REVIEW: The Sunday Series at Christ Church

THE Sunday Lunchtime Series of concerts, organised by Geraldine Guiry, came to a close on Sunday last with another excellent concert from Jack Cunninghan Productions entitled ‘Leading Ladies’. The concert was a showcase of the emerging and proven local talents that have performed in Jack’s productions in recent years.

The lunchtime series has proved very popular with large attendances in Christ Church for a variety of different performances. The concerts usually start at 12 noon and finish at 1pm so that people can move on to lunch or brunch nearby. As it’s the final concert of the series, today’s longer than usual programme starts at 1pm, however, and finishes at the later time of 3pm.

‘Chloe’s interpretation of Eliza’s emotions was worth the admission price alone’

There’s an impressive cast of singers with many featuring in the Green Room Awards as winners or nominees. Jennifer White, Lynsey Penkert, Ann-Marie Collins, Emma Walsh, Chloe McGrath, Trish Orpen, Niamh Fennessy, Caoimhe O’Connor, Rhea Kennedy and Ciara Burns are all members of Jack Cunningham Productions, while Chloe Byrne and Aoife Curtain feature courtesy of Soul Dance Arts.

There are lots of standout moments. Caoimhe O’Connor impressed with ‘What I did for Love’ from ‘Chorus Line’; Chloe Byrne brought smiles to the audience with ‘Tomorrow’ from Annie, while Niamh Fennessy and Anne-Marie Collins were big hits with the always-popular ‘I know him so well’ from Chess.

Aoife Curtain was right on the money when she introduced us to the dark realm of ‘Dead Mom’ from the eerie Beetlejuice; Lynsey Penkert’s wonderful soprano was just right for the wistful ‘Wishing you were somehow here again’ from Phantom and Jenni White gave us a very upbeat ‘Gimme, gimme, gimme’ from the seldom performed and vastly underrated ‘Thoroughly Modern Millie’.

The concert’s highlight was Chloe McGrath’s performance of ‘I could have danced all night’ from My Fair Lady. This song is the operatic highlight of the musical and not one for any faint-hearted singer. Chloe’s interpretation of Eliza’s emotions and her ability to tell the story of the song was just right and those final top notes were a joy. This performance was worth the admission price alone.

Yet another entertaining – if somewhat overlong for a lunchtime concert – from the conveyor belt of Jack Cunningham Productions.