Old 2 New

Once again KODYS performed their January concert to a packed house and almost immediately I noticed how some of the young performers had matured since the last one 12 months ago. The opening number was a colourful spectacle of ‘Colour My World’, from Priscilla, everyone wearing coloured T shirts against a sparkling star cloth background. After the initial number, the concert was broken up into sections and each was introduced by a selection of well- spoken youngsters. Danny Duffy was up next with an expressive number and this was followed by Imogen Maybury singing ‘Once you lose your heart’ from Me and My Girl, with some nice light and shade. Jamie Whitehouse and Billy Brook sang well with ‘That Guy’ from Blood Brothers.

Imogen returned with Molly Strong  with ‘Oom Pah Pah’ from Oliver! with everyone joining in with some snappy moves. Lilly Batsford-Carrington sang ‘As Long as he needs me’, also from Oliver! with feeling and some good phrasing. Jessica Bradbury also had a nice voice singing ‘Let’s hear it for the boy’ from Footloose.

The next section commenced with the girls singing ‘I will follow him’ from Sister Act, all dressed in black with some complimentary movements. ‘Sincerely Me’ from Dear Evan Hanson was led by Myles Richards and Toby Denton, with Charlie Dancyger, and demonstrated they were good movers too! Charley Smith then gave a commanding performance with a great voice singing ‘Don’t Rain on my Parade’, from Funny Girl. This number was certainly a highlight of Part 1, but was matched by a great medley from Les Misérables performed by the company to conclude Act 1.

The opening of Act 2  involved everyone singing ‘Seasons of Love’ from Rent with great power. By now we had entered a period of one great number after another; Jamie Whitehouse singing ‘I won’t send roses’ from Mack & Mabel, with soul, which I found quite moving, Charlie Dancyger and the girls put a great level of energy into ‘I wanna be a producer’ from The Producers, Lilly Hickman providing a fantastic dance / acrobatic sequence called Acro Dance and the section concluded with a splendid rap number ‘My Shot’ from Hamilton with Billy Brooks and the lads.

The next section commenced with Harrison Bianco’s brilliant rendition of ‘Sit Down you’re rocking the Boat’ from Guys and Dolls – excellent interpretation, demeaner and voice just right, and Toby Denton had a pleasing gentle voice, singing ‘When Words Fail’ from Shrek, with feeling. Darcy Hill then sang ‘Home’ from Beetlejuice, also with feeling.

Chris Kemp opened the penultimate section with ‘Wall in my Head’ from Everyone’s talking about Jamie – not an easy number but sang well. Larna Richards and Roxie Jordan proved to be great performers, slick and sharp, with ‘End of the Line’ from Theory of Relativity, and this was followed by the nine lads singing ‘Mamma Says’ from Footloose – other youth groups could easily envy such a team.

The final section opened with ‘Flash Bang Wallop’ from Kipps with action packed verses and a photographer with a liking for the old methuselah! Everyone joined in an energetic finale with ‘Don’t stop Believing’ from Rock of Ages – this particular number choreographed by Emily Hamer. Otherwise, the choreography was in the capable hands of Wendy Richards and Elaine Tovey, with Wendy and Julian Richards having overall direction, with Russell Painter on piano, the overall production was a complete delight. Congratulations to all involved.

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