Brighton Gay Men’s Chorus has kicked off the Christmas choir season with a cracker of a show, packing out Brighton Dome.
Under the magical hands of Chorus Director Dr Joe Paxton, they produced some classic oldies plus a few surprises and their singing raised the roof and all our spirits. Opening their Pull A Cracker evening, they gave us sonorous unaccompanied harmonies in the Carol Of The Bells, followed by All The Lovers, with the equally stunning division of singing parts.
They took us to the frozen wastes for Believe from Polar Express. Cloudbusting speaks of being “on the top of the world looking over the edge”, and the choir gave it a dizzyingly effective rendition. Music director Tim Nail’s version of Silent Night was beautifully divided into rounds. The chorus’s rendition of It’s A Sin was both powerful and dramatic, bringing out the dark ironies of this Queer anthem.
Jonathan Taylor’s solo of Warm This Winter was sparkly and raunchy, with a few hip wiggles for good measure. Am I Right was haunting and beautiful and it led into an absolutely fabulous version of the Welsh song Nadolig Llawen i Chi Gyd – literally Merry Christmas To You All, sung stunningly by Krystian Houlston.
The marvellous version of Secret Love was both gentle but out and proud too, given Queer resonance in this performance. Act 2 gave lots of gems like Winter Wonderland and Elton John’s Step Into Christmas, and Graeme Clark’s nice and easy but haunting solo What Are You Doing New Year’s Eve?
Madonna’s Like A Prayer was up-tempo with broad rich tones and the traditional Coventry Carol brought total silence to the boisterous audience – producing for me the choir’s best tonality. And the joyous offerings kept coming – a very funny Queer take with I Saw Daddy Kissing Santa Claus and the immensely powerful One More Sleep.
A choir back on stage and at the top of their form. I must mention that the singing was interspersed with dramatic scenes from the boring life of Barbara and Gordon and their awkward son Matthew, blossoming into his Queerness. Though moderately funny, for me it dampened the emotional momentum of the singing. But that’s the Grinch in me.
You can catch the Chorus again with their divas show at Brighton Fringe in May.
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