Brian Butler gives his take on the Rainbow Chorus Christmas Show Les Mistletoe at St George’s Church, Kemptown last night.
THERE’S always a first for everything as far as the Rainbow Chorus are concerned. And so the packed audience at St George’s Church danced in the aisles and did their best attempt at jazz hands to Santa Claus is Coming to Town. Problem is, this was January 12.
But that didn’t stop the out-of-season merriment at their annual winter concert which had had to be put back four weeks due to the cold and flooding at the venue on the night the show which was originally scheduled before Christmas in December.
Under the highly energetic direction of Aneesa Chaudhry, the highly inclusive vocal group gave us their tributes to Queen and specifically Freddie Mercury singing four numbers.
In We Are the Champions they gave us a full-bodied victory song – “with no time for losers” as the lyrics say.
Bohemian Rhapsody – very topical with the film release – turned what’s often a karaoke disaster into a concert triumph of variety and style. And in Under Pressure we got the Rainbow’s hallmark gestures and movement – this is not your average static choir !
Somebody to Love proved that tight multi-layered vocal parts in Queen’s originals lend themselves perfectly to big gutsy choral arrangements.
The highlight of the evening for me had to be the medley of ten hits from the musical Les Miserables. And again the choir showed how originally solo material can be turned into dramatic and beautifully balanced choral performances.
And when singing the show’s big set pieces – One Day More, Bring Him Home and Do You Hear the People Sing? The Chorus was at their best.
The second half featured entirely Christmas music apart from what is fast becoming a new gay anthem – This is Me from The Greatest Showman.
Christmas is long gone but the addition of hand chimes to the piano and voices made the festive material more joyous on this bleak mid-winter night.
Pianist Mojca Monte Amali is a perfect accompanist to this choir which grows in stature at each outing.
You can catch them next on Saturday, June 29
You must be logged in to post a comment.