Disney 100 The Concert

The first delight of the evening was seeing so many young people walking into the Opera House for a performance by the Sydney Symphony Orchestra. The little ones remained transfixed by over two hours of scintillating sound from the SSO accompanying highlights of Disney movies on a giant video screen.

Facing a daunting challenge were the singers who had to compete with the juggernaut of sound and vision. They needed a little boost at times to be heard. Pavarotti in his prime would struggle to get much of a look at an event like this.

Two of the singers were producers of the event – Amy Manford and Genevieve McCarthy. Both are accomplished music theatre stars in their own right and could pass as closely resembling sisters. The blonde bombshells have done brilliantly by giving themselves a platform – no less than the concert hall of the Sydney Opera House - to shine in between gigs. Sure beats the hell out of serving customers at a coffee shop.

The audience was swept into the mood immediately with a delightful overture of Disney themes including the music from the old episodes on TV that sweep around the Neuschwanstein castle.

The first blockbuster was an ensemble from The Little Mermaid which featured a particularly charismatic rendition of Ursula the Octopus by Lyndon Watts. (The performance of Under the Sea struck a chord with myself as it is the theme on our doorbell. I must say if I swapped the renditions, it would frighten the neighbours.)

There was an abundance of Disney movies to choose from – films that have been turned into musicals including The Lion King, Aladdin and Beauty and the Beast.

Wonderful trips down memory lane with songs from classics such as “Bare Necessities” from The Jungle Book and “So This Is Love” from Cinderella.

Also fascinating was seeing and hearing Disney songs from more modern movies that have not been made into musicals (yet). The excerpt from the movie Tangled of “When Will Life Begin” was mesmerising on the big screen. (How would Rapunzel keep her hair so orderly?}

Each of the singers was given a moment to shine, and were challenged by songs sometimes outside their usual song range.

Disney Prince favourite Ainsley Melham reproduced his famous charm, Mark Hill got in some neat tap dancing and Chloe Zuel had plenty of charisma.

The orchestra under the baton of Jessica Gethin was scorching and shone most brightly in an adapted theme from Tchaikovsky for a titanic battle in the movie Sleeping Beauty.

The concert which coincided with the 100^th anniversary of Walt Disney setting up shop in LA concluded with medley from Frozen.

It was hard to “Let It Go” after such a sumptuous night of entertainment.

David Spicer

Photographer: Jarrad Sang