A Night at the Movies

It was a warm summer’s evening and most definitely “A Grand Night for Singing” as the Downland Singers welcomed us into their extended family for their summer concert - a delightfully eclectic mix of songs and music both familiar and unfamiliar, but all associated in some way with the movies and presented with great style and panache.

Credit first of all must go to the comperes for the evening:  Jane Curd and Roger Rixon, who guided us through the programme, providing helpful and informative snippets of information for each item and weaving in a few light-hearted quiz questions along the way. A lot of effort must have gone into researching their script and it was presented with just the right balance of authority and friendliness.

The songs were a mixture of full chorus, small group and solo numbers, with the main stage being cleared very efficiently when the chorus was not required, allowing us to focus on the singers. Unfortunately the otherwise very informative programme did not name the performers of each item, so I cannot praise individuals but, without exception, the standard of singing was outstanding, with excellent projection, perfect diction and good attention to dynamics (some larger local companies should take heed). Let the River Run was a great example of the strength of this group’s choral singing, and I’d never before heard every single word of Masquerade from Phantom of the Opera, or witnessed Cole Porter’s Anything Goes sung so quickly or so clearly.

The group also used their voices as musical instruments. Browsing the running order, I thought: surely the theme from the Pink Panther doesn’t have words?  Sure enough it doesn’t, but the chorus did not let that stop them singing it beautifully. Their vocal instruments were used to similarly good effect in Don’t Worry Be Happy.

Some well-timed touches of humour were added with the Usherettes Song and Lydia the Tattooed Lady, both delightful comedy numbers that I had not come across before but will definitely be making a note of. The amusing Dad’s Army sketch also gave the men a chance to do a little acting before singing the well-known theme tune.

Musical Director Avril Pinkney has a golden touch when it comes to compiling a concert programme and must be congratulated for her precise direction of the singers. The results are amazing, but would be nothing without the sterling efforts of accompanist Chris Hyson, who worked so hard on the piano and keyboard throughout the evening. The “Oscars” presented to them both at the end of the evening were well deserved!

Congratulations must also go to Paul and Astrid Love for their simple but very effective backdrop to the concert. Thank you all for a wonderful evening’s entertainment.

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