A Celebration of British Musicals

Once again Stourport choral turned their skills to something a little different, at the impressive venue of Areley Kings Village Hall, and by way of an introduction to their new Musical Director, Jane Whittle. There was clearly a mutual warmth between Jane and the group, who clearly enjoyed the great range of musical numbers on offer. 

The concert kicked off with a strong opening with the company singing ‘Dance a Cachucha’ from the Gondoliers with some nice light and shade and this was followed by a selection from the pen of Andrew Lloyd -Webber. Steve Worley, Jenny Parsons and Sue Wright added some competent solo singing and the final number from Phantom of the Opera was glorious.

Jim Parker then sang a strong, yet at times sensitive, ‘Empty Chairs at Empty Tables’ from Les Misérables with some beautiful accompaniment from Angie Allard. There were some nice harmonies in  ‘Anthem’ from Chess and ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’ from We Will Rock You was full of energy and clarity. Steve Worley and Mary Sinclair added power to ‘Somebody to Love’ from the same musical.

Closing Act 1 was, ‘When the Foeman Bares His Steel ‘ from Pirates of Penzance, with Phil Smith (Sergeant of Police), Sharon Toy (Mabel), Muriel Bell (Edith) and Gary Talbot as Major General, it was a delight.

During the interval I was invited to explain my role as a NODA Representative and I also had the privilege of presenting a NODA 60-year long service award to Margaret Gould.

Act 2 opened with a selection of numbers from the musical Oliver! including ‘As Long as He Needs Me’ with some lovely harmonies and solo lines from Sue Draper. ‘Who Will Buy’ included some solo lines from Jim Parker and the section closed with a few more bars from ‘Consider Yourself’. Caroline Worthington’s solo of ‘Take That Look off Your Face’ was well presented with emotion and ’Spread a Little Happiness’ that followed from Mr Cinders was positively light and cheerful.

‘We’ll Gather Lilacs’ from Perchance to Dream, was gentle and tugged at the heart strings and the final sequence of seven songs from Les Misérables with soloists Caroline Worthington , Gwynneth and Alan Savage, Ken Hadley, Jane O’Meara and Muriel Bell, was uplifting.

A great choice of musical numbers and it was good to see so many soloists in action. A packed audience enjoyed the concert and so did I. Thank you to Stourport Choral for their usual warm welcome.

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