Show Time: Brighton Gay Men’s Chorus

Show Time: Brighton Gay Men’s Chorus
I’ve said this before, BGMC are a polished outfit that know exactly how to stage an evening of slick musical entertainment. Well drilled, smart and on the money when it comes to musicality and programme choices, and Show Time proved it once again. Okay, there were a few things that I didn’t like, I felt the Beethoven was out of place, the comedy interludes a little too long and intrusive, good as he was, and at times the top line, the melody, was swamped by the harmonies, tiny criticisms.
On the other hand, by the start of the second act the audience were already being swept up by a string of sensational solos, duets and quartets. Andy Williams rocked Crazy Little Thing Called Love, Matt Thompson and Chris Wellings gave us a striking rendition of Agony, one of Sondheim’s trickiest duets and Fabio Leone was the campest of Adolfos. For In His Eyes Rod Edmunds and Sadao Ueda showed us how important it is for a singer to connect with the song, never enough to be musically perfect, these are show tunes with a story to tell and they certainly showed us that they were connected, truly excellent. Then the comedy highlight of the evening when Andy Williams, George Leach, Joe Paxton and Jon Taylor nailed the Turn It Off quartet from The Book Of Mormon, brilliantly sung, acted and choreographed, the audience lapped it up. This number lifted the evening to a new level, one that should not have been surpassed – then… Well then came Nick Ford, accompanied simply by piano, the excellent Tim Nail, and the show-stopping hit And I’m Telling You from the musical Dream Girls. Nick has the voice, it’s huge, massive, but it’s also well controlled, skilfully exploited to full impact, a performance worthy of much more exposure, and he made it his own too, this was no pastiche of the original by Jennifer Hudson, this was inventive and exciting stuff.
I always enjoy a BGMC concert, every time you hear them they seem to reach new heights of excellence and you see how special an organisation they are, for their own community and for the community beyond that they so heartily support.
(Apologies too to Marc Yarrow for not mentioning his excellent solo, but as a pro he will understand why. However full marks to him for what he and his associates accomplish with this amazing choir.)
29 July
St George’s Church
Andrew Kay
[rating: 4.5]