A Right Royal Romance

I arrived at the comfortable and partly refurbished (bar area) Nomad Theatre to find that the advertised "Annie Get Your Gun" I expected to see had been changed in favour of a concert. I had not been previously advised of the relatively recently decided change of plan, but of course can sympathise with the reasons for the change of plan, which could not be helped. However, "ARRR" (for short) lacked neither talent nor organisation, which is to BLOS's credit, given the short available rehearsal time.

A company of thirty five, which included the musical director Selena Hegarty, percussionist Tessa Lawn, who both sang, plus keyboard player Anna- Maria Raffa, gave us a high class musical evening. MC Andrew Hamel-Cooke, who also sang, was polished, gently humourous and added a professional touch to the evening.

Selena conducted with assurance and, on the whole, I was pleased with how skilfully the dynamics were observed.

The musical programme consisted of very well known and well chosen pieces from the shows of yesteryear, including half a dozen from G&S, whose operas BLOS regularly perform. In keeping with the show's title, the four musical sections were headed thus:  "The Courtship", "The Break Up", "The Reconciliation" and "The Wedding".

The programme commenced with a medley from the legendary "Phantom of the Opera" which was (to my mind) thankfully the most recently written show chosen. This comment is not to condemn very modern  musicals, but I rarely leave the theatre whistling those songs, as I certainly did  this time. A wise BLOS decision, therefore, especially given the average age of musical theatre patrons.

The Courtship section included two songs from "Patience", notable for excellent acting by Gill Eve, Tessa, Selena and lovesick ladies' chorus and for most tuneful singing from all.  "I feel pretty" "starred" (I use the word advisedly!) the outstanding Eleanor Hegarty as Maria, backed by six other young ladies. I thought this number the very best in this section, just shading both the following "Sixteen Going on Seventeen", which Eleanor shared with another impressive young singer in Jacob Elsey, and with "Long Years Ago" (Patience) by Selena and Gill.

Following the shortest piece from "Viva Mexico" - a vastly underrated musical - a lusty chorus of men gave a full rendition of "There is Nothing Like a Dame"

"The Break Up" gave us three outstanding numbers in "You can't get a Man with a Gun", "Why Can't You Behave" and "I'm Gonna Wash that Man". Vikki Mash and Sophie Johnstone were both superb, well backed by Jane Catton, Lynda Martin and female chorus. The other two songs, though not as spectacular, were perfectly good, even so.

Act two opened with a "Les Miserables" medley in which I gave the ensemble singing the edge over the soloists, in their entirety.

"The Reconciliation" featured a well put over "All or Nothin'" by Sophie and Michael Ayres, an hauntingly good "I hear the Soft Note" by Tessa, Gill, Nicole Perrier-Doe, Kevin Wood, John Beavis, Andrew Hamel-Cooke and Company and the charming "If We're Weak Enough to Tarry" by Selena and Michael.

"The Wedding" section gave us two truly memorable numbers in the "It's Harry (who else) I'm Planning to Marry" by Vykki and the splendidly performed Company Finale from "Oklahoma" with four other enjoyable songs, the best of which I considered to be Tessa's "When a Merry Maiden Marries"

We were treated to an encore from "The Merry Widow" which left me wondering why more true operetta had not been included, despite the several G&S songs.

Andrew gave us a mention of Meghan Markle and, with "Harry being the one she was going to marry", the memorable events of the day to follow had just about enough emphasis given. ARRR was never a mere topical title for the evening's enjoyment.                                   

Tony and Dee Bowdery provided suitable lighting with good use of spot. They also designed and built the set. Hard working and talented "techies" often receive insufficient praise, but, together with Clive Vinall on sound I hope my commendation of them all redresses the balance somewhat!

Ideally, I would have liked some more comedy; sketches, even more dance perhaps, as I found the concert format, even with an excellent MC, a little staid overall. Perhaps this is more a suggestion for the future than a criticism of this show, given the very short time BLOS had to prepare. Even so, it was a most enjoyable visit and an evening of high quality.

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