There's a Time and a Place

This was an entertaining evening with a well thought out and intriguing programme of song.  The first half was called A Time with all songs referring to times or seasons. The second half called A Place concentrated on songs with locations. The show opened with a beautifully harmonised ‘Day by Day’, then went on to songs from popular culture like ‘Sunny Afternoon’ and ‘I Got the Sun in the Morning’. The ladies treated us to some moving numbers such as ‘The Loveliest Time of the Year’ and the Company delighted with ‘Summertime’.  The men, unaccompanied, gave us a superbly sung ‘For the Longest Time’.  Soloists Claire Smith, Mary Fullerton and Karen Forrester built up momentum with ‘Tell me on a Sunday’, ‘Walking After Midnight’ and ‘One Day like This’. Finishing the first half, Catriona McPhail, Douglas Bloomer and Joe Millar led a moving ‘At the End of the Day’.  Out on location in the second half, from Acapulco, Budapest, San Francisco to the Clyde were nicely grouped singers  Justyna Pabisz, Meg Pearston , Jennifer Ward and Gillian Gilchrist.  Then along with Jean Bennet and Caroline Thomson and Alison Wright came ‘Streets of London’, ‘Back in the USSR’ and a jaunty’ Country Roads’.  Soloist Alison sang beautifully ‘The Boy from Ipanema’.  I loved the haunting elements in ‘Molly Malone’ and the joie de vivre in ‘Chatanooga Choo Choo’.  Soloist Mary made a fine job of’ l Left my Heart in San Francisco’ as did Chris with ‘New York State of Mind’. The evening was brought to a close with a finely balanced ‘Letters from America’. Each number was accompanied by a change of costume to suit the ‘time’ and ‘place’ adding freshness and interest. Likewise the choreographer was careful to set movement which enhanced the words of the songs especially in ‘At the End of the Day’, while Archie Alexander pulled heart strings as the lonely man in ‘Streets of London’.  The company moved and sung so easily and confidently that it belied all their hard work. Toe- tapping and thoughtful songs evocative of time and place gave us a wonderful evening.  

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