If you love the music of ABBA and/or Queen, Oriana Choir’s concert series, Dancing Queen: A Tribute To ABBA and Queen, proved to be something truly special.
Over two weekends – at Stella Maris Performance Centre, Maroochydore, and The J, Noosa – the near-70-piece choir, together with Sunshine Coast Youth Choir, and accompanied by the Oriana Rock Band, presented a spectacular program, showcasing many of ABBA’s and Queen’s most iconic and beloved songs.
The show opened with a full choral performance of Dancing Queen, arguably ABBA’s best known song. From the very first note, the song exploded with energy and exuberance, setting the tone for 90 minutes of pure listening pleasure and visual delight.
With a mixture of choir, youth choir and solo performances, audiences were treated to a veritable feast of uplifting, life-affirming, ‘feel-great’ music – Crazy Little Thing Called Love; Money, Money, Money; Don’t Stop Me Now; SOS; We Are The Champions; Super Trouper; Bohemian Rhapsody; Waterloo and many more. There were outstanding solo performances from individual Oriana choristers, and, as a stirring finale, an ABBA medley featuring the combined senior and junior choirs.
Audience reaction across all four concerts of the almost sold-out season was universally ecstatic. It was clearly evident that the performers on stage were enjoying themselves immensely– “having the time of their life”, as the song says – and that happy energy couldn’t help but communicate itself to the audiences.
The show’s MC, Errol Morrison, encouraged them to dance in the aisles for the encore, and they did.
Music director and conductor, Elisabeth Wallis Gaedtke did a superb job of ensuring that choirs and soloists delivered excellent, balanced, and thoroughly enjoyable renditions of the songs.
The Oriana Rock Band provided accompaniments that were not only virtuosic in themselves, but were exactly right for each piece, and added immeasurably to the performances.
Some of the comments from patrons as they left the venues after the show:
“One of the best concerts I’ve ever been to”
“I never knew there was such talent on the Coast”
“This choir is as good as any I’ve heard anywhere”
“They brought the music to life”
“This show just made me feel so happy.”
These are a testimonial, not only to the quality of Oriana’s performance, but also to the timelessness of the music of ABBA and Queen. The enthusiastic response from the multi-generational audiences confirmed this in spades.
Oriana Arts Inc. would like to acknowledge The J at Noosa, for its assistance in staging Dancing Queen on Saturday, 18 May. The lighting and sound crew made a great contribution to how good the show looked and sounded.
The J is a spacious, yet intimate feeling venue, ideally suited to Oriana’s performance style.
How does the choir follow the triumph of Dancing Queen? Well, as John Cleese would no doubt say, with something “completely different.”
Oriana is nothing if not eclectic. In August, Oriana will present Reflections: Songs Of Love And Hope, a concert of songs designed to inspire, encourage and uplift. Find out more by visiting Oriana Choir’s Facebook page, and website, www.oriana.org.au.
– Ian Rix
