Evening Telegraph, 1oth April 1959

A Song For Jennie

The curtains parted in the nissen-hut church room on Wednesday and delighted people of the Court Estate on Rushden's outskirts had a second view of the estate's concert party in its new role as a miniature operatic society.

Old-style miscellaneous programmes were discarded last year when Mr. Peter Whelan, a young man of Irish extraction, arrived on the estate to write his own libretto and music for a musical called "Mountain Rhapsody".

This year, with contrast in mind, Mr. Whelan came forward with "A Song for Jennie", which has an English village setting. The whole two-hour show is original and has been taken up with great enthusiasm by the young people of the estate. The little stage at the church hall has only one entrance, but is suffices for the ins and outs of the young squire, the school teacher, the haughty dame, the seaman with a past and various other country types.

There are songs which, though wayward in melody and hardly logical in harmony, make passing effects in gaiety or sentiment. Their words have direct appeal, and the dialogue is similarly free of frills, having, in fact, the transparency of melodrama.

A small chorus does its work whole-heartedly and brings off at least one surprise in the form of a "roundabout" dance.  No principal stands out musically, but quite a few sing agreeably enough and speak their lines with care. The scenery—making much use of screens, which are easy to pop in or remove—has been painted by Peter Hodgkins.

The enterprising Mr. Whelan has seen his show through from beginning to end. His principals are: Margaret Skinner (Jennie), Raymond King (the young squire), Claude King, Connie Holt, Christopher Taylor, Peter Randall, Norman King, Carole Lamb, Donald Sanders, Florence Line, Jean Hunt and Vera Cleland.

In the chorus are Marion Bradshaw, Gillian Clark, Ruth Masters, Pamela Sinfield, Gary Richardson, Peter Hodgkins and the producer himself. Mrs. Doreen Wilford accompanies on the pianoforte and Mr. Ernest Stock is stage manager.

The show is playing each evening for the rest of the week and was practically sold out in advance. Already Mr. Whelan is planning one for next year.