Christmas Concert

Following on from their Rogers and Hammerstein concert in October, Acton AOS made a welcome return to St Mary’s Church in Acton for their Christmas Concert. Compiled and directed by Kevin Whitfield, this was the perfect way to get into the festive spirit! It was lovely to see how full the church was and how well supported Acton AOS are. There was a great variety of Christmas songs on offer, from popular songs to traditional carols and everything in between – something for everyone. A very varied selection. The selection was clever as it took the audience on a journey, with the big, popular Christmas songs with the audience participating, to the more quieter Christmas carols. What impressed was the acting through song in some of the numbers. The company were really performing the songs, rather than just singing them. The church was a beautiful setting for the concert, with lots of Christmas trees on show, as part of the church’s Christmas tree festival. The company were wearing festive colours with reds and greens, and some sparkles thrown in!

Adam Whitehead was at the helm as Musical Director again for this concert. The ensemble singing from Acton AOS really impresses, and there were some lovely harmonies in the group numbers. The cast looked to be really enjoying singing the numbers, performing to backing tracks.

On the whole, sound was good. There were a few technical hiccups in terms of sound, but generally speaking the sound balance between the microphones and backing tracks was good. There were no special requirements for lighting.

Opening with a bang, the company performed Wizzard’s ‘I Wish it Could be Christmas Everyday’. This was followed by ‘Christmas Children’ from the Netflix film, ‘Scrooge: A Christmas Carol’. This was performed well by the company with some great acting through song. Rachel Willis led the company in ‘Winter Wonderland’, which was performed very well. A highlight from the first half was ‘Homeward Bound’ performed by Linda Race and Chloe Ravenscroft. It was well performed by both. Singing in French, Kevin Whitfield impressed with ‘Cantique Noel’.  It was a very good performance. The end of Act 1 was ‘Rockin’ Around the Christmas Tree’. This was performed well by the company, who you could tell were having fun with it. We were also joined by four sets of dancers who performed up the aisle. A lovely moment.

The male company opened Act 2 with ‘Grandma Got Run Over by a Reindeer’. This was a fun number to kick start the second part of the concert. A standout number from this part, and probably the whole concert, was the acapella version of ‘Mary Did You Know’, performed by Adam Whitehead, Owen Whitehead, Chloe Ravenscroft, Emily Wycherley and Eleanor Morris. It was stunning and had the audience entranced. Linda Race led the company in a beautiful version of ‘Believe’ from the film ‘Polar Express’ (a personal favourite). The whole company numbers in this section really impressed. The vocal power was astounding, with some great harmonies added, especially in ‘Oh Come All Ye Faithful’.

Overall, this was a good concert, which allowed the group to celebrate Christmas with the community. The ensemble singing was a particular highlight from this concert.

Thank you to Acton AOS for your warm welcome and kind hospitality. All the best for your next production, ‘Legally Blonde’, next year. Have a very Merry Christmas!

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