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Barton Town Band & Gainsborough Amateur Operatic Society
Britain To Broadway
Trinity Arts Centre, Friday October 12th

Recipe For An Entertaining Night

If you mixed the ingredients of an award-winning Brass band with a renowned local musical society and blended
it together you would have a recipe for an entertaining night. That is just what happened when the
Gainsborough Amateur Operatic Society combined with Barton Town Band to present Britain To Broadway at
the Trinity Arts centre last week.

Barton Town Band are Northern Champions for the second year running and narrowly missed out becoming
National Champions at the Finals held at the end of September. Gainsborough AOS also have a good
reputation and, having witnessed the two groups combine for their Last Night Of The Proms concert last year, I
had high hopes for their second concert together.

The band started the proceedings with two contrasting pieces Pastiche with Good Company and the Under the
Double Eagle march which were well received. Conductor Gary Oglesby then introduced Cornet soloist Neil
Day and the band played an arrangement of Eva Cassidy’s version of Over The Rainbow with the soloist giving
a fine performance.

This was followed by Serenade, one of my favourite pieces of the first half. Mr Oglesby amusingly reported that
this was written by the composer Bourgeouis to celebrate his divorce. It was a very tricky piece and at one
stage several sections of the band were at odds with each other playing at different tempos. The band then
performed the Rolling Stones classic Ruby Tuesday. To me this seemed a strange choice for a brass band but
it was a good arrangement and worked well.

Gainsborough Amateur Operatic Society, led by Musical Director Gerard Mooney, then stepped into the
limelight and gave us a very enthralling Beatles medley. This started and finished with All You Need Is Love
and featured over a dozen of their hits including Yesterday, The Long And Winding Road and When I’m Sixty
Four. The Society was full of smiles and sang heartily, their enjoyment of the piece quickly spreading to the
audience.

This was followed by the band playing The Floral Dance which had everybody in the auditorium clapping their
hands and stamping their feet. GAOS then sang When The Gentle Avon Flows which is set to the tune of the
famous Elizabethan Serenade. The band joined in by swaying to the music but I have to confess that I agreed
with Mr Mooney’s sentiments when he said that he felt seasick after watching them.

GAOS and the band then combined to bring the first half to a rousing close with a performance of Queen’s
Bohemian Rhapsody, which I thought was the best number of the first half. Mr Mooney contemplated what
Freddie Mercury would have made of combining a choir with 3 miles of plumbing to perform his hit song! I feel
that he would have been very impressed as the power and sound were incredible with both parties
complimenting each other excellently.

The second half started with a swing with the Band leading us into the Broadway section of the concert and
giving a lively presentation of Putting On The Ritz. This was followed by I Know Him So Well from Chess by
Benni Andersson & Bjorn Ulvaeus of Abba fame. The band then gave a bouncy performance of Gershwin’s I
Got Rhythm followed by Breezin’ Down Broadway, a medley of popular Broadway favourites.

GAOS then stepped up to perform a medley of hits from Jerry Bock’s popular musical Fiddler On The Roof
which included Tradition, If I Were A Rich Man, Matchmaker and Sabbath Prayer. Mr Mooney acknowledged
Guest Accompanist Martin Yates after the medley. The band then joined the choir for the final items starting
with a memorable rendition of Hello, Dolly! This was followed by two numbers from Cole Porter’s Anything
Goes, which will be the society’s main show in 2008. The numbers were well-chosen as both Blow Gabriel, Blow
and Anything Goes are suitably lively songs and ideal for a brass and voices combination. These had been
arranged especially for the concert by Mr Mooney.

The final number was On My Own from Les Miserables, which had also been arranged by Mr Mooney. The
singers had been in fine voice all night and they really came to the fore in what was, for me, the best item on
the night. Equally matched by the Band it brought the evening to a rousing end.

Britain To Broadway was very well presented with both groups giving fine performances. The band looked very
smart in their uniforms and the choir, dressed in their finery, also showing a good display of colour. There were
several comments made about the back- cloth which was very effective with the American & British flags
depicted against a combined background of the New York and London skylines – a credit to the designer.

There was a good camaraderie between BTB & GAOS especially Conductor Gary Oglesby & M.D. Gerard
Mooney who dually compered the concert with much humour. The lighting was very effective and the sound
generally good - although there was some feedback - notably when normal sound was restored after the two
groups combined.

I thoroughly enjoyed the concert - as did the audience as a whole judging by the comments that I heard.

SA