Sound the Alarm, a Vancouver-based not-for-profit charitable arts organization is celebrating renowned theatrical composer Andrew Lloyd Webber’s 75th birthday in 2023 with a live concert tour that began in Red Deer, Alberta on Sept. 23 and will wrap up in Williams Lake, British Columbia on Oct. 25.
Baritone Adam Fisher, who sings the title number, “the big Phantom of the Opera piece that everyone knows,” is appreciative of the reception and rave reviews from those who have seen the show.
“Amazing,” he said. “The response has been wonderfully positive and nothing but great audiences so far. Andrew Lloyd Webber has a talent for writing catchy melodies. He writes these tunes that are relatively simple in terms of melody, and I think the lasting thing is that because of that simplicity, people really connect with these songs as they relate to some experience they’ve had in their life. Whether it’s a lost parent, birth of a child, marriage or something they grew up listening to with their grandparents. You can kind of pick a sentimental moment and it still somehow broadly applies to his music. It’s had that lasting effect on people and (is) still going strong today. We’ve collected really strong musicians to give the best interpretation of these songs.”
Fisher said planning began prior to COVID-19 and hit the ground running quite quickly once auditions were complete, the cast was chosen and the dates and venues were lined up.
“In terms of rehearsals, we put this together in about six days in Vancouver,” he said. “Everyone came really well prepared…all professionals from different parts of Canada…and off we went. The singers come from different backgrounds. A lot of my career has been spent in opera. Prior to that, I was a heavy metal drummer, classical musician and opera singer, but I’ve now stepped away from opera. It’s definitely a change. Ty has a big music theatre background, same with Georgia, and Melina has a mix of both.”
The first portion of the “Music of the Night” tour took place in Southern Ontario in March and April.
Virden was the lone rural community on the Manitoba leg of the tour, which included Brandon, Portage La Prairie and Winnipeg. On Oct. 11, the eight-member cast took about 300 people in the Aud Theatre on a fast-paced journey through Webber’s theatrical repertoire, complete with lighting and haze effects that set the mood for the two-hour show.
The musicians, who auditioned for the performance in the Fall of 2022, include Baritone Adam Fisher, Tenor Tainui Kuru, Mezzo Georgia Bennett and Soprano Melina Schain, accompanied by Evan Berndt and Angus Kellett on keyboard, drummer Dean McKay and Cole Friesen on bass/guitar. The revue represented a variety of Broadway musical productions, including “Joseph and the Amazing Technicolour Dreamcoat,” “Cats” and “Jesus Christ Superstar.”
“I think it comes down to just the reception of the audiences,” Fisher said of the decision-making regarding where to perform.
“(The Virden AUD) is a beautifully restored space that’s been obviously well loved and taken care of. The great thing about Andrew Lloyd Webber is that his music is so universally loved that it hasn’t been too hard to find places to play. Communities love his music and when we find a really nice space that we can perform in and the community is welcoming then we are happy to bring the show there.”
