The community centre was decadently decorated, set up with lights and muted colours and the audience waited expectantly for the cracker to be pulled. And indeed it was, in true Martin Wimbush and Sally Bayly style, supported by Malcolm Newton as musical director and pianist, Nuri Koseoglu on the violin and Merv Cotcher on the guitar.
The mixture of songs, carols and reading took one back to childhood Christmases. The Oxen by Thomas Hardy was read by Martin, beautifully interwoven with Sally’s singing of Silent Night – very poignant. The art of these shows is to get the mix just right and every new piece resonated with the audience which showed its warm appreciation at the end.
Spectators Nikki and Andy Stuart commented: “After a chance for a chinwag and to top up glasses with wine and beer at the bar, run by the unflappable Geoff Boudreau, the second half started with a rousing rendition of All You Need Is Love by the noted Ryer, Sir Paul McCartney. Martin, revealing himself as a budding counter-tenor, began on a note hiding high in the rafters of the hall, but Sally, struggling to find Love in such a register, and thinking of the earth-bound audience, demanded a restart. Reverting to classic tenor, Martin began and the song went down a storm.
“From then on, the heady mix of Martin’s mastery of the spoken word and bongos, Sally’s wonderful singing, the jazz virtuosity of violinist Nuri, and the flamenco fingering of guitarist Merv, all held together on piano by the maestro, musical director Malcolm, and a wonderful programme of favourite carols and Christmas songs, with carefully chosen readings of poems, flashed by in an evening of pure delight.”
And the performers and audience joined together with a festive finale of We Wish You a Merry Christmas!
Image Credits: Kt bruce .
Thank you so much for this wonderful review. This show was an absolute joy to put together and perform.. a Box of Christmas Delights. Both performances had great attendance, despite competition from the World Cup England match on Saturday and a blinding snowstorm on Sunday (which was raging just as I started “Let It Snow”!) I did feel we got the mood just right. A mix of great fun and seasonal poignancy. Martin’s deliveries of Laurie Lee, Thomas Hardy, plus the loveliest Carols, the best Christmas songs.. Chestnuts Roasting on an open fire… Eliza Doolittle telling it like it is! I loved it. And my fellow performers’ musicianship and musical direction were peerless. We hope to make this an annual tradition. And with funds going to Rye Community Centre it felt so good to be of help to our lovely community. Thank you all for coming, and thanks to Heidi and KT as ever for this wonderful review and fantastic photos!
PS .. So – I could have sung it up there in the rafters. But I reckoned the punters couldn’t!!.. Mistakes? Always the best part of any show!
I couldn’t agree more with Sally, she summed it up perfectly – it was a joy – here’s to next year! Thank you Kit.
It truly was a lovely afternoon and so relaxing too! Well done Sally and Martin, your fellow musicians and all those that helped to make it a success! Here’s looking forward to next Years performance!