Thank you for inviting me to attend your recent show “The Imaginarium”. The young musicians and dancers of Concord put on a performance to be proud of. It was a very lively and exciting evening and the Lady Mayoress and I both really enjoyed it.
Very well done.
Councillor Alan Law JP
LORD MAYOR OF SHEFFIELD
Please can you pass on my congratulations to everyone who was involved in The Imaginarium show at the Library Theatre on 29th and 30th October. It was a great show from beginning to end. It was so good to see so many young people giving their all, and having such a good time. All the hard work and time that each one had put in resulted in a wonderful show.
Elaine Beckingham
For ninety minutes, Concord Youth Music, Cheermania and talented young guest performers took their large and appreciative audience through 15 short scenarios where imagination and excitement ruled...
Russell Cavanagh
We went to see The Imaginarium last night as our daughter is one of the coaches for Cheermania. We didn't know what to expect with the rest of the show as we had not seen Concord Band before and really were just expecting a standard youth band performance. How wrong we were! From the very beginning of the show, it was entertaining, 'imaginative', skillful and slick. The musicians were excellent and their choreography and that of the dancers made it really interesting to watch. Even the five year old who was with us was engrossed.
Would you please pass on our thanks to all those involved for a brilliant show.
Many thanks
Dorothy and Mark Whittaker
This is in no way a biased opinion (I used to be connected to Concord) because this was the first time I'd seen this show (today 2.30pm) and I have to say came away feeling good about what they have done.
There are some very nice features within the show that came across very well. Lighting and sound were spot on and the changes in costume were an added bonus (especially the sing a song of sixpence feature).
I didn't see many drum corps people there and the afternoon show had close to 100 people in the audience. That's a very positive sign given that quite a bit of the show was drum corps orientated and good for the activity.
I particularly enjoyed Land of make Believe... some dry ice would have lifted the beginning into the fantasy setting for this piece for me.
Very positive Concord well done
Pb (on Drum Corps Discussion Group)
Well done !!!
Standing front of house I could tell people really enjoyed the show. There was none of the “ It was OK but” that you hear at contests.
Perhaps a measure of the success was the two ladies who thought they were attending the Dyleth Williams Players production (they were a month early)and because they wanted to hear the play sat at the front. Not only did they not ask for a refund but they stayed throughout the show,( although they did move off the front row -they could hear OK)and said how much they had enjoyed it on the way out.
No one left at the interval and I can tell you that it is not uncommon at concerts at the City Hall.
Great front of house crew-AllStars parents, John & Ken from the Board of Governors and Rob and Rachel.
Likewise all those who helped with getting AllStars ready and back and forth between the theatre and the church. No easy task
All the cast and backstage team did a fantastic job and without doubt the hard work put in by the design/teaching team paid off. Lighting and sound worked despite some handicaps with the equipment.
Last but not least thanks to Roger who made the finances and logistics work. He managed to get major sponsors, free advertising on public transport, source and arrange sound, staging and a plethora of other things.
Roll on next time
Glyn
Congratulations on The Imaginarium. An ambitious project carried off with the usual Concord professionalism. I've thought ever since seeing Blast! that this is a superb opportunity for all bands and takes them away from just doing concerts - which is already done to death by other youth music groups.
It was good to see impressive audiences and to do it in a central city theatre was the cream on the cake.
Jim Vaughan
British Federation of Youth Marching Band Organisations
Just a note to congratulate all who was involved last night in putting together a fantastic show.
I attended the show with my dad, auntie, uncle and my four year old daughter Anna. I felt really proud in seeing the new generation of Concord perform, albeit in a totally new direction and environment. My dad was amazed with the musical talents of the cast, and really admires the outlet concord provides for youngster to showcase their talents. I was really interested after the show in finding out the thoughts of my family, so I have spoken to them all at length, none of the others have ever seen drum corps. These are the subjective comments from us all:
My dad said that when the brass were good they were on fire... He loved the staging and thoroughly enjoyed the production overall. His highlights were "in the stone", "this masquerade" and he is still raving about the theme tune to "Sex and the City".
My Aunt and Uncle said they had never seen anything like it and thoroughly enjoyed the show. Good to see what youth can produce, impressed by the comittment.
Anna loves the dancers and thinks the brass and drums are too noisy, so I guess that she is a future guard member.
I didn't know what to expect, I really enjoyed the show (especially the Jazz). I wish we could have played some more of this type of entertaining music when I was involved.
The "pure imagination" music I love and really set the scene...
Loved the opener "in the stone" this is a favourite track of mine and cast nailed it, a big number that really made people sit up. I wanted to get up and cheer but didn't want to look a clown.
Genius idea getting the "all stars" and the "cheerleaders" involved, it added an extra dimension. May be some circus guests next time?
I was really impressed with the front / back ensemble, top marks to the bass player, drummer, and keyboard players. Nice to actually hear them (not like on the field).
The "sex and the city" theme was electric... the brass players playing the Latin percussion rhythms really milked it and made the tune really engaging to the audience and really visually appealing to watch.
A big shout out to Steve, Chris and Adam for the solo's. I love the character that Steve, Adam and Rob inject into the performance. While I am in this section another shout out to the little fella who made the transition to the senior group (Josh), your parents must be proud.
Thought the two crew members who handled the guard and dance work did a sterling job. Would be nice to see another two people in this section to join them to get the most visual effect out of this unit. I appreciate you have to work with the numbers you have got.
I loved the staging throughout, you really made the most of the theatre. Loved Cathy's walk on part, would be nice to see more walk on parts. Hopefully more will follow in the future. I trust Glyn played the last post (knew he would have a part)?
I totally understand the concept of the imaginarium.
Overall, a fantastic show that we all enjoyed, the above are just our views and constructive criticism. Totally proud of you all!
Thanks for a great night.
Best Wishes,
James
ps: Can I put myself forward for a walk on part next time. I can see myself as a waiter in one of the jazz numbers ...lol
