‘What's it all about?’ seems an entirely apt existential question when rain rivers create havoc one day and the next is one of Dunedin’s better spring days.
A hastily reorganised show on Sunday evening replaced Friday’s at the Clarkson Studio Regent Theatre.
A sold-out theatre gave Arlie McCormick a warm welcome and a fulsome applause for an evening filled with the best songs from Burt Bacharach.
The voices of McCormick and guests Shannon Burnett and Harriet Moir blend well together, particularly when accompanied by the adept keyboard player Stuart Walker.
Singing along also came naturally to many of the audience well versed in all the words.
Burnett’s original composition All Mine shows a good understanding of how lyrics can be used to create a narrative.
We wish her well.
Moir’s voice is admittedly not what it was, but works well in duets and trios.
Burt Bacharach’s tunes, based primarily around the lyric, present the singer with many abrupt rhythmic changes.
He also features wordy phrasing which makes demands on breath control.
These were well met with an occasional lapse of strength in the high registers from McCormick’s otherwise strong performance.
Highlights include the clipped Walk on By, the harmonies and staggered entries in One Less Bell to Answer, Say a Little Prayer for Me, Anyone Who Had Heart, Heart Breaker, Close to You, Hey Little Girl and of course Message to Michael.
The lighting and stage crew received hearty shout-outs from the stage.
The final shout-outs go to the trio’s performance of What the World Needs Now, and of course to their determination to put the show on at all after this calamitous weekend.
On this Dunedin Sunday after the deluge, many of us are indeed asking What’s It All About, Alfie?.
