"Summer Song" - A celebration of Sylvia Allanson

Somebody once said that nostalgia is not what it used to be. Be that as it may, that my arrival in the town coincided with that of a steam train provided an ideal prelude to an evening looking back in celebration of the life of a member of the society who died last year.

Sylvia Allanson’s stage career spanned some 60 years and included appearances in operetta, musicals and pantomime.  The programme for this event contained more than 30 songs from more than 20 shows and there would have been more but for the illness of one of the members.  Adam Collier, a local undertaker by day, has an alter ego as a raconteur of amusing tales and raised many a laugh by including a few alongside his duties as compere for the evening. I would, however, have been interested to hear more about the connection between the choice of songs we heard and Sylvia’s parts in the various shows.

The company of nine showed excellent versatility in tackling so many songs with such varying styles.  Although most were familiar, there were others which are heard less often these days. It was good to be reminded of these and of the shows now rarely performed but which we enjoyed in years gone by. “Before I gaze at you again (“Camelot”), “I know now” (“Robert and Elizabeth”) and “Fly home, little heart (“King’s Rhapsody”) are examples and we were grateful to Niamh Rose, Stephen Temple, Charlotte Hurst and Chris Baxter for their performances.  Michael O’Brien was in cowboy mode for “Higher than a hawk” (“Calamity Jane”), deputising for the absent Colin Wragg, in “Oh, what a beautiful morning” (“Oklahoma!”) and also made a convincing Fagin in “Reviewing the situation” (“Oliver!”).  Kelsi Hodgson switched from the ebullient character we see in the title song of “Anything goes” to the more thoughtful mood of “As long as he needs me”. John Brooks limited his solo input to “My name” from “Oliver!” but made a very effective and quite frightening Bill Sikes.  Danielle Long and Paula Paylor also made valuable contributions to the programme whilst perhaps the most challenging piece was Niamh Rose’s aria from Gounod’s “Faust”, which slhe handled with apparent ease.  The full company had begun the evening with a choral version of “The Merry Widow Waltz” and ended with “So long, farewell” from “The Sound of Music”, a poignant yet appropriate choice for a concert in memory of their former colleague. Accompanying it all was the hard-working Clive Wass at the piano.            

We are regularly fascinated by some fine performances by members of the younger generation and rightly so as they represent the future of our societies and, indeed, of this hobby we all enjoy.  On this occasion there were excellent contributions from members of Kirkham Henry Performing Arts, Malton with a Makaton-signed song, appropriately called “Can you hear my voice”, an exciting tap-dancing version of “Luck be a Lady” and an illustration of the contrasting styles of dance in “At the ballet” from “A Chorus Line”. 

Nevertheless, it is good to pay tribute to the lifetime achievements of a lady such as we remembered here and to recall some of the shows in which she had appeared.  It is only right that her massive contribution to amateur theatre in the town should be recognised in this way and the “house full” notice outside came as no surprise. It was a privilege to deputise for my colleague Morag Kinnes in representing NODA and to meet the husband who spent so much of his life with this undoubted star of amateur theatre.  I am only sorry that I never saw any of her performances.  

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