Talk about overcoming adversity – Brighton Gay Men’s Chorus (BGMC) not only had to cope with no stage lights at their first outing for their two summer concerts – but also no sound system.
As the sun set and the choir started to disappear into the gloom before the high altar at St George’s Kemptown, the cavalry arrived in the form of electricians and a percentage of power was restored for Act Two.
So, it was a concert of two halves – with the bright coloured lights and some sound support lifting the chorus’ performance in Act Two.
But they showed their resilience for the first 45 minutes and pulled off some musical successes that made the setbacks seem irrelevant in the end.
It was a programme with many items I didn’t know, but the breadth and depth of music director Tim Nail’s arrangements and his skillful accompaniment made them a joy to listen to.
Aztec Camera’s Somewhere In My Heart gave us high octane energy and multiple harmonies, and Jason Brown’s solo I Get To Love You, though unplugged, was simple and heartfelt and much applauded.
Joni Mitchell’s Both Sides Now brought out the full range of this group’s choral virtuosity, and their wide range in the octaves – BGMC I think are lucky to have so many quality voices in the lower registers, and it shows.
John McPherson was one of two outstanding soloists for me, and his gender-swapping rendition of Bill, from Showboat, commanded everyone’s attention and created an emotional storyline that was oh so memorable.
Cher’s I Found Someone gave us low dark tones of moodiness and high points of pure bitchery and there was much needed comic relief with a joyful Boom Bang-a-bang to end Part One.
Restored to light, it was time for some fun. The concert celebrated the 10th anniversary of same-sex marriage and so we got some brides in their frocks scattered among the chorus. And scary brides they were too.
Chorus director Joe Paxton, in tight frock, killer heels and tiara really powered the chorus through the rest of the evening. The Luckiest, sung by Joe Christopherson, was simple, gentle, and honestly portrayed to great emotional effect.
In keeping with the concert’s theme, we got a male duet of West Side Story’s One Hand One Heart, beautifully and touchingly rendered by John McPherson and Rod Edmunds – soaring, gentle, powerful and full of emotional control.
The musical numbers were interspersed with video clips of chorus members relating their life stories and their experiences of same-sex marriage – they were powerful testimonies.
Having delivered a sardonic and witty diatribe against gay marriage, Graeme Clark Dempster then admitted he was a newly-wed of four weeks ago, and delivered a double whammy, with husband in audience, by tearing through the vicious ode to divorce in Sondheim’s Could I Leave You?. It was delicious, dramatic and brilliantly put across – a real showstopper.
Sparks’ idiosyncratic and plainly weird The Girl Is Crying In Her Latte was Music Director Tim Nail’s greatest piece of arrangement for the evening – as I say, it was weird but brilliantly sung.
Closing with a boisterous I Just Can’t Get Enough – a musical sentiment we all shared – the Chorus proved yet again why their concerts are always a delight to hear.
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