Willow Wood's 'Fifth Enchanted Evening.'

As the name suggests, this indeed was Willow Wood's 'Fifth Enchanted Evening.' Organised by Mike Styan, a member of a few local amateur operatic societies, this event was held especially for the wonderful work done by all at the Willow Wood Hospice.

The evening was held at Ashton Town Hall, and featured a variety of performers from the local societies, singing all the well-known songs from the musicals, ranging from The Phantom of the Opera, to Fiddler on the Roof, to Grease and Chess.

Overall, the night was very well executed with a definite 'In Concert' feel (the performers plus a piano,) and a definite range of voices singing the standards. I think special recognition should go to Vincent (I forget his surname,) but his deep Bass voice gave a wonderful rendition of 'Ol' Man River' and 'If I Were A Rich Man.'

However, the performance of the night was easily a rendition of 'O Mio Babbino Caro,' which shook the chandeliers on the roof, even though the Phantom's 'Music of the Night' did not. The evening was hosted by Graham Norton who's been on the amateur circuit for many years, and he did a good job of entertaining the audience who must have had an average age of 60, and I was easily the youngest person in the audience by at least 40 years (asides from my girlfriend, who is 17.)

Anyway, the performances were all very well polished, with only two slip ups noticed by myself -which were only wrong lryics (the same verse of The Music of the Night was sung twice, and the lyrics to Hey! Big Spender, were all mixed up,) but my 'musically trained' girlfriend (she plays the violin!) noticed quite a few intonation problems. Still, nothing major and nothing which didn't take away from the enjoyability factor of the show.

Overall, a very pleasant evening, all for a good cause! -There was even a raffle at the interval, with prizes of £15 worth of Timpson vouchers! ---If you need your shoes repairing, or your keys cutting -you know where to go!