CAMPBELL Mel Cooke, Freelance Writer
The Jamaica Musical Theatre Company (JMTC) closed its 2006/2007 Musical Gifts concert series with Concert Favourites on Sunday evening.
As pale daylight faded into the warm glow of early evening outside the open doors at Alhambra Inn, Tucker Avenue, St. Andrew, there was also information on some of the songs, two dashes of humour from Peter Haley and a strong Musical Gifts debut from Aisha Ricketts. Almost all the performances were accompanied by one of a trio of pianists, Dorothy Degazon, Kamla Hamilton and Ann Trouth, with CD tracks from Jon Williams.
In the first segment of the unamplified concert, Cecil Cooper raised himself up on his toes on the chorus of You Raise Me Up and June Lawson ended her song on a high note with an already high voice, left arm outflung. Debbie Campbell took John Denver's Perhaps Love on a high with "full of conflict, full of pain", closing with arms outspread to embrace "you".
Doug Bennett introduced The Sentry's Song asking," has it occurred to you what sentries must be thing of?" He closed with successive deeper tones on "la la la" in the sentry's ramrod posture.
Bennett outlined Ricketts' credentials, including an award-winning role in Joseph and his Amazing Dreamcoat, and her expressive performance of On My Own lived up to the billing. Ricketts wrapped her hands around her slender midsection as she sang I feel his hands around me, delivering a plaintive, repeated "I love him" near the end.
Bennett also introduced Che Faro Senza Euridice? asking "isn't that nice?" about the lovers' tale before Stephanie Hazle delivered the song. "You just had two lovely girls, now you have me," Peter Haley quipped before he sang On a Tree By The River, sighing and saying,"and she cries" at the end of a performance filled with body movement.
Love songs
Lawson's head twitched and her golden drop earrings swayed to the spiritual On Ma Journey and Jodi HoLung turned her back at an angle to Charles Moore as they started All I Ask of You from Phantom of the Opera. The two drew closer and closer together to entwine hands as the song developed, at one point, with HoLung singing,"say you love me" and Moore replying "you know I do", singing "love me, that's all I ask of you" at the end.
The second half of Musical Gifts was filled with love songs, or at least songs about love, with Debbie Campbell starting out on a light-hearted note with I Could Have Danced All Night. Moore started The Impossible Dream on a low note, ending on a star high in the musical firmament, and HoLung ended Wishing You Were Somewhere Here Again with eyes downcast to her left, to strong applause. Bennett said 'Ideale' gets his vote for the top 10 love songs and Ricketts leaned an elbow on the piano before starting When I Fall in Love. She walked away as she delivered the first lines then back as gave her voice full reign, her left hand low in front and right hand high at the last, high "you".
Stephanie Hazle's delivery of The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face was at points lost in the recorded track and Haley was his humorous self in the bachelors' defiant I'm an Ordinary Man. There was laughter when he sang "all at one you are using language, that would make a sailor blush".
Lawson stood in place and sent her voice soaring on Plaisir D'Amour, taking a bow to the applause at the end. And Cooper took a bow before the start of his concert and series ending Comrades This is the Life for Me, closing with a sweeping flourish of his right hand.
