And The Award Goes To.......

This was a well balanced, well presented and beautifully sung tribute to some award-winning songs from TV, stage and film musicals spanning some 50 years.

Lee Powell got the concert off to an energetic start as he led the company in ‘Live in Living Colour’ and Adam Merrall finished in the same way as he led the company in ‘Light at the End of the Tunnel’. In between these items there was an impressive display of individual talent in solos, duets and ensembles as the concert moved along at a good pace. The ladies’ chorus impressed with the singing of ‘Being Alive’ as did the men’s chorus with the singing and timing in ‘Hello’. Some songs need exceptional diction and comedy timing to work outside the context of the show in which they are based. The audience obviously followed the story telling by Nick Hardy with ‘You’ll Be Back’ and Vicki Hardy’s delivery of What Ever Happened to My Part’. This was also true of ‘I’m Still Here’ from Steph Coleman. Charlotte D’Abreau, Claire Doughty and Faye Freeman harmonised well together in ‘Little Shop of Horrors’ which was followed by the less well-known ‘Grow for Me’ from the same show. This was another good example of story telling from Paul Ingles. I could mention many songs featuring good story telling as one of the strong points in this concert was the intent of all soloists to perform their song and not just sing it. Emily Ison, Philippa Mills, Ellie Quin, Hannah Roche and Charlotte Simcox delivered a slick routine of ‘Six’ which Emily followed up with ‘Heart of Stone’ showing that she is a star of the future. Alison Room and Jayne Ison led the company in two stirring Kander and Ebb classics from Chicago, ‘And All that Jazz’ and ‘When You’re Good to Mama’. There were outstanding solos throughout the concert from Ian Shepherd, Ellie Quin, Charlotte Simcox, Simon Peacock, Steph Coleman, Alison Room, Simon Docherty, Philippa Mills and Lee Powell. In addition to these and the ensemble singing there were some well balanced duets from Vicki Hardy and Jayne Ison and Holly Forrester and Faye Freeman. Liz Kirk and Kerrie Pittaway led the ladies’ chorus in the often-overlooked number from Mamma Mia, ‘Slipping Through my Fingers. The singing was strong and confident through the whole concert and was a credit to Musical Director, Ian Room, and he also accompanied all the singing sympathetically on the piano.

Congratulations to everyone involved! It makes a very pleasant change to focus on some quality singing.

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