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Melodies on the Move

Author: Jim Briscoe

Information

Date
10th January 2020
Society
Orrell Musical & Dramatic Society
Venue
Pemberton Masonic Hall, Chapel Street, Wigan
Type of Production
Concert
Musical Director
Linda Scott
Choreographer
Alison Hampson
Producer
Diane Jones

Toward the end of this concert we were reminded by Diane Jones that the concert had been dedicated to the memory of a dear friend and their long time drummer, Curt Vosper who they had lost very suddenly in October last year and that his family and his memory would live long in their hearts.

To stage any type of production, be it a musical, play, concert or review takes a vast amount of time, leadership and dedication; there is little doubt that OMADS are blessed with many dedicated and experienced theatre people who do help achieve this. So many congratulations for this entertaining concert to the Production Team of Linda Scott (Musical Director), whose expertise was evident throughout, to Alison Hampson (Choreographer) for the inclusion of some great movement and dance and to Diane Jones the Producer, all of whose expertise was more than evident throughout and helped bring the best out of the talented cast. 

The concert was performed in two acts.....
Act 1 .... OMADS AIRLINE FLIGHT 258 TO NEW YORK 
Listen...‘Don’t Stop Believing’ that ‘One Day I’ll Fly Away’ – yes it’ll be ‘Me and the Sky’ unless you want to ‘Come Fly with Me’ then, if we don’t like ‘Aeroplanes’ we could always pretend that were a ‘Rocket Man’ and you could ‘Fly me to the Moon’ or somewhere far Beyond the Sea’ - somewhere that’s ‘Nicer than Nice’, perhaps ‘New York’ or let’s say ‘We Open in Venice’, because if we’re ‘Leaving on a Jet Plane’, we’ll have no chance to shout ‘Bon Voyage’, unless ‘I am Sailing’ and if we’ve ‘Just Arrived’ in ‘N.Y.C’ then please ‘Don’t Rock the Boat’!

Act 2 ... MIDNIGHT TRAIN HEADING WEST
I suppose ‘Trains, Boats and Planes’ can take you on a ‘Morning Town Ride’ as can a ‘Pink Cadillac’ or a ‘Chitty Chitty Bang Bang’; but if it’s a ‘Love Train’ that you are after, then ‘The Locomotion’ they call the ‘Starlight Express’ is just what you need!  But, if walking is more your thing, then ‘These Boots are made for Walking’ and if you ‘Walk Right Back’‘500 Miles’ humming to yourself ‘The Trolley Song’ or ‘The Pushbike Song’ then you’ll know for sure you’re ‘Homeward Bound’ and you’ll be ‘Walking Back to Happiness’!  If all that walking becomes too much, don’t worry - ‘There’s a Coach Coming in’ ...‘The Surrey with the Fringe on Top’ but if a ‘Surrey’ isn’t your thing, you could always enter a ‘Bicycle Race’ or even start ‘Chasing Cars’ – who knows!

There is absolutely no doubt in my mind that this friendly society thoroughly enjoyed doing this show and they were well rewarded by a vocal audience. So I have purposely excluded cast names from my review simply because I honestly believe that this was a great ‘team effort’ and that everyone gave of their best! 

But having said that and I’m never one to ‘sit on the fence’... I really do think it would be remiss of me not to highlight my five personal favourite performances... these are purely MY favourites and I’m sure if you asked any other person in the audience that night they would probably come up with a completely different list...so here goes...

When you include one of my favourite songs of all time and make a great job of it, what more can I say....‘Don’t Stop Believing’ to me is a classic (love the ‘Glee Cast’ version); OMADS made a great job of it as one of their ‘Chorus Pieces’.  Well done one and all, some nice harmonies and it was nicely produced.   

Just loved the opening number from Act 2 – ‘Starlight Express’ – a great song, not the easiest to sing with some challenging notes along the way... another classic which was sung and handled superbly well by a very talented trio of ladies... Paula Waring, Victoria Fairhurst and Diane Jones.  Well done ladies.

Zack Thornley did an amazing job with ‘NYC’.  Again it was sung really well with some great movement to compliment the singing...well done sir!  Just loved... ‘Chasing Cars’ sung/led by Victoria Fairhurst and Paula Waring and who where joined part way through by five other ladies....another song that was sung and performed really well....well done one and all. Finally ‘Pink Cadillac’ was sung really well by the ‘Guys Chorus’ and danced to perfection by three great female dancers, Paula Waring, Natalie Jones and Laura Priestley.... well done!

Congratulations again to all those who took part and to all those involved in organising this very entertaining concert.  From the audiences reaction throughout I think everyone there was thoroughly entertained. Thank you very much for inviting my wife and I and we looked forward to seeing you all at ‘Fords in Dagenham’ later on in the year!

 

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