By Peter Black
A WELL attended Philharmonic Concert was held last Sunday at the Muso’s Club.
Conductor and musical director Diane Magor continues to embellish a reputation for producing items well beyond the ordinary at her concerts and this event will be best remembered for its final item, a tribute to Les Miserables, which featured nine soloists.
Led by Sandra Warren in very good voice, she followed by Molly Molloy, Mark Curtis, Jillian Fox, Melissa Moyle-Ross, Richard Shoebridge, Rawleigh Smith, Shelley Forrest and Vicki Armstrong backed by the choir in a non stop remarkable achievement.
The audience responded towards the end with an enthusiastic in slow time clap, before sending the clap-o-meter off the scale at the finale.
The concert, titled The Magic of Musicals, commenced with choir items from Showboat, including Old Man River, which was followed by a solo from Joanne Crase singing Memory from Cats.
The now enthusiastic choir then rendered Seventy Six Trombones in the Grand Parade from The Music Man, which was also well received.
That was followed by a duet in parts from the above Till There Was You featuring Sandra Gordon, Smith and Raelene Ogilvy.
Molly Molloy followed with Don’t Rain on my Parade, a difficult piece from Funny Girl, which the audience rewarded with 9.5 out of 10 on the clap-o-meter.
The final pre-interval choral medley was taken from West Side Story and again well received.
All choral items were accompanied by the indefatigable Marilyn Harris.
The choir opened part two of the concert with June is Bustin’ Out All Over from Carousel followed by a duet If I loved You by Curtis and Moyle-Ross.
A special item followed, the concert had been dedicated to the memory of June-Marie Bennett, a titan of our Broken Hill arts including the Philharmonic, who passed away last week.
You’ll Never Walk Alone was sung in four parts by Peter Fox, Curtis, Christine Harvey, Forrest, Armstrong and Magor. A great Tribute.
Hey There from The Pajama Game was then sung by Rex Lee, assisted by Curtis, the Men’s Choir then joined in to contribute Luck, Be a Lady.
Jayneen then sung and Glendon Harris took to the guitar to the delight of the audience, followed with Tomorrow from Annie and Pure Imagination from Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory, before the concert concluded.
