Celebratory Collaboration Concert

This enjoyable evening was a collaboration of two societies who were celebrating milestones in their histories – the hosts, Bilton ADS, 70 years of drama and Hull Musical Theatre Company 120 years of musical theatre.

With an audience in a celebratory mood right from the start, and the fact that it was three days before Christmas, the first half’s entertainment was provided by Hull Musical Theatre Company who gave us a selection of carols and seasonal numbers.  Opening with Sing a Christmas Carol from Scrooge and including Bethlehem from Martin Guerre, The Christmas Bells, adapted from an Israeli folk song, a nice carol from New Zealand, Te Harinui, and the lovely O Holy Night, the group of a dozen or so sang well and used some good harmonies, obviously enjoying what they were doing.

Bilton ADS took to the stage for the second half which consisted of a selection of playlets, some having been performed during a run the society had in November.  They also included several with a Christmas theme and all were extremely enjoyable and just right for an evening such as this.

Eleven performers of a good standard worked very hard across eight comedies and I was once again highly impressed by Danny Barr who appeared in three of them and showed a range of characters all different in style and delivery.  His partnership with Denny Rodgers in Hi Santa, Remember Me, was hilarious with excellent timing and we could hear every word from both of them.  The sketch revolved around a man who sees Santa having a quiet drink in a pub and then berates him for not providing the correct gift years before.

There were also strong performances from Rachel Lawson and Mark Bateman in The Wise Guys, based on the visit of the three wise men to Jesus, Keith and Helen Davison in The Golden Years which has an old married couple confessing their sins to each other and Gemma Kitching in Mrs Claus Dumps Santa where Mrs Claus composes a “Dear John” letter to Mr Claus.

After the plays we were invited to join both companies in the singing a few carols which sent us all home in a relaxed and happy mood.  Just the way to enjoy a Christmas night out!

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