FROM STAGE AND SCREEN

FROM STAGE AND SCREEN

CAODS in concert at the Civic Theatre

02.06.13

Love him or loathe him, Lloyd Webber has written some great tunes, and it was a back-lit, star-spangled medley of some of his classic hits that rounded off this enjoyable programme.

These concert performances give CAODS' members a turn in the spotlight, and their audience a chance to hear numbers from shows which won't be staged on these boards for years yet, if ever.

Book of Mormon, for one. You And Me entertainingly performed by Tom Tull and Oli Budiño, as the Cameron and Clegg of the missionary movement. Or The Bodyguard – One Moment in Time sung by Christie Hooper.

The juke-box genre was represented by a Jersey Boys medley from the men, and three Beatles numbers, including a super Hey Jude from Karen Kelleher. And welcome light relief from Stephanie Yorke-Edwards and Oli Budiño in Sing, which opened a classy Chorus Line sequence.

Object lessons in how to sell a so-so song from Richard Harrison [Jekyll and Hyde] and Kate Smith [Skyfall].

Claire Carr's production, with dance choreography from Joe Toland and an excellent on-stage band conducted by MD Patrick Tucker, who devised the show, boasted some imaginative staging, executed with polish and style – in the opening Miss Saigon selection, for instance, or the Cabaret-lite Bring On The Men. Elegant black costumes, with neck-ties, braces and buttonholes in varying hues, and an impressive lighting plot, enhanced the professional feel.

No tap routines, though, and no Gershwin. For that we'll have to wait for their Crazy for You, coming to the Civic in September.

production photograph by Christopher Yorke-Edwards