An Enchanted Evening - The Music of Rogers and Hammerstein

Acton AOS have spent 2023 producing concerts in the local area, celebrating their passion of musicals and singing. Their most recent concert celebrated the work of Rogers and Hammerstein. Conceived and directed by Debbie Cornock, this was a great way to show off the vocal ability of the group. Throughout the evening, Debbie also shared some interesting information about Rogers and Hammerstein, as well as asking the audience trivia questions about the famous duo. This kept the evening relaxed. Performed in the beautiful setting of St Mary’s Church, there was no need for set. The cast sat in the choir stalls and came up to a line of microphones to deliver their songs. The cast all wore evening wear, which was in keeping with the celebration of Rogers and Hammerstein.

Adam Whitehead, as well as performing in the concert, was the musical director. The ensemble numbers were lovely to listen to with some great harmonies. The cast performed to backing tracks (no mean feat!) and all did well with this.

There was no real need for any lighting for the concert. The sound balance between the backing tracks and cast was good – everything could be heard.

Act One opened with Eleanor Morris singing ‘The Hills Are Alive’ from ‘The Sound of Music’. This was a great performance from Eleanor, who has a great vocal. Chloe Ravenscroft and Owen Whitehead performed well together with ‘I Have Dreamed’ from ‘The King and I’. Their voices complimented each other very well. The second offering of songs from ‘The Sound of Music’ were performed very well, especially Anastasia Newton who led ‘Do-Re-Mi’. The Act One finale was ‘You’ll Never Walk Alone’ from ‘Carousel’, led by Megan Goode. This was a fantastic close to the act, with a great wall of sound coming from the cast.

‘The Farmer and the Cowman’ from ‘Oklahoma!’ started Act Two. This was well performed by the company. Sue Dodd impressed with her solos with an excellent stage presence. The men’s chorus had fun with ‘Blow High Blow Low’, performing it with full gusto. The final two numbers from ‘Oklahoma!’ were well performed. Megan Goode really got into the character of Ado Annie as she performed ‘I Cain’t Say No’, sustaining the accent throughout. The title number from ‘Oklahoma!’ was well performed by the entire company with some lovely harmonies. The encore of ‘Do-Re-Mi’ at the end of the concert was a nice touch, allowing the audience to join in with the song and the actions that accompanied it.

Overall, this was a good concert, which allowed the group to celebrate the music of Rogers and Hammerstein. The ensemble numbers really impressed.

Thank you to Acton AOS for your warm welcome and kind hospitality. All the best for your Christmas concert.

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