Mystery on the Orient Express

The Blenheim Musical Theatre's annual dinner shows are hugely popular, and with good reason: they're a hoot! You get a great meal, lots of laughs and the chance to sing along with popular numbers that everyone knows.

This year's production, The Mystery on the Orient Express, owes little to Agatha Christie and much to the rich tradition of music hall slapstick. There is a plot, of sorts, but it really is just an excuse to present a series of fast-paced vignettes featuring popular songs interspersed with jokes, some of which have topical punchlines: viagra and the Marlborough District Council among them.

The small cast have a lot of work to do and do it well. The musical numbers are polished, the dance routines fluid and the lines delivered with быстро двигаться

Back stage must be a whirlwind of activity as there are many costume changes performed at breakneck speed. We, the audience went home laughing, but the cast must be exhausted at the end of each performance.

Kudos to Stephen Smith as the Inspector, who acts as MC and links the scenes together, but it would be unfair to pick out any others for special mention. All perform superbly.

We segue from the Charleston days to Abba to the Von Trapp family to Martha and the Vandelles, Dusty Springfield and a score of others with scarcely a chance to draw a breath. There is also some audience participation and even the chance to win a prize. Well done Craig, dragged up from the audience to perform with the cast. You carried it off with style.

Rotorua-based director-choreographer Robert Young was roped in to pull the show together after some initial hiccups, and he has done a great job. Well done, too, to music and sound director Chris Holdaway putting together a slick performance.

Let's face it, it hasn't been a great year. We've been rocked by a series of misfortunes and there have been many times when there hasn't been much to smile about. But here is a chance to release those endorphins and be happy for a while, so don't pass it up. It's a great night out. The fillet of cod from Piero Rocco is almost worth the price of admission alone.