Cheers to 80

Firstly, I would like to offer my congratulations to Cannock Chase Drama Society for reaching 80 years of performing, and what a way to celebrate that achievement. Taking us on a journey through their history with songs, sketches and anecdotes, it was a full and fun evening of entertainment. Chris Flint was the man trusted with the job of linking everything together, and he didn’t disappoint. Chris used all of his years of experience (not 80 I might add!) to work the audience and make them feel involved, creating an atmosphere for the ensemble to work with.

It was good to see members of the society, who had not performed with them for a few shows, coming back and adding their experience into the programme, which was very varied and spanned many a decade of CCDS. The full company sang a variety of numbers, but I must pick out A Thousand Years as my favourite, it was nicely balanced between parts and harmonies came across strongly, a credit to the hard work of Musical Director, Helen Collins, who, I must say, also gave a moving rendition of He’s My Boy from Everyone’s talking about Jamie. The Sound of Music is always a favourite with audiences and there were excerpts from the show in this concert…..with a twist! Brian Washington and Linda Askew amused the crowd with a very clever adaptation of the song 16 Going On 17, this time it was 70 going on 80! This was followed by the von Trapp children singing So Long, Farewell…. well, I say children….maybe a few years ago! Comedy aside, there were some very strong performances along the way, Sarah Washington lights up the stage and has a lovely relaxed soprano voice, her solos were beautifully performed. The section from Chicago was definitely a crowd pleaser. Dave Beere is someone you can always rely on to perform a song, and his version of Mr Cellophane did not disappoint. The group of dancers, who showed off their talent on numerous occasions throughout the performance, under the direction of choreographer Lauren Barry, then performed Hot Honey Rag. The final number of Reach For The Gun was really well choreographed and impressively executed by Andy Nicholls and Chelsea Stanway as Billy Flynn and his dummy, along with the interaction from the ensemble, this was a great number to send us off for a drink.

Julie Hunter opened the second half by leading us into Anything Goes, before we flew off to Return to the Forbidden Planet where Lily Burgess and April Neuchterlien sang Teenager in Love before Brian Washington returned with Don’t let me be misunderstood. The classic musicals were not forgotten either, the trio of ladies who sang Secret Love, Francesca Breeze, Em Askey and Louise Hewitt, from Calamity Jane, changed the mood of the audience completely with beautifully blended harmonies. Francesca was also joined by Chris Flint to give another strong performance of People will say we’re in Love from Oklahoma. It was also a pleasure to hear Brett Dewsbury sing on the evening, he was joined by Louise Hewitt and Lauren Barry to recreate their trio from Annie, Easy Street, a number I enjoyed when I saw it first time round, and this did not disappoint either. The ensemble was also completely engaged in everything that was going on and sang with gusto when called to do so. The only negative for me, was on the odd occasion some of the backing tracks were a little too loud, and the balance between accompaniment and vocals was not quite right.

There was a lovely touch of a slide show of photos taken from shows over the 80 years, bringing back many memories for people who may not be performing any longer but were able to reminisce.

The show was very well staged, it is always difficult when performing a concert, to keep it interesting visually, but Julie Hunter, as Director, managed this extremely well, using varying combinations of people to create different pictures. This is a society which has a lot of individual talent and when you put them altogether like this, it makes for a very enjoyable evening. Congratulations to everyone involved in the show and I wish you a very successful 80th year.

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