A LIVER BIRD SANG
Review by Amanda DeAngeles
Stags and Hens have scampered off home, the Mersey tunnels are taking the traffic through as usual, blood brothers got old, and A LIVER BIRD SANG!
Congratulations to creators, Geoff Lavelle (music) and John Dixon (lyricist), and also to the entire volunteer-cast of the premiere of a new operatic musical, which takes the music of Schubert into the feisty setting of corruption at a Liverpool nightclub! Watch as unspoken wit shines through lyrical melodic humour. Hear an accomplished small orchestra make big the exuberant talent of a bustling cast. Listen to the talented diva in jeans: Jane Hamlet as she plays star of the show “Ella”, and melt to “All in the Mind” a second-act solo from “Matt” presented by tenor, Nick Hardy.
Thanks to Philip Hayes founder of The Picket for bringing A LIVER BIRD SANG to his not-so-humble stage.
See the stereotypes you might find in real Liverpool nightlife – the babes with legs and perfect hair, the feelin’-a-bit-worse-for-wear mates, who stick by each other no matter what, the alpha-male doorman threatening a cheeky grin, the tourist from America rediscovering roots, and the haves and the have-nots. A class system warring and Scouse spirit tinted with the luck of the Irish from “Killarney Road” make a hit, with a stamp and rhythmic hand from a delighted audience.
“The City Passes By” is a busker’s sentimental refrain, which flows like the tides to musicians: Peter Joyner, Rebecca Martin, Matthew Heery, Anthony Sennett, and Luke Jennings, who know the score.
If it wasn’t for the music, the talent, the tenacity and the generosity of this performance, the city might well pass you by. A Liver Bird Sang is calling you to go and see a Liverpool musical worthy of the International stage it already stands upon.
11- 11 Productions, Geoff Lavelle (musical director, narrator, producer and “The Cyclops”- all-seeing eye).
Dear Mr. Lavelle and Mr. Dixon,
How dare you have the brass-neck to take the music of celebrated Austrian composer, Franz Peter Schubert (1797-1828) and ‘transmogrify’ it into this SENSATIONAL NEW MUSICAL!
Warmest regards,
Amanda DeAngeles,
www.11-11productions.co.uk
The Picket, Liverpool L1 0BW
1-5 April 2008 7:30pm