Guests
Tina C in the Udderbelly
17/05/08 21:00
Did we have a great time? Hell
Yea!
In a new collaboration
for the Rainbow Chorus we joined country pop icon
Tina C.
on her campaign trail
to the White House on the 15th, 16th and 17th of May! The images
below are from the final Saturday night.
The picture below was actually taken before the Friday night performance when one of our newest members (the bearded Steve, background left) conducted the choir because Matt, our MD was away conducting his Hangleton Band! Well done Steve for stepping up to the podium ...
We opened the show with a cracking new version of the little known Stephen Sondheim song "Someone's Coming" - and yep, Tina was that someone and she arrived to tumultuous applause and the unveiling of huge banners of her wrapped in the stars and stripes on either side of the stage.
It would be impossible to recount all the nuggets of political insight shared with us by Tina, but be assured, they were many.
She next invited us to join her with a rousing rendition of her campaign song, the title track from her new album "Tick My Box" and as you can see below, we certainly did ...
Our next musical collaboration was "I Am America" on which Tina took the lead and we backed her whilst everyone admired "her perfect formation and her damn fine Grand Canyon". After that we gave a rendition of a 'Patriotic American Song' namely the Shaker song, Simple Gifts giving Tina the opportunity to make an emotional speech to her supporters. Next we we enacted a scene between Tina and her campaign advisers as "America" but with a new set of lyrics followed by a gentle exit from the stage to let Tina spread the love on her own.
From the 180News Fringe Review: "ABLY SUPPORTED by the Rainbow Chorus, Tina C ran for president in a spectacular show at The Udderbelly. Looking fabulous in sequinned hotpants, Tina involved the audience at every turn, from inviting them to check out her legs to demanding they storm the stage."
We came back at the end to help out with the final song "Ain't nobody do me like Tina" which involved audience participation on stage, a lot of balloons, clapping, swaying and general exuberance - it was a great one with with to finish the evening and you can get a feel from the picture below.
Angela Goodall, one of our Tenors, said: “I guess all I could say is that I wasn't intending to do any of these nights, and ended up doing all three - I laughed so much, I just had to keep going back! Definitely ticked my box - as in funny bone!”
Secretary of the choir Stephen Watson, also a Tenor, said: “I really enjoyed the opportunity for us to let our hair down and have some good fun, combined with a quality performance - yes, we can do both! I really appreciated Tina's warmth and kindness to the choir both on and off stage - she made us really feel at ease"
It's safe to say that Tina, the audience and the choir enjoyed the 'campaign roadshow'. Let's hope we don't have to wait until the next US Presidential election to work together again. Hell Yeah!
You can see more and larger images in the photo gallery.
The picture below was actually taken before the Friday night performance when one of our newest members (the bearded Steve, background left) conducted the choir because Matt, our MD was away conducting his Hangleton Band! Well done Steve for stepping up to the podium ...
We opened the show with a cracking new version of the little known Stephen Sondheim song "Someone's Coming" - and yep, Tina was that someone and she arrived to tumultuous applause and the unveiling of huge banners of her wrapped in the stars and stripes on either side of the stage.
It would be impossible to recount all the nuggets of political insight shared with us by Tina, but be assured, they were many.
She next invited us to join her with a rousing rendition of her campaign song, the title track from her new album "Tick My Box" and as you can see below, we certainly did ...
Our next musical collaboration was "I Am America" on which Tina took the lead and we backed her whilst everyone admired "her perfect formation and her damn fine Grand Canyon". After that we gave a rendition of a 'Patriotic American Song' namely the Shaker song, Simple Gifts giving Tina the opportunity to make an emotional speech to her supporters. Next we we enacted a scene between Tina and her campaign advisers as "America" but with a new set of lyrics followed by a gentle exit from the stage to let Tina spread the love on her own.
From the 180News Fringe Review: "ABLY SUPPORTED by the Rainbow Chorus, Tina C ran for president in a spectacular show at The Udderbelly. Looking fabulous in sequinned hotpants, Tina involved the audience at every turn, from inviting them to check out her legs to demanding they storm the stage."
We came back at the end to help out with the final song "Ain't nobody do me like Tina" which involved audience participation on stage, a lot of balloons, clapping, swaying and general exuberance - it was a great one with with to finish the evening and you can get a feel from the picture below.
Angela Goodall, one of our Tenors, said: “I guess all I could say is that I wasn't intending to do any of these nights, and ended up doing all three - I laughed so much, I just had to keep going back! Definitely ticked my box - as in funny bone!”
Secretary of the choir Stephen Watson, also a Tenor, said: “I really enjoyed the opportunity for us to let our hair down and have some good fun, combined with a quality performance - yes, we can do both! I really appreciated Tina's warmth and kindness to the choir both on and off stage - she made us really feel at ease"
It's safe to say that Tina, the audience and the choir enjoyed the 'campaign roadshow'. Let's hope we don't have to wait until the next US Presidential election to work together again. Hell Yeah!
You can see more and larger images in the photo gallery.
Pink Paradiso appearance
12/12/07 20:30
The
Pink ParadisoWe appeared as part of this 'Cabaret' style evening. We sang Somewhere and Let the River Run on our own followed by us backing their singer on When a Child is Born. As the finale of the show, we let loose with the entire cast in a large-scale White Christmas.
The show actually ran for several nights, but we only performed on the two nights where food was not being served - the 12th and 17th - as they obviously needed to give us their full attention and not be distracted by the turkey.
Hazel O'Connor at Dingwalls, Camden Lock, London
18/11/07 19:30
Well here we were appearing at the
final gig of Hazel's tour:
and we left North Hove on a wet Sunday morning and it felt like we were on tour, in our own hired coach to London ...
We arrived at Dingwalls in Camden to find ourselves surrounded by
trendy looking shops
(seemed a bit like the 60s for those that can (Just) remember them)
with plenty of food in small stalls surround the lock - supplied in
one case by 'Falafal Queen'. Say no more.
The format of the evening followed that of our previous performance with her but with a slight change of lineup in that this time we were with Hazel, Cormac and Fionán (acoustic guitar and flute) and we were in North London.
We came on first preceded by a fine introductory speech from Peter (Hazel's promoter) and were met by a surprisingly enthusiastic crowd, considering that we were "playing away from home". Our set was:
Change In My Life
Nobody Knows
I Wish I Knew How It Feels to be Free
Somewhere
Homophobia
Chorus of the Hebrew Slaves
Sadly, not all of the "30 strong" Rainbow Chorus could fit on the stage as it was rather small so what you see here is those of us that made it on, including some for whom it was their first live performance with the choir ...
There was then a short interval, followed by Hazel's set where she sang a goodly number of her songs from over the years, accompanied brilliantly by Cormac and Fionán.
Then it was our turn back on stage, powering into 'Blackman' as the first song which went down very well so we just got stuck in, performing Driftwood, Strong D-Days and Eighth Day. Hazel then did an audience participation number with the audience so we sort of led them in a chorus which had everyone joining in and then we were done...
Except that we then returned for chorus assistance with Hazel of 'Beyond the breaking glass' and then we all closed the show with Hazel's biggest hit - Will You?
Well, it was all really great- the audience had a whale of a time, it was a real pleasure to work with Hazel again who is wonderfully inclusive and made it feel like the stage was for all of us, not just 'Hazel and guests'. Cormac was a treat on the Irish harp too and it was great to meet with Fionán for the first time who lent a new dimension to the sound, especially the lovely flute solo on Hazel's solo version of Will You?
Thanks to Wayne for the photographs (which came out a little odd which we reckon is connected with the LED lighting as we've never seen such strange effects for any pictures we've had before).
Will we all perform together again? Well, you never know ...
and we left North Hove on a wet Sunday morning and it felt like we were on tour, in our own hired coach to London ...
We arrived at Dingwalls in Camden to find ourselves surrounded by
The format of the evening followed that of our previous performance with her but with a slight change of lineup in that this time we were with Hazel, Cormac and Fionán (acoustic guitar and flute) and we were in North London.
We came on first preceded by a fine introductory speech from Peter (Hazel's promoter) and were met by a surprisingly enthusiastic crowd, considering that we were "playing away from home". Our set was:
Change In My Life
Nobody Knows
I Wish I Knew How It Feels to be Free
Somewhere
Homophobia
Chorus of the Hebrew Slaves
Sadly, not all of the "30 strong" Rainbow Chorus could fit on the stage as it was rather small so what you see here is those of us that made it on, including some for whom it was their first live performance with the choir ...
There was then a short interval, followed by Hazel's set where she sang a goodly number of her songs from over the years, accompanied brilliantly by Cormac and Fionán.
Then it was our turn back on stage, powering into 'Blackman' as the first song which went down very well so we just got stuck in, performing Driftwood, Strong D-Days and Eighth Day. Hazel then did an audience participation number with the audience so we sort of led them in a chorus which had everyone joining in and then we were done...
Except that we then returned for chorus assistance with Hazel of 'Beyond the breaking glass' and then we all closed the show with Hazel's biggest hit - Will You?
Well, it was all really great- the audience had a whale of a time, it was a real pleasure to work with Hazel again who is wonderfully inclusive and made it feel like the stage was for all of us, not just 'Hazel and guests'. Cormac was a treat on the Irish harp too and it was great to meet with Fionán for the first time who lent a new dimension to the sound, especially the lovely flute solo on Hazel's solo version of Will You?
Thanks to Wayne for the photographs (which came out a little odd which we reckon is connected with the LED lighting as we've never seen such strange effects for any pictures we've had before).
Will we all perform together again? Well, you never know ...
This Way for the Gas, Ladies & Gentleman - Brighton Fringe Festival
22/05/07 19:00
We were invited again to perform
the piece in which we took part for Holocaust Memorial Day earlier
this year - see item in January 2007 on this page. The difference
is that this time we performed in the UdderBELLY tent (I kid you not) and we
performed for 5 nights which was a first for the choir.
There were lots of interesting battles with the sound and lighting. On Friday the video projection was disrupted by a message proclaiming that "Your anti-virus subscription has expired" - still, the show must go on... Then, on the final Sunday performance there was the exciting addition of an evening of torrential rain resulting in water running off one of the main stage lights onto the back of the drummer during the performance!
There were lots of interesting battles with the sound and lighting. On Friday the video projection was disrupted by a message proclaiming that "Your anti-virus subscription has expired" - still, the show must go on... Then, on the final Sunday performance there was the exciting addition of an evening of torrential rain resulting in water running off one of the main stage lights onto the back of the drummer during the performance!
Guests of the City of Brighton Gay Men's Chorus
02/08/06 19:30
Concert with Hazel O'Connor during the Brighton Festival
26/05/06 19:30
Hazel O'Connor's
first album, Breaking Glass, inspired a movie of the same name
which she co-wrote and in which she played the lead. The soundtrack
with its three hit songs, including Will You?, made her famous in
the 80s; the movie brought her to Cannes and she also won the Best
Film Actress of the Year award from the Variety Club of Great
Britain.
The concert took place at The Old Market in Hove, where we performed a solo spot followed by Hazel and Cormac alone and then an interval. After that we all came on stage and backed her for some of her most well-loved songs.
Hazel was a real treat to work with and we all loved performing with her during the Brighton Fringe Festival at The Old Market in Hove. We had backing from Cormac de Barra on Harp (and vocals), Joss Peach on keyboard, Adam Boshell on percussion and Josie Owens on saxaphone. Her stepdaughter accompanied her on vocals for 'Driftwood'. Hazel had said that she'd always wanted to sing with a choir and we were more than happy to co-operate. So, the women in the choir backed her on Loveable and all of us joined together for another 6 of her songs: Blackman, Eighth Day, D-Days, Driftwood, Strong, and of course, Will You?
The concert was a sell-out - we had two encores, two standing ovations and people dancing in the aisles. Truly an enjoyably memorable evening for everyone involved as you can clearly see here.
Here are some photos from the rehearsal:
The concert took place at The Old Market in Hove, where we performed a solo spot followed by Hazel and Cormac alone and then an interval. After that we all came on stage and backed her for some of her most well-loved songs.
Hazel was a real treat to work with and we all loved performing with her during the Brighton Fringe Festival at The Old Market in Hove. We had backing from Cormac de Barra on Harp (and vocals), Joss Peach on keyboard, Adam Boshell on percussion and Josie Owens on saxaphone. Her stepdaughter accompanied her on vocals for 'Driftwood'. Hazel had said that she'd always wanted to sing with a choir and we were more than happy to co-operate. So, the women in the choir backed her on Loveable and all of us joined together for another 6 of her songs: Blackman, Eighth Day, D-Days, Driftwood, Strong, and of course, Will You?
The concert was a sell-out - we had two encores, two standing ovations and people dancing in the aisles. Truly an enjoyably memorable evening for everyone involved as you can clearly see here.
Here are some photos from the rehearsal:
Hazel O'Connor on BBC Southern Counties Radio
25/05/06 18:51
We performed three songs live in
their studio near Brighton station: Strong, Driftwood and Eighth
Day. The BBC recorded all of them and interviewed Hazel as
well.
You need Real Player to watch & listen - you can get it free from here if you don't already have it:
For Windows then click 'Download Now'
For Mac OS X
N.B. The following assume that the BBC links are still live.
So, you can listen to Eighth Day here and then look under "See also"
To watch us performing Driftwood (sadly the sound is not nearly as good):
Click here.
Click the 'Loud and Live' tab and there we are at the bottom.
Afterwards the show presenter Heather Driscoll said “Well what can I say to that……. I’m sitting here with goosebumps, which I’m sure you are too.”
You need Real Player to watch & listen - you can get it free from here if you don't already have it:
For Windows then click 'Download Now'
For Mac OS X
N.B. The following assume that the BBC links are still live.
So, you can listen to Eighth Day here and then look under "See also"
To watch us performing Driftwood (sadly the sound is not nearly as good):
Click here.
Click the 'Loud and Live' tab and there we are at the bottom.
Afterwards the show presenter Heather Driscoll said “Well what can I say to that……. I’m sitting here with goosebumps, which I’m sure you are too.”
"When You Tell Me That You Love Me" - a memorial tribute to Phil Starr
29/01/06 19:30
Phil Starr, one of Brighton's most loved Drag Queens died on
October the 18th 2005 and a concert was planned as a tribute at the
Brighton Dome. We performed at the sold-out performance where we
sang Phil's favourite song, When You Tell Me That You Love Me, as
the finale jointly with the City of Brighton Gay Men's Chorus. A
standing ovation greeted us at the end, though I suspect all the
other prior acts may have had something to do with that as
well...
Gscene magazine said: "Finally, the crowd was brought to its feet by the City of Brighton Gay Men's Chorus and the Rainbow Chorus, who delivered a magnificent finale to the show with their rendition of the show's title song When You Tell Me That You Love Me."
Pictures of the finale can be found on the REALBrighton web site here.
Gscene magazine said: "Finally, the crowd was brought to its feet by the City of Brighton Gay Men's Chorus and the Rainbow Chorus, who delivered a magnificent finale to the show with their rendition of the show's title song When You Tell Me That You Love Me."
Pictures of the finale can be found on the REALBrighton web site here.
"Confessions from a Dance Floor" 'launch party'
14/11/05 22:30
We were asked if we'd like to sing
a couple of Madonna songs to enhance the party atmosphere of an
evening to enjoy Madonna's latest album release at The Bank by
Seven Dials in Brighton. Ever up to the challenge, those of us who
could make it turned up for a chance to camp it up just a little
and it was quite a good bit of fun.
Watch out Madonna!
"Intermission"
"Oh no!"
Watch out Madonna!
"Intermission"
"Oh no!"
At the Theatre Royal, Brighton with the London Gay Men's Chorus for World AIDS Day
30/11/03 19:30
The superb, and large, London Gay
Men's Chorus finished their UK tour 'Tying the Knot' with a special
WAD performance at Brighton's Theatre Royal. They invited us to
perform a solo spot and then to join with them on the finale, so,
always open to a wonderful opportunity, we accepted. Proceeds from
the concert went to Brighton Cares.
We had a solo spot where we sang, California Dreamin', John Taverner's "Prayer for the healing of the Sick" and Money, Money, Money. Finally, we joined forces with local choir Hullabaloo to increase the on stage numbers to around 120 for the finale performance of Coming and Going. Someone wrote to our chair later saying the following "I shall always remember the World Aids Day segment, the minutes silence was particularly poignant and Coming and Going that followed was so powerful. The first set of Hiyahi's [in Coming & Going] was so powerful I felt thrown back into my seat and a smile a mile wide came over my face. You could see the whole audience experience such powerful singing and be moved by it."
You can hear a couple of tracks from this performance here.
Rehearsal
Some of us popped into the pub next door before the performance (just a little drink of course ...)
Our solo performance
The roof-raising finale
We had a solo spot where we sang, California Dreamin', John Taverner's "Prayer for the healing of the Sick" and Money, Money, Money. Finally, we joined forces with local choir Hullabaloo to increase the on stage numbers to around 120 for the finale performance of Coming and Going. Someone wrote to our chair later saying the following "I shall always remember the World Aids Day segment, the minutes silence was particularly poignant and Coming and Going that followed was so powerful. The first set of Hiyahi's [in Coming & Going] was so powerful I felt thrown back into my seat and a smile a mile wide came over my face. You could see the whole audience experience such powerful singing and be moved by it."
You can hear a couple of tracks from this performance here.
Rehearsal
Some of us popped into the pub next door before the performance (just a little drink of course ...)
Our solo performance
The roof-raising finale
10th birthday party of the Sussex Beacon AIDS Hospice
12/06/03 18:32
We were invited to perform in the
garden of the Sussex Beacon hospice as part of their 10th birthday
party.
Performance at a handfasting
10/06/03 14:00
Two members of the choir, Kim and
Tanya, were being Handfasted and asked if the choir would perform
on their special day, which of course we did. We performed
'Something inside so strong' which they specifically requested,
'Hand in hand' and others. Even their dogs wore flower garlands.
Aaahhhh.
This was to be the first of many commitment ceremonies at which we have been asked to sing.
This was to be the first of many commitment ceremonies at which we have been asked to sing.
Re-opening of Hove Library
12/01/03 18:27
The council invited us to sing as
one of a number of activities celebrating the re-opening of Hove
Library. It was a novelty to sing with us all standing on the
staircase whilst people wandered around below, setting off the
security alarms when they forgot to have their book
checked-out!
Queen's Golden Jubilee
03/06/02 13:30
2002 was the year of The Queen's
Golden Jubilee. There were BBC organised "Music Live" events up and
down the country and they invited us to perform in Eastbourne for
BBC TV and radio. We gave a short performance for the BBC Southern
Counties Radio which was broadcast live on the day. We also
performed a number of our own songs on stage. The BBC also had
individuals and groups up and down the country singing The Beatles'
"All You Need is Love" with the idea that a number of these
performances would be spliced together live on TV from all around
the country - we were one of those potential performances. However,
despite having TV cameras two inches from our faces and rendering
our take on "All You Need is Love" into the microphones on quite a
windy day, we didn't make it onto the telly. Maybe next time
...
Live on the radio
Braving the wind!
Getting ready for more
Live on the radio
Braving the wind!
Getting ready for more
"Brother's Keeper" at the Sallis Benny Theatre, Grand Parade, Brighton
01/12/01 17:00
A World AIDS Day Concert intending
to embrace all aspects of the local community.
Elvis Presley Band at the Brighton Centre
12/03/01 18:47
This was a performance with the
Elvis Presley's original backing band and singers ("The Sweet
Temptations"). We performed two numbers "Bridge over troubled
water" and "American Trilogy". It is remembered as something very
special.
The picture here shows the choir at the left of the stage and a virtual Elvis towering over all!
The picture here shows the choir at the left of the stage and a virtual Elvis towering over all!
A shared stage with Pink Singers and Gloria in the Royal Academy, London
21/04/99 14:07
This event was organised by the
Pink Singers. We apparently 'brought the house down' with our ABBA
medley!
'Blue Skies' with the Sydney Gay & Lesbian Choir
26/07/98 09:45
This was our first collaborative concert as guests of the Sydney Gay and Lesbian Choir who were on their European Tour that year.
