A Night at the Musicals

What a lovely warm welcome from the Singers when I arrived at the Guildhall to the first ever performance I’ve seen by the Grantham Singers. And I was in for a treat.

The lovely Guildhall provided unrestricted views of the stage with its tiered seating, plus good sound quality through its natural acoustics and sound systems, ensuring everyone was able to enjoy to the full the talents of this group.

Musical Director Caroline Jones received a warm welcome from an audience anticipating a stroll down memory lane through the decades of musicals, many of the lilting tunes seared on our consciousness through our lives. And that’s just what was delivered by this very proficient group of singers.

A rousing start was ensured with the strains of Jesus Christ Superstar, heralding a fine tribute to the greatest musical theatre writer of our time, Lord Lloyd Webber. I enjoyed the crystal clear lyrics of ‘Everythings Alright’ and, later, ‘Phantom’. This is such an obvious point that so many productions seem to overlook. The most important thing at the theatre I always think is to be able to hear every word from the stage. If you can’t, then what’s the point? Grantham Singers are to be congratulated on their diction throughout, especially in fast paced, wordy songs. The rising crescendos and variations of tone and volume throughout of ‘Don’t Cry for me Argentina’ brought this iconic Evita song to life. Memory from Cats, Think of Me from Phantom and Love Changes Everything from Aspects of Love led into a very cleverly written switch to the iconic Phantom title song. Well done to soloists Christine, Helen, Stephen and Paula for the unenviable task of kicking off the show, backed by the wonderful ensemble.

Tania Lambley was our experienced narrator during the Show, giving us lots of background information to the musicals included. The very appropriately chosen and carefully designed projected images on the back of the stage throughout were a lovely reminder of the musicals as we went along.

Elaine’s American accent for The Deadwood Stage was just right, again without losing her clarity of diction (yes, I’m on about that again!) The beautiful melodies of The Black Hills were really good and the clever percussion from Nigel Howitt made you feel you were almost on that horse, clip clopping along. Good contrast in this song between the ladies’ and men’s voices. Paul’s earthy rich rendition of My Heart Is Higher Than a Hawk and Helen’s beautiful Once I Had a Secret Love concluded a most fitting tribute to Calamity Jane, still a much loved show.

John in his regal bandana for Camelot (so well sung) could not have been more different from Adam and Elaine’s very comic and well timed (and suitably overacted)  version of The Song That Goes Like This from Spamalot. Some lovely wacky touches.

 

Musical Director Caroline’s ‘Can’t Help Loving That Man’ from Showboat showed how important correct breathing is in singing, especially through those very long phrases. Such good voice control. Yeh Sister! Well done Caroline. Adam and Elaine showed another side to their musical talent with very well balanced voices in Only Make Believe.

Aboard the Cotton Blossom Steamer Paul’s Ol’ Man River was a highlight of the entire show, such good vocal strength in the lowest of notes. A delightfully gravelly voice, just as we always remember it from the Show.

And so to a plethora of songs, carefully interwoven, from the wonderful Rodgers and Hammerstein to conclude the first half of the show, again with some delightful solos. The Singers sparkled in The Surrey with the Fringe on Top. Sarah and the formidable ladies really did wash that man out of their hair. There was no let up through these songs that will last forever, including June is Bustin’ Out All Over and I Whistle a Happy Tune. Good whistling men. The audience joined in enthusiastically with Do-Re-Mi, started in perfect tune by Helen. She was always reliable through the show, in all her songs, to hit the right note a in a measured, confident way. The men’s Nothing Like a Dame went down well as did Shall We Dance, bringing us back to the very beginning. Grantham was truly alive with the sound of music.

Another Op’nin from Another Show by Paula and Sarah got us ready for part two, the words to this song reflecting how many groups feel as opening night approaches. I enjoyed the choreography. Helen was So In Love, demonstrating her vocal range beautifully whilst Elaine’s, I Hate Men! went down well with the ladies of the audience and left us men shuffling a bit apprehensively. Elaine was certainly a good cheerleader for women on the eve of International Women’s Day. A force to be reckoned with. I loved the line, clearly delivered, ‘He may have hair upon his chest, but sister, so has Lassie!’

Adam and Stephen are to be congratulated on their vocal precision during ‘Brush Up Your Shakespeare’ and well done for remembering all those plays. You ‘kicked it right in the Coriolanus’ and it was certainly no tragedy. Move over Flanagan and Allen, I liked the nifty moves gentlemen.

Paula and Helen produced a showstopping performance of I Know Him So Well, Helen’s voice underpinning a lovely duet, with both singers so secure in their notes. The rousing, stunning Anthem from the company was a fitting tribute to this less often now performed show.

John’s lilting lullaby Try To Remember, sung simply was superb. Helen then burst forth with I Could Have Danced All Night from My Fair Lady. You could just imagine her dancing across the floor. Musical Director Caroline returned to the stage to sing one of my all time favourite songs from the shows, We’ll Gather Lilacs from Perchance to Dream. Written as this was at the end of the Second World War I never fail to be moved by the sentiment behind it, with parted couples so longing to be reunited, gathering lilacs in the English springtime once more. Well done Caroline. And then this segment was completed by a resplendent Stephen’s version of Seventy Six Trombones. Well done for not having anyone’s eye out with that stick.

And so our trip down the Memory Lane of Musicals drew to a close with a super assortment of songs from Les Mis. Tania said not to be too disappointed that we were coming to the end as this was a longer than usual segment. And what a good job it was as we all wanted more. We all went with the Singers back to early 19th Century France and the trials and tribulations we’ve all seen before either in the stage or film versions of this most amazing show. At the End of the Day was well done, we could imagine the prisoners in chains as the beat went on. I Dreamed a Dream included not only solos but a powerful contribution from the Company. Lovely shading, tone and volume changes ending with a simply sung final line from Paula.

The cast demonstrated their musical control in Castle on a Cloud. Ella and Lisa started off Do You Hear with the power of the song building as John joined in. Christine’s On My Own was beautiful, the power of the men’s voices contributing well, ‘I love him, but only on my own’ Christine sings at the end.

Helen and Paul’s duet version of Bring Him Home was a change to what we’d normally get, expecting an Alfie Boe-type solo. I loved it. And they hit the final note accurately too.

A quintet of the singers led the prayer sequence, leading into the finale of Do You Hear, the drumbeat building wonderfully.

And so it was all over for another year. I was very impressed with the show. It was well rehearsed and moved seamlessly from one section to the next, with nicely timed narrative, often over a short musical introduction, from Tania. A nice, professional touch. Full marks to Kate Bidwell on keyboard and Nigel Howitt on percussion who gave a secure, full and sensitive accompaniment, never once out of balance with the singing, such as can often be the case.

Caroline Jones worked everyone so hard. There was a solid core of very talented leading vocalists, but everyone on stage played their part fully.

Congratulations on a fabulous performance. I very much look forward to my next visit to Grantham.

Andrew Key

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