Seasons of Song

A very large cast of around 70 men,women and children in this production depicting the Four Seasons ending with Winter, and of course Christmas.

A very varied selection of songs,dances, even four very amusing sketches gave a real family feel to the programme.

It would be totally impossible to mention each and every number in the show, but there were some “Stand Out” solo’s which deserve a special mention.

 In the section “Spring” How long will I love You” sung by Daisy Rusdale and Fran Larkin was excellent, with tight harmonies coming through, and beautifully blended.In “Purple Rain” the balance of the mike’s and the band needed finer tuning, but it was well performed by Joanne Simons & Kayleigh Gilliard. A mention also to the superb playing on lead guitar.

In the “Summer” section, Aint no Sunshine” with Adam Overall and danced beautifully  by Robyn Dodd was another well presented number.

Act 1 was very good with some lovely costumes and most of the cast were very involved in both singing and dancing, and a delightful number with the really tiny performers in “Oh I do like to be beside the Seaside”. They all did so well and gave the audience such a sweetly presented number, which raised lots of Ooohs! & Ahh’s !! To start them at such a young age is quite demanding, but with help from some of the ladies the children coped with it all so well.

 On to Act 2 in which I really enjoyed Lauren and Fran with a super “Fields of Gold” so well sung and presented, and Emma Theedom gave us a great “Colours of the Wind” so expressive in her presentation, with some stunning choregraphy.

Adam Overall sung “Stars” beautifully (one of my all time favourite songs) and “Seasons of Love” was another great number towards the end of the show.

The four sketches were very amusing and well done, but with one of the ladies (sorry I have no idea of their names) who were not included in the programme which was perhaps an oversight, it was really difficult to hear her dialogue.Head mikes’s appeared not to be used here?

 As Guests the Halstead Community Choir did very well especially with “Africa”, but with the conductor standing right in front of many of the singers it  was rather intrusive, and left  me and the audience wanting to see and hear the entire choir more clearly.

Perhaps this can be thought about and the best place for  a conductor to stand, Generally I find that rather further away looks much better.

 I do realize that as many of the young people as possible were given solo’s,some worked well,others did not, mainly due to the fact with some of the younger children the songs were not really suitable for them.

 It would have been more suitable to have used popular songs from children’s shows of which there are many within their capabilities.

They all tried very hard ,and sung in some cases very well, but I would have loved songs with a bit of humour in them from some of the younger children which the audience would have loved and the children looked more comfortable performing.

The band added a lot to the show, but there were times especially with the solo voices it was too loud.   A balance at dress rehearsal to check the sound is essential, remembering with a full theatre it is a very different  sound than an empty one.

Once again a huge amount of work must have gone into this show, and very well done to you all in whatever aspect you were involved.

© NODA CIO. All rights reserved.