Fab at Fifty

Orrell Musical and Dramatic Society’s (OMADS) latest offering for our enjoyment was a celebration concert for their 50th anniversary year called “Fab and 50” and Fab at 50 they were, as we all had an excellent evening listening to highlights from their last fifty concerts, which was an eclectic mix of well-known songs written by some of the music worlds most talented composers and lyricists.The interesting program  performed in two halves started with a rendition  of “One Voice”and included a collection of some old time favourites such as “Alexander’s Ragtime Band”, “Chattanooga Choo-Choo”, and a sing along of various old favourites from times gone by. There was a Disney medley, a pop medley and highlights from some of musical theatres most iconic shows such as, “Jesus Christ Superstar”, “Jersey Boys”, “Hairspray”, “Oliver”, “Blood Brothers” and “West Side Story”, to name but a few, the concert was brought to a close with a rousing rendition of “One Day More” from “Les Miserables”.  

The team responsible for the production were Musical Director Linda Scott and Choreographer Jackie Webb who supported and steered the large cast to perform splendidly, producing a very entertaining enjoyable show. The interesting programme included big production chorus numbers with the occasional soloist singing lines and verses. There was a large cast who all deserve a mention, as everyone worked together very well with no weak links and the effective suitable choreography added to the overall feel of this successful concert and was performed expertly with enthusiasm by all the members of the cast. There was also a very enjoyable Oliver medley performed by a group of very talented children which went down very well with the audience, it was evident that everyone adult or child taking part was enjoying themselves immensely. Each song and section moved smoothly from one to the other meaning the show ran at a good pace with lots of energy. The cast were supported securely by a very accomplished duo led by Musical Director Linda Scott on keyboard with Curt Vosper on drums, and they expertly helped the performers to produce their best. The cast wore black with gold accessories and there was basically a blank stage with the use of occasional music stands which looked just right. Just a small constructive comment, it may be a good idea in the future to have the musicians at the side as most of the time you could only see the singers from the waist up and it was hard to see the children from where we were sitting which was about five rows back, other audience members were heard to comment on this. However this did not affect my enjoyment of this excellent celebration evening.

Well done to to all involved in bringing this excellent very entertaining Revue to the stage, which the audience appeared to enjoy very much. Thank you for a lovely evening and making us so welcome.

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