Review: Sounds Familiar in Concert, Ipswich Operatic and Dramatic Society, Seckford Theatre, Woodbridge, to October 26.

Wayne Savage

Published: 10:41 AM October 23, 2013

Updated: 3:21 PM October 11, 2020

Members of the Ipswich Operatic and Dramatic Society stage Sounds Familiar in Concert at Seckford Theatre to October 26. Pictures: Su Anderson - Credit: Archant

Featuring numbers from some of the greatest shows of stage and screen, I hope the cast get the audience such a great show deserves for the rest of their run.

Celebrating award-winning producers, musicals and so on, it was packed with songs that made you want to sing-a-long.

Full of strong, rich voices and harmonies, the 17 segments did more than justice to the works of Hal Prince, Burt Bacharach, Marvin Hamlisch, Sondheim and Bernstein, MGM, Jerome Kern’s Showboat, Andrew Lloyd Webber, Disney and more.

Their preview of 2014 show Jesus Christ Superstar was smashing with lead singer Sian Naylor knocking it out of the park and making a good arguement for a female Jesus should the company want to really shake things up.

I feel bad singling people out, everybody was so good. Naylor, Lesley Rawlinson, Sophie Bannister, Stephanie Brown and Andy Gledhill’s Ol’ Man River stood out. So did Amanda Langley’s Mom’s the Word; a vocal feat and a half. The band were great too.

A wonderful show overall, it did feel a tad long but it was opening night and these things get tighter time-wise with each performance.

There were a couple of elements that didn’t quite work for me. The a cappella version of Tonight from West Side Story didn’t quite gell and the dancing that accompanied The Age of Aquarius from Hair looked odd without the context, costumes, set, etc.