Golden age of Broadway -A music review by Shirley Politzer
Brett Weymark bounded onto the stage, shook hands with the concertmaster and proceeded to conduct a show that would send its audience into raptures, starting with the toe-tapping opening of the song “It’s Today” from Mame, used as the overture to The Golden Age of Broadway.
This show featured four vocal soloists, the Symphony Chorus of the Sydney Philharmonia Choirs (SPC) and the Sydney Philharmonia Orchestra, at the Sydney Opera House Concert Hall, as well as being live-streamed to the Opera House forecourt as part of Inside/Outside week.
Photo:Keith Saunders
We heard beautiful, timeless melodies from some of the best and most well-known composers like Rogers and Hammerstein, Cole Porter, Leonard Bernstein, Lerner and Lowe and Irving Berlin, which provided the material to delve into the mostly post-WWII era music.
A Cockeyed Optimist from South Pacific, Blue Skies from White Christmas, several great songs from Annie Get Your Gun and Street Scene filled out the first half of the program, finishing with the rousing theme from Oklahoma for a big finish. Moonshine Lullaby (Annie Get Your Gun) sung so well by Georgina Hopson, sitting on the ground at the front of the stage, had a contrasting feel to the other songs with its cowboy rhythm. She sang so warmly and smoothly across her vocal range, further enhanced by the choir backing. Her silver sequin cross-shoulder short dress looked very festive and sparkly.
The soloists were Virginia Gay, alto, who has played many TV roles, is a composer and playwright; Georgina Hopson, soprano (Christina in Handa Opera “Phantom of the Opera”), who has excelled in theatre and TV; Kaneen Breen, tenor, contracted artist at Opera Australia, actor and previous performer with the SPC; and Alexander Lewis, tenor, who has sung all over the world, has many musical theatre credits to his name and recently performed in “Samson” for the SPC.
Photo: Keith Saunders
The four stars had the audience in the palm of their hands all night, whether rocking the stage with “Sit Down You’re Rockin’ the Boat” from Guy and Dolls (Kanen Breen), singing the pacy “New York New York” (On the Town)(Kanen Breen and Alexander Lewis) in true Frank Sinatra and Gene Kelly style, creating a mellow mood with “What Good Would the Moon Be”(Street Scene) (Georgina Hopson) or Sondheim’s “Broadway Baby”(Follies) sung convincingly by Virginia Gay, in a broad baby-talk style. “Coffee Break” (How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying) also provided a great source of humour from the soloists.
The 2nd half opened brightly with Cole Porter’s “Another Op’nin’, Another Show” (Kiss Me Kate), where the choir and orchestra both got to show off their talents. The orchestral arrangement went through its paces with many interesting time, key and style changes.
The Carousel Waltz ( Carousel) performed by the orchestra made us want to dance around the room, as did Shall We Dance(King and I) and I Could have danced All Night(My Fair Lady).
An unusual addition to the standard orchestra was the guitar, banjo, celeste and piano, all of which provided more texture and tone colour to the overall sound.
The choir backed the soloists admirably, both as a full choir and as male or female section singers. Their harmonies in the closing number from “Hello Dolly” were so clear and tight, just as they were throughout the whole show. The choir added some humour when they used top hats for the Ascot Gavotte (My Fair Lady), which they sang with the appropriate restraint as done in the musical.
Photo: Keith Saunders
Towards the end of the program, without Weymark conducting, pianist Tim Cunniffe (assistant chorusmaster and Principal Rehearsal Pianist), double bass player (Mark Harris, (who I have seen perform at Camelot many times), saxophonist Mark Taylor and Virginia Gay, singing with warm alto tones, captivating in her stillness, presented a spine-tingling performance of “Bewitched, Bothered and Bewildered”(Pal Joey). This highlight was mesmerising, taking the audience to another world for several minutes. Those performers were rewarded with the loudest screaming, whistling and clapping, which I must say was not lacking after most songs of this show.
Credit must go to staging director Jay James-Moody for helping to set the scene on a stage with no props, by moving the performers everywhere around the stage area, from the choir seats, to walking around the orchestra shaking hands and chatting to the musicians to sitting casually perched on the choir steps or front of the stage directly in touch with the front row of the audience. Some musicians also were standing around the stage helping to imitate the brass band in “Follow the Fold” (Guys and Dolls). These added to the relaxed and light-hearted atmosphere of the night.
It was pleasing to see a Sign language interpreter of the words of the songs performed, signing throughout the show.
The Golden Age of Broadway was over two hours of sheer delight with songs that some may consider politically incorrect today but, really, who cares. The appreciative audience demanded encores after over three minutes of continuous clapping (yes I timed it). The soloists did this arm in arm doing high kicks at times. The audience also got to do a sing a long in the encore of the Hello Dolly theme. Each soloist was amazing and entertaining with their own style which we could have watched all night.
Congratulations to Brett Weymark who is celebrating his 20th year as Artistic and Music Director of the Sydney Philharmonia Choirs. I am sure everyone wishes him continued success with this wonderful choir and orchestra for many years to come.
