It was great to be back “in harness” on stage at the Mooroolbark Community Centre parading our wares to an appreciative, capacity audience for what is looking to be the start of a hectic performance schedule until the end of the year.
And what wares there were. With some new songs and old favourites, no fewer than four soloists (all choir members) and with songs being sung in five or six different languages – English, Welsh, French, Portuguese, Maori and Latin the capacity audience was delighted with the variety and quality of the performance.
After a rousing and very traditional opening bracket featuring Calon Lan, Shelter, Rachie and Y Darlun, our president -baritone Kevin Seerup came on stage to sing You’re still you (by Ennio Morricone).
An experienced amateur theatrical performer, Kevin has performed in such musicals as Annie, Kiss Me Kate, White Christmas, The King and I, Oliver, Rockin’ Robin, Man of La Mancha and Joseph and the Amazing Technicolour Dreamcoat.
Following the second bracket of songs – They call the wind Maria, You Raise Me Up and Man of La Mancha, tenor Tony Meeuwsen entertained the audience with the beautiful ballad from Les Miserables – Bring Him Home.
Tony has been performing since the age of 8 when he joined the “Hollands Jongenskoor” – the Dutch Children’s Choir – as a boy soprano and went on tour with them to Germany and Belgium. He remembers rehearsing 3 times a week and had to give up soccer, much to his father’s disappointment.
In Australia he joined the Dutch Male and Ladies Chorale for a short while as a seventeen-year-old. He has sung with “Arion”, the German Male Choir and for twenty years with Melbourne Male Choir
(formerly the Melbourne Dutch Choir). He has also done solo work at various concerts, weddings and eisteddfods.
The last two items by the choir before the interval included the beautiful Maori lullaby Hine E Hine followed by the Elvis Presley classic American Trilogy.
After the interval the choir, in their Prosser tartan waistcoats and bow ties, opened with a bracket of old favourites including Every time I feel the Spirit, Hallelujah, When I fall in love and Take me home.
Another of the choir’s first tenors, Raymond Crooke then took the stage with his guitar and encouraged the audience and choir to join in the chorus of a saucy French drinking song Chevaliers de la Table Ronde. One half of the audience had to sing “Oui, Oui, Oui” while other sang “Non, Non, Non”. Everyone joined in enthusiastically. Raymond followed this up appropriately with a traditional American comic ditty “Three pigs”.
The choir returned with the beautiful Welsh ballad Y Darlun, followed by the traditional Irish favourite Danny Boy, then Robat Arwyn’s lovely contemporary arrangement of Benedictus and
Anthem from the musical Chess (composed by the Abba team).
The last of the soloists from the choir, bass – Mark Coffey brought his beautiful double bass to accompany himself, supported at the piano, by our talented jazz pianist Simon Walters, as he sang (in Portuguese) Garota de Ipanema (which many of us would know as Antônio Carlos Jobim’s “The girl from Ipanema”. (Incidentally the second most recorded song in history)
The choir’s last bracket was Cwm Rhondda followed by the acapella (and unconducted) tone poem from Under Milk Wood – Eli Jenkins Prayer.
The audience’s demand for an encore was rewarded with the choir’s wonderful rendition of the tongue twisting Rhythm of Life from the musical Sweet Charity.
