Directed by Joe Atkinson and Kylie Lam

Produced by Iain Cunningham 

Review by Ben Connaughton

The University of St Andrews’ Musical Theatre Society, or MusT, took a creative detour from their programme of book musicals to perform a one-night, one-act concert which charted the history of musical theatre: A Chronicle in Concert. The unique advantage of this venture was that it attracted skilled musicians who were usually unable to join full-scale productions due to existing choral and orchestral commitments. This was a chance to hear the best musicians in St Andrews share their love of musical theatre. 

The event was hosted in the award-winning Laidlaw Music Centre which afforded space for a lavish 30-piece orchestra, musically directed by Joe Atkinson and led by Lorna Richardson. The concert opened with the overture of Anything Goes, and the evening’s midpoint featured an orchestral medley from The Sound of Music. Both pieces were emotive, musically strong, and benefitted from thoughtful dynamics; the strings played a particularly communicative Edelweiss, and the brass was gloriously triumphant in Climb Every Mountain. 

Iain Cunningham provided the concert’s connective tissue, introducing each piece with a detailed and interesting discussion of its historical context, particularly focussing on the influence of one composer on the next. The pieces themselves were well selected, each suiting the singers’ voice and equitably documenting the evolution of musical theatre. 

Amy Dunn gave the first vocal performance with June is Bustin’ Out All Over from Rogers and Hammerstein’s Carousel, her sweet soprano voice matching the classic musical theatre style. This was followed by a characterful and competitive rendition of Anything You Can Do from Annie Get Your Gun, with Elle Hale and Cameron Collier taking advantage of every comedic opportunity. 

A celebration of musical theatre would not be complete without addressing the transformational role played by Stephen Sondheim. Kate Nolting, Poppy Kimitris and Adam Mercer successfully took on the technically challenging Getting Married Today from Company; Nolting’s astoundingly clear and expressive patter performance was the highlight of the evening. Vocal director Kylie Lam clearly values strong technique and has a knack for bringing out musical detail. 

Georgina Duncan gave a technically beautiful performance of What I Did For Love from A Chorus Line which, complimented by a strong chorus and orchestra, felt emotionally rich and grand in scale. Emily Speed’s tender rendition of The Light in the Piazza from the musical of the same name and Kieron Moore’s powerful This is the Moment from Jekyll and Hyde rounded off the solo pieces, with Moore showcasing a particularly well-trained choral quality. 

The evening’s finale was A Musical from Something Rotten in which the famed seer Nostradamus predicted the future of musical theatre and took the audience on one last whistlestop tour of the genre. This was a classy choice of finale as it summarised the evening’s purpose rather than landing on a particularly famous group number: it would have been tempting to finish with One Day More or Seasons of Love. Heather Tiernan and Radhika Rohit delivered riotous performances as the brash Nostradamus and the unsuspecting Nick. 

A Chronicle in Concert was a musically excellent celebration of the genre with several standout vocal performances, a skilled orchestra, and clear musical direction. Hopefully, this format will become a regular feature of MusT’s programme: there is still so much to explore.