Walking the West End

Walking The West End

A concert with Crediton Operatic Dramatic Society

Performed on Friday 20th September 2024 at The Boniface Centre, Crediton

Musical Director and conductor – Nikki Wilkes                                                                                         

I am always delighted to be invited to CODS ‘September Evenings’ annual concert which showcases individual and group talent the society has within its ranks. This year was the first for the new Musical Director/Conductor, Nikki Wilks, having taken over from Mike Canning, who stood down last year after many years as concert MD.

The choices of shows performed this year ranged from new to old, from Waitress and Dear Evan Hansen to Les Misérables and many more memorable songs in between. Starting with ‘Opening Up’ from Waitress, sang by trio with great harmonies , we then moved on to a beautiful rendition of ‘Lullaby Mountain’ and Chitty Chitty Bang Bang from the chorus. We were treated to ‘The Name of the Game’ by Erin Zorlu and ‘Money Money Money from Sadie Moden, both from Mama Mia and both sang with confidence.

‘You Will be Found’ from Dear Evan Hansen is a rousing number and was well performed by the chorus in four-part harmonies using five female leads and one male soloist. A lovely arrangement indeed. ‘With One Look’ from the glorious Sunset Boulevard was sang well by Ruth Towers followed by a forceful ‘Anthem’ from Chess by Jason Bomford.

Then back to an earlier era of musicals with the ‘Cock-eyed Optimist’ from South Pacific, a lovely arrangement for a chorus to perform and to the 1980’s with one of my favourite shows,  ‘Seasons of Love’ from Rent  which included stunning singing from both soloists and ensemble.  The duet of  ‘I Still Believe’ from Miss Saigon was performed with emotion by Helen Clarke and Tasha Currie, followed by Mike Canning singing the classic ‘Stars’ from Les Misérables, a powerful performance indeed.

The company finished the first act with ‘One Short Day’ from Wicked which was delightful, with light and shade where required and a mighty ending!

Throughout the evening, we were served a lovely two course meal, which was delivered to our tables hot and delicious. It is rare for a society to include food for their audience, making this a unique and lovely addition to the experience. Well done to the chefs!

During the interval we were entertained by three wonderful performances. The first being ‘Six’ from Six from, yes, six talented women, Holly Harris, Lyndsey Betts, Georgia Steer, Buffy May, Helen Clarke and the MD herself, Nikki Wilks. Well done, Queens, a great performance and the enjoyment on your faces was easy to see. This was followed by two young performers of 12 and 13 years, Isabella Betts and Leila Hooper, dueting ‘For the First Time in Forever’ from Frozen, both with lovely voices and a gorgeous tonal quality to each, who duly received huge, well earned, applause.  Holly Harris with a lively rendition of ‘Oom Pah Pah’ from Oliver set us up from Act Two.

Act Two began with ‘Masquerade’ from Phantom of the Opera and I take my hat off to the sopranos in the chorus who were perfectly pitched up there in the clouds with stunning support from the rest of the vocalists. This then continued with a gentle, melodic version for the chorus of ‘All I Ask of You’, normally a duet, this was just lovely and a subtle sound reminiscent of Barbra Streisand’s version. Continuing with another Andrew Lloyd Webber hit, Jo Hooper performed ‘Memory’ from Cats with a lovely lilting tone, followed by Adam Cavanagh and Rosanne Clark’s rendition of ‘Suddenly Seymour’ from Little Shop of Horrors, which was totally engaging and their voices blended beautifully.

One of the best Rogers and Hammerstein musicals ever written (in my humble opinion) and thought to be Richard Roger’s favourite is Carousel and with rip-roaring enthusiasm the chorus produced a marvelous ‘June is Bustin’ Out All Over’.  Then a trip to London Town with a sweet rendition from Victoria Woods of ‘All I Want is a Room Somewhere’ from My Fair Lady. 

One of the very best female solo’s that every performer wants to have a crack at is that of Rizzo’s ‘There are Worse Things I Could Do’ from Grease and this was performed by Georgia Steer with real emotion and power.  Then we were treated to three ‘Witches of Eastwick’, being Ruth Towers, Nicky Gould and Gillian Mackenzie singing ‘I Wish I May’ in lovely three-part harmonies.  This led into a Mary Poppins medley with obvious audience participation. Who doesn’t know Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious, for goodness’ sake!

Having never seen Hamilton or heard much of the music (my bad) I was enthralled by Lyndsey Betts portrayal of Eliza Hamilton as she sang ‘Burn’ and the anger in her performance was palpable, yet well controlled, a voice of quality.  Then Buffy May brought the audience to their feet with a beautiful rendition of ‘She Used to Be Mine’ from Waitress, a stunning voice that I could listen to forever.

Finally, an arrangement written by Allan Fouracre of songs from Les Misérables starting with ‘At the End of the Day’ and ending with ‘One Day More. The company of vocalists concluded the concert with eight numbers segued into each other, seamlessly ending with a spirited ‘One Day More’ as the audience rose to their feet, applauding.

The band of four musicians accompanied a number of performers superbly well. Some did use recorded backing tracks to perform with, so well done indeed to the sound engineers who controlled the six standing mics and tracks.

This was such an enjoyable evening of stimulating entertainment and lovely food, which everyone, either participating in or watching, thoroughly enjoyed. Thank you, again to CODS for inviting myself and John and warm congratulations to Nikki, Allan and his band and everyone involved in a wonderful September evening of music.

Lyn Burgoyne (Noda representative, District 5, Mid and East Devon)

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