Zanna is a match-making fairy at Heartsville High, where the school Chess club rule the school and being gay is normal. Informed of a new arrival by Cindy the little birdie, Zanna sets out to make sure this quarterback is made welcome - romantically. All goes according to plan until the new school musical about heterosexuals in the army stirs strange feelings in the new boy for that oh-so-forbidden fruit - womankind. This reductio ad absurdum of homophobia is cleverer than I can make it sound without giving too much away, and the students of Latymer Upper, London do both musical and themselves credit in this charming and energetic production.The show is marked by strong comic leads; particularly impressive are Jocie Juritz (Candi) for her understanding of the inbuilt humour in the script and Henry Fewster (Arvin) for his ability to insert his own. (Humour.) The so bad its good attitude wasnt picked up on by all of the company, however, and in some places an undesirable sincerity of performance was quite noticeable. Not so in the wonderful bull-riding scene replete with Wild West dancing and full-cast singing, which was a most memorable moment; the singing of Jesse Farragher (Roberta) and the character dancing of Theo Lloyd-Hughes (Tank) reveal a good deal of natural talent. Combining the perfect high-school musical with a lively and able cast, Zanna! is a production that will make music teachers everywhere jealous.
