I schlepped all the way down to Heim of Ana to the Chance Theatre this evening to see (for the first time) A Grand Night for Singing, the Rodgers and Hammerstein revue. In a bit of coincidence, though I purchased my ticket several weeks ago, the Chance Theatre was featured in the L.A. Times on Thursday (yesterday) as one of several small (they used the term "storefront") theatres that are taking hold in Orange County.
It was a pleasant enough evening. Three boys (one of whom doubled as music director--more on that in a moment) and four girls. Except for one female belter, the voices were on the light side. Some very nice arrangements and some very nice choreography on what was, other than for the odd bench or chair, a naked stage.
The sole musical accompaniment was one of those electronic keyboard appliances. Most of the show was pre-recorded or, perhaps more properly stated, pre-programmed, as the music director spent much of the evening with the other singers on stage.
Shoestring budgets are shoestring budgets, I suppose, and I paid a pittance to see this show, so I won't get on my soapbox. Still, live performance on a piano (an upright, even) would have made a tremendously positive improvement.
