Rehearsals pay off

Newbury YoungStars, the junior wing of Newbury Operatic Society, have, just produced their annual Christmas show, as the society's Shirley Seymour reports

Newbury YoungStars offered parents and friends a feast of music and drama at their annual Christmas concert. They had been rehearsing under the direction of Jeannette Maskell and musical director Michael Evans since September and this was the chance to perform the finished pieces.

The girls' group opened the show with the charming 'Do Re Mi' from 'The Sound of Music'. Emily Hunt, Emily McKenzie and Meryl Day portrayed three less-than-bright shepherds discussing counting sheep to get to sleep on nightwatch, with good comic delivery, in an extract from 'Rock Nativity'.

Picture the next scene, three young witches, aged between 10 and 12, discussing a new recipe for making magic, the butler enters with a broomstick for one, and an upright hoover, the latest fashion trend, for witch number two. Talia Pye, Georgie Hunt and Zoe Dobson, with Sam Trumpet as the regal butler, gave a fine performance with good movement and diction.

Darren Blake as Jack the Ripper showing us the seedier side of life in his gang, was the highlight of the evening. Jonathan Trincas, Shaun Blake, Sam Trumper, Chris Butler and Harry Teokari performed a lively and well-acted excerpt. The Jack the Ripper song was the icing on the Christmas cake with each boy singing solo lines in a very slick choreographed routine.

Adult members from Newbury Operatic Society were invited to sing solos - Sarah Siddle, Jeremy Mann and lain Whittaker who have principal roles in 'Oklahoma' next April showed them how it's done, and I sang 'Typically English' - but there really was no contest!