A Cole Porter Celebration Concert

There is always a sense of anticipation as the lights come up on the stage of the Concert Hall, with the orchestra, tuned and poised and light catching the glow and polish of the instruments. When the lights also reveal over two hundred members of the Sydney Philharmonia Festival Chorus filling the galleries surrounding the orchestra, it is a stunning sight.

So, as Musical director Brett Weymark entered to a burst of applause, it was evident that the audience was expecting a wonderful night’s entertainment: a fine orchestra, a fine chorus, four young soloists and the much loved music of one of the most popular American composers of the twentieth century. And they weren’t disappointed!

Under Weymark’s energetic direction, this is certainly a beautifully orchestrated tribute to the range and versatility of Porter’s work, from the rousing challenges of Blow Gabriel Blow to the haunting promises of Night and Day.

It is also a celebration of Cole Porter’s contribution to musical theatre, and as the soloists – Julie Lea Goodwin, Kerrie Anne Greenland, Caleb Vines and Rob Mallett – are also accomplished performers, they recreate the characters from ten of Porter’s best loved musicals, and bring them to vibrant life.

With simple but effective choreography on a relatively restricted stage space, they work enthusiastically to take the audience through brackets from Anything Goes and Kiss Me, Kate, and some of the best-known songs from other musicals. With the orchestra and the beautiful voices of the chorus, they move from the lyrical comedy of Let’s Do It, Let’s Fall in Love to the haunting notes of Begin the Beguine, changing characters and costumes with apparent ease.

Though Julie Lea Goodwin is well known to musical theatre audiences (Phantom of the Opera, West Side Story), Greenland, Vines and Mallett are recent WAAPA graduates, and are testament to the great and varied work that is coming out of that institution. All four are talented and engaging performers, their energy and vitality infectious.

Weymark leads the whole production with perfect control, yet creates a sense of theatricality that makes this a real celebration, not only of Porter’s music, but of the Sydney Philharmonia itself. The choirs are looking forward to their 100^th anniversary in 2020 and are calling for support to attract “young people to be the singers, conductors and audiences of tomorrow”.

Carol Wimmer

www.sydneyphilharmonia.com.au