Anthems-40 Years of EMT

Celebrating their 40th anniversary, Edinburgh Music Theatre’s second concert Anthems-40 Years of EMT was a compilation of musical numbers from some of the shows they had performed over the last 40 years.

We were eased into the programme with ‘Comedy Tonight’ (Side by Side by Sondheim) and this was followed by a superbly stylised ‘Boyfriend’ (The Boyfriend).

‘The Ballad of Sweeney Todd’ (Sweeney Todd) was sung with tremendous power and created an almost threatening atmosphere. ‘Show Off’ (The Drowsy Chaperone) was coquettish while ‘So in Love’ (Kiss me Kate) was sultry and engaging.

The choreography throughout the programme was slick and imaginative especially in the punchy ‘Sit Down You’re Rockin’ The Boat’ (Guys and Dolls) which was not only vocally strong but performed with precision and deftness. A relaxed ‘Don’t Go Breaking My Heart’ (Boogie Nights) was followed by the ever popular ‘Oklahoma’ (Oklahoma!) which was put across with verve and vitality. Another older favourite ‘If I Were A Rich Man’ (Fiddler on the Roof) was delivered with ease.

One of the most emotive and compelling numbers for me was ‘Anthem’ (Chess) which was sung with great passion. ‘You’ll Never Walk Alone’ (Carousel) was sung with great feeling and brought a tear to the eye. ’Blow Gabriel Blow’ (Anything Goes) again showed the versatility of the company and it’s soloists.

The grand finale ‘Footloose’ (Footloose) had the audience energised and was a tremendous ending to this wonderful evening.

This was, like the earlier concert, a memorable, animated production demonstrating the true professionalism by a most accomplished company supported by a small, excellent band, The entire evening’s entertainment was thoroughly enjoyable and all credit must go to the cast and production team for the tremendous amount of hard work and dedication by all resulting in an impressive, polished evening of song and dance. Very well done indeed.

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