Pull A Cracker – Christmas Comes Early at Brighton Dome.
THE Brighton Gay Men’s Chorus returned to the formal surroundings of the Brighton Dome last night (Saturday, December 8) for their annual Christmas show, demonstrating how vocally strong and well-drilled this chorus is as they continue to take bold musical steps forward each year to keep their audience engaged with their choice of material.
Without any disrespect to anyone performing, it has to be said the ‘star’ of last nights show was the set designed by Cath Prenton. The Dome is a notoriously difficult space to dress but Ms Prenton’s set design was spectacular creating a wonderful setting for the choir to shine, and at times during last nights show they performed at the very top of their game.
Every show has one special moment and last nights was the show stopping performance of Never Enough from The Greatest Showman performed by Adam Betteridge and Nick Ford who not only mastered the technical vocal difficulties this number presents but musically were spot on with their interpretation. Together Adam and Nick created a moment of magic and the Dome audience reacted accordingly.
The chorus performed old favourites and introduced some new numbers during the ambitious thirty number programme. Their interpretation of Silent Night and O Holy Night was magical and managed to capture the mood of the room perfectly. It was particularly encouraging to hear them get their teeth into more serious and technically difficult numbers like Gaudete by Stephen Hatfield and Carol of the Bells by Mykola Leontovych which they performed with ease and technical assurance.
When a chorus gets to the level of performance Brighton Gay Men’s Chorus have achieved, it is so hard to produce a review each year that says something different and does not seem to nitpick. So, to sum up last nights show, the chorus were as solid and well prepared as I can remember them ever being and the performance of Leona Lewis’ Run at the end of the show was magnificent, showing the sound they produce off at its very best but also highlighting the control the musical director has over their dynamics. Together they created a spine tingling moment.
Special guest star for the night was World Ballroom Champion and winner of Strictly Come Dancing in 2016, Joanne Clifton, who is playing Janet in Rocky Horror Show at the Theatre Royal over Christmas. She sang the notoriously tricky Don’t Rain on My Parade from Funny Girl and Eartha Kitt’s Santa Baby. Tim Nails accompaniment during Don’t Rain on My Parade was majestic while Joanne’s crystal clear diction, cut through the lazy acoustic of the Dome, a real achievement.
The musical team of Marc Yarrow, Tim Nail and Joe Paxton have brought this chorus to the very highest level of performance and musical achievement and their combined challenge is in what direction they take the chorus now. They are a credit to us all!
The comedic interludes scripted by Jon Taylor, Mike Tietz, Kevin Westgate, Andy Williams and Stephen Tucker were sharp and very funny while Quintin Young’s creative direction kept the programme moving along nicely.
As always the solo numbers performed by Rod Edmunds, Jez Kay, Declan McChrystal, Sadao Ueda, Charlie Bedson, Graeme Clark, Dean Cowlard, Andrew Farr, Tim Salter and Andy Williams highlighted the talent in depth this hugely talented chorus has.
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