Broadway to Broadwaters

KODS brought a varied concert programme to the stage with some new strong voices to complement their more established members, all set against a background of an open stage,  dazzling star cloth and on-stage piano accompaniment by MD Russell Painter.

Good vocals from the full company were evident straight away with the opening number of Act 1 ‘Skid Row (Downtown)’ from Little Shop of Horrors and this was followed by ‘Who I’d Be ‘ from Shrek, well led by Tom Paine and accompanied by Immie Priscott and Wayne Atkinson. Wayne then sang ‘Empty Chairs and Empty Tables’ from Les Misérables with some nice light and shade and Jade Foster sang ‘As long as He Needs Me’ from Oliver! with feeling.

Annette Guest sang ‘Summertime’ from Porgy and Bess with poise and David Bradley made a good job of ‘Raise a Little Hell’ from Bonnie & Clyde. Russell gave us a charming arrangement of ‘Some Enchanted Evening’ from South Pacific with his piano solo and Leyla Hull gave good stage presence with her ‘Out Tonight’ from Rent.

Other full company numbers and  ‘Quartet at the Ballet’ from Anastasia, sung by Emily Jeffrey, Jill Little, Gareth Coffin and David Bradley were spread amongst the solo numbers, adding variety to the programme. Act 1 was rounded off with a rousing ‘Get Me to the Church on Time’ from My Fair Lady well led by Tom Paine, but for me the top number in Act 1 was newcomer Sheila Wood’s ‘Losing My Mind’ from Follies. I was fully absorbed, it was excellent.

 A medley from Wicked was a good opening to Act 2 and Lisa Derrington put some great characterisation into ‘The Mad Hatter’ from Wonderland. Immie returned with ‘All Falls Down’ from Chaplin: The Musical, with expression and Beth Stephens provided a well handled ‘Pulled’ from The Addams Family. It was good again to hear ‘Happy Sad’ by Reece Jones from the same show and Emily and the full company provided a fluid ‘We Beseech Thee’ from Godspell.

Further variety was provided  by Immie and David singing ‘Seventeen’ from Heathers and from Tom Farley and his ‘Mr Cellophane’ from Chicago, whilst  Chris Paine sang a passionate ‘Lonely Room’ from Oklahoma. I particularly liked Gareth Coffin’s ‘Waving Through a Window’ from Dear Evan Hansen sang well with great belief and Charlotte Hale’s ‘With You’ from Ghost, tuneful, solid with great light and shade. The full company completed the varied programme with ‘Its Time to Dance’ from The Prom, led by Charlotte and Leyla.

There were some off stage announcements, but I would be interested in any feedback KODS receive from the general audience to the lack of a programme, but instead access to a QR code holding the details, given the inclusion of some lesser known musical numbers.   Certainly, a cost saving issue worth considering for some productions. Congratulations to debut director Reece Jones and my thanks for the usual warm welcome from the members of KODS.

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