Eastbourne Operatic and Dramatic Society: Best of The West End and Broadway

Whilst in Eastbourne I took advantage of the opportunity to see and hear EODS and I am very glad that I did. Every city has its fair share of what is sometimes misleadingly referred to as am-dram. And from experience I know that quite often there is little that is amateurish about such groups. In Brighton we have some very pro offerings through the year so it was good to see what our coastal cousins have to offer.

I am pleased to report that Eastbourne’s EODS can deliver a programme of pure musical theatre indulgence with style. The group ranges in age from 7 to 70 and from the tiniest to the more experienced they delivered their show with true conviction. There was song in abundance but there was dance too with some very good choreography and even an interlude of tap!

The choice of shows was equally good, of course we got the ubiquitous dollop of Les Mis, no one dares miss that out it would seem, and they did it justice. But better still was the inclusion of less well know shows and new shows too, a bit of Hamilton (very well sung), some drama from Waitress and laughs from Spamalot. My only misgiving was that there was perhaps too much in places and the whole could have been effectively trimmed by doing fewer songs from some shows. I gritted my teeth through two numbers, Send In The Clowns is a tough song to get right and although well sung the emotions intended by Sondheim were not convincingly delivered and, sorry for this, I hate This Is The Moment, it’s a personal thing but these are my personal thoughts, and I would say that it was certainly delivered with skill and conviction. It is the perfect example of the Spamalot song which spoofs this kind of musical excess so odd to have them both maybe, or perhaps paired for comic effect?

It didn’t spoil however an otherwise very entertaining afternoon.

Eastbourne College Theatre

2 June

Andrew Kay

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