SHS staged their summer concert, 100 Years of American Musical Theatre, on Saturday, July 9th at High Cross, Camberley. The programme included compilations from My Fair Lady, Carousel, South Pacific, The King and I, West Side Story, Oklahoma and much more. Ed Bonner conducted and Geoff Tuson accompanied. Geoff also played 3 solos, including the beautiful, Send in the Clowns, from A Little Night Music.
Below are some comments from audience members:
I was just about to say how much I enjoyed the concert. The whole choir looked good and sounded excellent. The 2 extra male singers were superb and added to the overall enjoyment. I really wanted to be up there with you as it was hard not to join in the singing. The combination of voices sounded lovely. I was so pleased to be there and it was lovely to see you all. The drink and chatter afterwards were the icing on the cake.
I had some interesting feedback from one of our members who was in the audience. When I asked for his unvarnished opinion, he said that the timing and tempo of the pieces were excellent and enjoyable and set the atmosphere. He said the basses and tenors were quite prominent and benefited from the contribution of Marcello Palazzo (Tenor) and Rob Jones (Bass). The sopranos found hitting the perfect pitch challenging at times (I think that might have been because of the heat).
Another audience member said the overall impact was joyful and the West Side Story arrangement was the highlight partly because it reminded her of the contemporary Spielberg film production which sticks to the original musical score.
I received many compliments from various members of the audience who all thought it was a wonderful, foot-tapping concert, evoking memories of the past. Many loved knowing the words in their heads.
Some friends of ours, who are members of another choir, said that the technical standard of our singing was high; the quality seemed even better with smaller numbers. Others commented on the programme itself, the content providing suitable variety and balance. Geoff’s solos went down a treat.
“…uplifting, just what the doctor ordered …”
“…wonderful programme, more please…”
“…the choir did so well in all that heat…”
“… I just wanted to sing along …”