May is perfect. It is the Goldilocks month, not too hot, not too cold but just right. It is a combination of a nip in the air and a warming morning coffee. It is also a great month for resetting the year with musical entertainment and this is what happened on 17th May when the Esk Community Choir brought Divas and Delights – Encore to a very suave but animated audience at the Somerset Civic Centre in Esk.
With welcoming colourful cocktails
and canapes as guests entered the auditorium to take their places around richly
decorated tables, it was apparent that there was more to the merit of this
little country town than meets the eye. It
was time to forget the wobbles of the world, top up wine glasses and live.
To a backdrop of colourfully
interactive scene settings, the choir sashayed to the stage to set the mood for
a wonderous evening of fantastic choral arrangements, song and dance numbers by
ensembles, both the ladies’ and men’s, trios, solos, and duets, all adorned in
colourful costumes perfect for their performances.
There is an adage, never go
back. Imagine trying to recreate a
performance because it was wonderful the last time! However, on this Saturday night the wonderful
supporters who came managed to come alive surrendering themselves with renewed
vigour to this amazing choir’s musical gifts, perhaps enticing new followers to
hop on the choir band wagon.
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| Marina Crichton 'Marble Halls' |
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| Male Chorus - 'Wine, Woman and Song' |
Between courses of warming soup, sumptuous
sweets, a bevy of beverages, and some fabulous raffle draws, audience members
were taken from Johann Strauss’ Circus, the magical musical world of King
Arthur and Camelot, an Enchanted Evening with Bob, the pathos
of O Pastorelle, and Roland’s passionate rendition of You Are My
Heart’s Delight. Following interval,
three saucy Gypsies with a penchant for laughing, a Couple of Swells who
wowed the crowd, the sass of song and dance with Kathleen’s Anything Goes and
the perfection of the piano duet, Turkish March performed by Alexis and
Ruth added to the mixed bag of this musical menagerie. The evocative sentiments expressed in
Marina’s melancholic rendition of Marble Halls was the antithesis of the
rollicking rendition of Wine Woman and Song by the choir men followed by
a further tribute to the mastery of Johann Strauss with Morganblatter –
Life’s a Dance, all these giving rise to a standing ovation and calls of encore!
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| Anna, Helene, Susie and Kathleen 'Anything Goes' |
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| Three saucy Gypsies - Sue, Patrina and Ruth |
Can one go back? Can something that was good be repeated? You
betcha it can. Why anything can happen when one goes looking for great music on
a Saturday night!
Acknowledgements for this concert
are many, varied and so well deserved. So
many thanks to our ever adaptable, always engaging emcee Sean Choat, the
lighting/ soundmen and décor providers who created the ambiance; the Esk Choir
ladies whose reputation for fine dining fare remains intact, even for the
preparation of soup. Thanks too to the treasures
from Esk CWA who delivered to the diners; the ever present Michaela, Sue,
Di and their kitchen helpers for their
tireless attention to all the messy stuff; and to Greg Skippen for his wooden
masterpieces for the tables and raffle.
However, the gold medal must go to Alexis who brought this dream to
reality. While her incomparable accompaniments throughout this entire concert
may appear to have been overshadowed by the performances on stage, this writer
is here to say they were not. There are
certain names in life whose mere mention withstands the passage of time,
eternally enduring with the attachment of a smile. This is because for so many years they make
and have made a wonderfully positive impact in the lives of so many. Could there be anything more important? THANK YOU ALEXIS, from us all.
By: Sue Walker
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| Alexis' magic fingers |
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| Bob 'Some Enchanted Evening' |
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| Gypsy Patrina |
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