Some Enchanted Evenings

This theatrical piece was written by the director of the production, Fred Wharton, and although I have categorised it as a concert, it was much more than that. The audience was taken through the life story of Richard Rodgers by seven narrators, the narrators being key people, including Rogers himself (Ed Turner) and a constant throughout his story, and the main narrator, Dorothy Rodgers (Valenda Taylor), depicting the ups and downs in the career of this amazingly talented man.

The programme took us through his collaborations with Lorenz Hart (James Manning), Oscar Hammerstein (Paul Maddison), Stephen Sondheim (Anthony Smith), Sheldon Harnick (Nicky Tones) and Martin Charnin (Steve Hill) including the most famous of his songs and also some lesser known, but still worth hearing, compositions, There were even opportunities for some comedic moments provided in style by Olly Burton.

The large company performed some excellent pieces including “June is Busting Out All Over”, “A Grand Night for Singing”, “Falling in Love with Love”, “If I Loved You” and “Climb Every Mountain” each arrangement being well delivered.  The children in the company were very good, looking comfortable and confident throughout their performances, and were a credit to the production team as were the dancers, who also provided good support to this polished production.

There were many stand-out solo and group performances amidst the 46 numbers in the programme, but my personal favourites were “To Keep my Love Alive” delivered with hilarious perfection by Eileen Glenton, “Hello Young Lovers” (amongst others) by Delia McNally, the haunting harmonies in “My Funny Valentine” by John Barron, Steven Berry, Andy King, David O’Donnell, Anthony Smith & Ed Turner, and the spine-tingling and tear-inducing “Love Look Away” by Rachel Orr.

I left the theatre feeling I knew much more about Richard Rogers the man as well as his music. Thank you to all concerned for a super evening’s entertainment, and congratulations to Fred Wharton on being awarded the British Empire Medal for services to drama in the north east.

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