MEZZO-
SOPRANO
POLLY LEECH
Hänsel und Gretel, Pop-Up Opera
“Polly Leech, who sings Hansel, is a revelation. More than that, she's a huge talent and a star in the making. Vocally enthralling with a powerfully centered and exquisitely controlled mezzo, irresistibly entertaining in her ability to inhabit (à la Kevin & Perry) the mind and body of a young boy, Leech is the complete package and the sole cause of the fourth star. A glittering career awaits, so remember this review. You read it here first.”
Mark Valencia WhatsOnStage
“Gurning and grinning, greedily munching down the Witch’s sweets and play-fighting with Gretel, Polly Leech’s Hansel is a joyous thing indeed, an Octavian in the making. Endlessly game and completely at ease, Leech is a natural clown and a wonderfully warm presence, whose lovely even mezzo already opens out at the top into something really exciting… a performance that leaves rival fringe companies in their icing-sugar dust.”
Alexandra Coghlan The Arts Desk
“Polly Leech is the stand-out star of this production. She cannot help but draw your attention with her perfectly captured boyish expressions, her face a picture. Equipped with a rich and expressive voice, Leech makes a beguiling Hansel.”
Louise Lewis British Theatre Guide
“The singing throughout is excellent, with Polly Leech and Sofia Larsson making a believable brother and sister, squabbling one minute, playing together the next.”
Nick Kimberley Evening Standard
“Polly Leech and Sofia Larsson play Hansel and Gretel manically and energetically, romping around the stage area like a couple of chaotic kids high on orange squash. Leech’s thick, penetrating mezzo-soprano is a particular highlight…”
Tim Bano The Stage
“The standard of the singing is thrilling. Polly Leech is a brilliant Hansel. She is a natural comic actor as well as being a most exciting mezzo.”
Julia Pascal London Grip
Snow The Opera Story
“Polly Leech was a standout performance of the evening, showing off huge versatility in her three characters. She was particularly impressive as Mother Raven in The Crystal Casket, a riveting actress with a rich mezzo.”
Jenna Simeonov Schmopera
“Polly Leech compelling as Queen and Mother…”
Fiona Maddocks The Guardian
“Polly Leech impressed… The queen was given a really meaty solo which Polly Leech sang superbly… The hard working cast coped admirably with three different styles, and gave performances which brought out the very best in the music.”
Robert Hugill Planet Hugill
“The mezzo Polly Leech brought considerable dramatic conviction to the Former Queen and Mother Raven…”
George Hall Opera Magazine
“The show had fine performances throughout… with Polly Leech and Alison Langer making a big impression as the mad village women.”
Robert Thicknesse Opera Now
Albert Herring, RCMIOS
"Doing her bidding with barely repressed bitterness is Polly Leech’s Florence, gloriously glum and pruriently fascinated with the neighbourhood goings on. Leech’s is a thick, sensuous mezzo, and its richness chafes deliciously against her repressed pronouncements, hinting at hidden inadmissibles that are shared by most of the inhabitants in Steel’s picture-perfect community."
Alexandra Coghlan The Arts Desk
"Polly Leech is wonderful as her ferocious, tense secretary Florence Pike, who keeps an encyclopaedia of village gossip in lever arch files, and disqualifies maiden after maiden with acid disapproval."
Charlotte Valori Bachtrack
“Her long-suffering, hapless sidekick Florence was played with priceless misanthropic relish by Polly Leech…”
Peter Reed Classical Source
"All the cast turned in outstanding performances. All of the voices sparkled in the Britten Theatre... Special mention to Joel Williams for a well-observed and brilliantly obsequious Mr Upfold... and Polly Leech, whose Florence Pike succeeded in painting an entirely different take on the town bigwigs, making Lady Billows appear forgiving and compassionate in comparison to her assistant’s eager and supercilious judgments and moralising."
Jon Jacob Thoroughly Good
Die Zauberflöte, RCMIOS
“The Three Boys, in prep-school blazers and caps, were brilliantly sung and acted...”
Peter Reed Classical Source
"...And the Three Boys were alarmingly convincing parodies, all gawky nose-picking and crotch-scratching."
Stephen Pettitt Opera Magazine Feb 2015
“The three boys were splendidly taken by Louise Fuller, Katie Coventry, and Polly Leech, plausible all and a fine little ensemble, hidden gems all three I suspect!"
Brian Dickie