I have a Song to Sing,O!

newLOG Spring Sellout Sensation!

The year’s spring concert was a huge success, completely selling out the Riverhead Theatre in Louth. The capacity audience thoroughly enjoyed an evening devoted to the ever-popular Savoy Operas of Gilbert and Sullivan, greeting each number with warm applause and cheering the cast to the rafters at the curtain calls.

The concert celebrated the remarkable variety of the music in the operas, from the close harmony madrigal “Brightly dawns our wedding day” (The Mikado) and the soulful duet “I have a song to sing, o” (The Yeomen of the Guard) to the fiendish patter of “My eyes are fully opened to my awful situation” (Ruddigore) and the spirited dancing quintet “If Saphir I choose to marry” (Patience).  Well known numbers were balanced by more unusual items, notably the high-comedy “Bolero” from Sullivan’s first full length opera, The Contrabandista, written in collaboration with F.C. Burnand, which featured a frenetic chase through the audience.

There were numerous highlights and successes for all the performers. Robert Felstead reprised his Alexis Pointdextre in the ravishing aria “Love feeds on many kinds of food” and a witty rendition of Cyril’s drunken kissing song from Princess Ida. Kirsty Bennett gave a delightfully arch account of Lady Psyche’s Darwinian lecture from the same opera in addition to her charming Little Buttercup. Graham Rogers was a wonderfully precise “Captain of the Pinafore” contrasting well with his hearty Pirate King. Kirsti Whitlocke revived memories of her 2006 Ruddigore Margaret with the mad scene and offered the audience a glimpse of newLOG’s Yeomen of the Guard with “When maiden loves”. Chris Cann performed Bunthorne’s and King Gama’s patter songs and stopped the show with his updated “Little list”. The concert was accompanied with great élan by regular pianist Paul Guinery, who also introduced the concert with witty and informative links. The concert was lit by Steve Greenwood, whose lighting plot reflected the changing moods and styles of the various numbers, and ran smoothly and slickly with the assistance of Tony Bannister backstage.

A splendid evening was had by all and the concert was a great advertisement for newLOG’s eagerly awaited production of Princess Ida in June.