REVIEW: THE GOLDEN AGE OF BROADWAY is Sydney Philharmonia Choirs' Contribution To The Sydney Opera House's Inside/Out At The House Season

Saturday 6th May 2023, 7pm, Concert Hall, Sydney Opera House

Under the baton of Conductor Brett Weymark, the Sydney Philharmonia Choirs and Orchestra adds to the Sydney Opera House's 50th Anniversary celebrations with THE GOLDEN AGE OF BROADWAY. Presented as part of the Inside/Out At The House series where performances are also broadcast to an audience seated outside in the forecourt, this concert was a feel good evening of fun, filled with an array of music from the early days of Broadway Musicals.

The 93 singers from the Symphony Chorus, Sydney Philharmonia Choirs' largest auditioned group, are supported by the 53 strong Philharmonic Orchestra. For this concert guest singers Virginia Gay, Georgina Hopson, Kanen Breen and Alexander Lewis give voice to the character solos, drawing on their musical theatre experience to strike a balance between recreating the memories of classic numbers and putting their own twist on them for a concert setting. The program is drawn from musicals from 1940 to 1971 from composers like Richard Rodgers, Lorenz Hart, Irving Berlin, Cole Porter, Oscar Hammerstein II and an early work from Stephen Sondheim. It celebrates an age of musical theatre that was escapist and uplifting and less focused on presenting political statements and trying to influence change than modern musicals. The choice of the early days of Broadway Musicals sits well with Sydney Philharmonia Choirs style as compositions evolved from classical and opera through to operettas and then to musical theatre. These works were written for larger orchestras than those that grace the pits, if there is even an orchestra pit, for modern musicals. The classic musicals were also written to have the leads supported by a bigger ensemble and the sound, while having a variety of accents to indicate region, is always clear, ensuring the words are clear.

The soloists are four of the strongest musical theatre storytellers in the business (and we should really be seeing more of them on Musical Theatre Stages) and they all have fabulous voices that take full advantage of the recently renovated Sydney Opera House Concert Hall which has had upgrades to its acoustics. Virginia Gay's bold stylings, paired with her cheeky comic sensibilities work beautifully for MAME's It's Today while her rendition of The Moon Song is a force of feminist power and Bewitched, Bothered and Bewildered from PAL JOEY is delivered with a sultry gravitas as she made the Great American Songbook standard her own. Georgina Hopson is equally cheeky and comic as she ensures that audiences see that she is so much more than a beautiful blonde starlet, giving a playful rendition of SOUTH PACIFIC's A Cockeyed Optimist while her What Good Would The Moon Be? From STREET SCENE was filled with informed emotion and ANNIE GET YOUR GUN's Moonshine Lullaby had a lovely languid jazz feel. Opera, Musical Theatre and Cabaret favorite Kanen Breen brings his wonderful comic timing and ability to create a character in a moment with fabulous physicality and accents. Breen's Blue Skies from WHITE CHRISTMAS (a work that didn't actually make it from the 1954 film to Broadway till 2008) was playful while tender and his Sit Down, You're Rockin' The Boat from GUYS AND DOLLS showcased how invested Breen gets in a character and HOW TO SUCCEED IN BUSINESS WITHOUT REALLY TRYING's Brotherhood of Man, is given a tongue in cheek twist as he delivers the piece with a bright, camp tone in contrast to Alexander Lewis's more reserved expression in the trio, presented with Hopson. Lewis' has a more sedated energy when alongside the other soloists but his rendition of A Secretary Is Not A Toy (from HOW TO SUCCEED...) had delightful interaction with the choir and a well placed apology to the Australian Sign Language interpreter for having to sign the now politically incorrect lyrics.

With many modern musicals getting repeated revivals, often not long after they'd last appeared in Sydney, the SYDNEY PHILHARMONIA CHOIRS THE GOLDEN AGE OF BROADWAY concert was a wonderful opportunity to reconnect with 'classic' musicals that held brighter, cheerful sentiments, designed to uplift audiences seeking escape from the real world for a few hours. It was a treat to hear the soloists paired with the Choir and orchestra and the programming in the INSIDE/OUT ensured that more people had the opportunity to experience the evening.

https://www.sydneyphilharmonia.com.au/