It's De-lovely was delightful

Michael Reckord, Gleaner Writer

The Jamaica Musical Theatre Company's (JMTC) 2010-2011 monthly concert series continued on Sunday afternoon with another delightful presentation at The Alhambra Inn, St Andrew.

Produced by JMTC members John McFarlane and Jodi Ho Lung, the concert featured several other members as well as two special guest singers, Charmaine Limonius and Fabian Thomas.

Limonius accompanied herself on acoustic guitar as she first sang a medley comprising I Don't Know How to Love Him and Another Suitcase in Another Hall from the Andrew Lloyd Webber/Andrew Rice musicals Jesus Christ, Superstar and Evita. She later did Emile Straker and the Merrymen's hit You Sweeten Me.

The presence of the guitar and Limonius' folk singer style added a pleasing dimension to the evening. Keyboardist for the evening Kamla Hamilton accompanied the other singers.

Better known in the world of the performing arts as a theatre director, actor and performance poet, Thomas showed that he can sing too - arguably, as well as he does stage work.

Not only did he show himself to be a fine stylist, but proved he can handle a range of musical forms. His first choice was the spiritual His Eye is on the Sparrow and his second a pop song made famous by Sam Cooke, You Send Me. The third was the ballad Summertime from Gershwin's Porgy and Bess.

The overall title of the concert season is 'Musical Sensations' and Sunday's event was dubbed 'It's De-lovely', a phrase from the Lerner and Lowe musical My Fair Lady. There were two other titles designed to assist the audience to appreciate the show: the first half was designated 'Inspirational', and the second half 'Songs We Love'.

Well-loved selections

As it turned out, however, all the songs were inspirational songs we love.

Nevertheless, there was definitely a spiritual ethos to most of the songs in the first half - songs like His Eye is on the Sparrow, I'll Walk with God (sung by Ho Lung), I Believe (sung by Christine McDonald-Nevers), If I Can Help Somebody (sung by McFarlane) and Climb Every Mountain (sung by Carole Reid).

Ending the first half was another inspirational song, You Raise Me Up, sung as a duet by McFarlane and Reid. While it is true that all the performers put a lot of feeling into their numbers, that duet had a special mood - perhaps because the singers' voices and body language harmonised so well.

After the applause for the couple died down, JMTC Chairman Douglas Bennett who played the host, declared that "the second half of the programme promises to be even better". There was a gasp of delighted anticipation from the audience and a woman exclaimed "oh, my!"

As it turned out, Bennett was right. The second half of the concert was better - even if only quantitatively. All those who sang in the first half, including young and upcoming actress-singer Stephanie Hazle, returned in the second.

Additionally, after the refreshment break there was one more singer, Limonius, and one more song.

The final number was another dramatic duet, featuring Hazle and Reid singing Tell Him, the song about a woman (Reid) who is unsure how to treat the man she loves and getting good advice from Hazle.

Bennett announced that the next concert will be the Easter edition, on April 3. The series, as well as the JMTC's celebration of the company's 50th anniversary year, ends with the May concert.