, Marti’s sharp suits and even his Hawaiian style shirt! The scenery was extremely effective with its simple house fronts and, in contrast, over the top décor at Darryl’s house-including the unique door knocker!

The show’s fast pace, sexy scenes and humour were hugely entertaining. The more serious scenes of murder and regret by the ‘witches’ added another dimension with their tense atmosphere.

Whilst Darryl appeared to manipulate the ladies for his own pleasure, in doing so, he led them to discover their inner strength and even though he made some dreadful comments to them, shortly before he was done away with, he declared that he believed the women had ‘the upper hand’.

The show’s casting is spot on! Marti’s warm, rich and powerful voice is perfect for this show. His dancing, facial expression and comic timing were excellent. I was completely drawn in to the character of Darryl and even felt a little sorry for him when the ladies deserted him!

The show’s songs are well balanced-from the romantic ‘Something’, sung sweetly by the young couple Michael and Jennifer, to the energetic ‘Dance with the Devil’ and powerful ‘Wildest Dreams’. The ‘witches’ harmonise beautifully throughout the show, whilst the stern singing voice of ‘Felicia Gabriel’ complements her character perfectly as she talks down to her long suffering husband Clyde.

The Witches of Eastwick is (to quote one of my favourite lines of Darryl’s), one perrrfect package!

Well done to all of the winners!!!