(Review Courtesy Glam Adelaide)

Presented by: Allegria
Reviewed: 4 June, 2023

The Allegria choir produced an incredible event for an enthusiastic audience of mostly women, who wanted to try the experience of singing in public. Encouraged and instructed by their fabulous Musical Director Ange Sharp, participants had 2 hours to learn 3 songs. Fortunately, I was in the middle section (as opposed to low or high voices) and we had the easier job of learning the melody.

The first number was California Dreaming, a song most of us already knew which made things simpler. Ange’s arrangement of the song was quite sophisticated, bringing a depth to the A capella version. I was very pleasantly surprised to discover how quickly the group came together and produced a very creditable song.

The second song was The Wellerman, a whaling song which became incredibly popular globally on social media during the COVID lockdowns. Participants were asked to find our ‘inner pirate’ for this song. Apparently there are twelve verses to this song, but we only sang the opening, one from the middle and the last. I can understand why it became so popular during COVID as it is now a persistent ear-worm!

The final song Walk the Walk, began with a long chorus of ‘ba doom be da‘ before going into a call and response about being free and living your life as you want.
Between learning the songs, Allegria performed, which no doubt fired the ambition of the participants to be even half as good. Our copy of the lyrics came with a surprise gift of a kazoo which we used for the ‘do do do‘ chorus in California Dreaming.

To conclude, all participants joined Allegria for several public ‘flash-sing’ performances within walking distance of the venue. Being surrounded by such a supportive and enthusiastic group was truly wonderful. It was an experience I won’t soon forget and hope to do again in the future.

Reviewed by Jan Kershaw