The Hallé: Magic of the Musicals 🐝🐝🐝🐝- Bridgewater Hall
- Queen Bee
- Jul 15, 2018
- 2 min read
A sparkling, glamorous evening with music for everybody. Amazing performances from soloist singers Shona Lindsay and Tom Solomon, with one of the UK's best orchestras The Hallé providing sweeping tunes from both the best known and lesser known musicals of our time.
Venue Experience 🐝🐝🐝🐝
The Bridgewater Hall has to be one of the most beautiful venues in Manchester. I was greeted by smiling, friendly security guards and was pointed in the right direction. Pre-show entertainment came from Harry Thompson playing the piano in the foyer which set a beautifully classy mood.
Picture: The Hallé Website
Orchestra 🐝🐝🐝🐝
The Hallé are a world-class orchestra, highly professional and work together like clockwork. Conductor Stephen Bell was dynamic and entertaining. At times it felt as though he were trying to energise the orchestra who didn’t always rely on him. The concertmaster (lead 1st violinist) was, as you’d hope, outstanding. She played each of her solos beautifully.
While most of the orchestra looked invigorated by their music a couple of players close to the audience looked quite bored. Despite this they wowed in their magnificent opening ‘Overture’ from The King and I and Beauty and the Beast tunes.
Soloists 🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝
The two soloist singers were West End’s leading lady Shona Lindsay and international award-winning Tom Solomon.
Shona Lindsay’s highlight was by far ‘Hopelessly Devoted to You’ from Grease – there were simply no faults! Oozing glamour, class and talent Shona transported the audience to classic Hollywood. Tom Solomon was a wonderfully charismatic, flexible singer. He had his loudest applause for little known ‘I Am What I Am’ from Les Cage aux folles, but charmed on all his numbers including ‘Big News’.
Both had great stage presence, adapting their singing style and acting for each song, and their duets were perfectly balanced. Theatrical flares such as costume changes resulted in cheers and laughs too.
Picture: The Hallé Website
Set-list 🐝🐝🐝🐝
There was something here for everyone! There was a great mix of orchestra, solo and duet pieces in the set-list. With huge numbers from ‘The Phantom of the Opera’ to lesser known musicals, the audience all seemed engaged and cheerful.
The Theatre Bee 🐝
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