Musical Director - Robert Bowness
Rehearsal Accompanist - Victoria Wells
Together with Dancers from The Wallasey School of Ballet
under the direction of their
Principal
Deborah Clark
Ticket Sales - Bob Jarvis
Rhythm of Life 2018
General Information Rhythm of Life - 2018
Dates
Saturday 24th February 2018- evening at 7.30pm
Sunday 25th February 2018 - afternoon at 2.30pm
Musical Director - Robert Bowness
Rehearsal Accompanist - Victoria Wells
Together with Dancers from The Wallasey School of Ballet
under the direction of their PrincipalDeborah Clark
Ticket Sales - Bob Jarvis
Programme Rhythm of Life - 2018
Photographs Rhythm of Life - 2018
click to enlarge
John Phipps and Keith Phillips in 'A Musical'
Mike Ellis leads the Company in 'Once in a Lifetime'
Michael Kennedy - the organiser of the concet thanks all who were involved with the event.
The Mayor's Consort Bill Maclachlan and MD Rob Bowness
Photography by Richard Jennings of Cetra Photography.
Organiser Michael Kennedy has sponsored a school in Sierra Leone- appropriately called
'The Rhythm of Life' school
NODA REVIEW -Rhythm of Life - 2018
What a triumph; this was an excellent concert which raised an incredible £5000 for the Wirral Heart Support Centre at St Catherine’s in Birkenhead. Michael Kennedy himself a recipient of their good offices was the driving force behind this splendid entertainment and with the aid of the members and crew of the West Kirby Light Opera Society gave us a night to remember and doubtless a Sunday afternoon as well. Rob Bowness the Musical Director proved once again his great skill in getting results from his soloists and ensemble. His arrangements for the latter are always spectacular and a joy to listen to. The strength of WKLOS concerts is in the variety of the music which they offer; songs from a rich vein of musicals old and new, so whatever style you particularly like will invariably arise during the programme. Ivor Novello’s “Perchance to Dream” was there rubbing shoulders with “A Musical” from “Something Rotten”. Showboat, The Lion King, Bugsy Malone, Once upon a time at the Adelphi, Spamalot. The list goes on and everyone a winner. The only number not from a musical was the “Battle Hymn of the Republic” and its appearance as the finale of Act 1 was a joy anyway. I am not naming the many members of the cast. This was a team effort and every member of the team played their part wonderfully well, whether standing at the front of the stage or at the back in the ensemble and it’s the final result which counts. Even a minor technical hitch couldn’t phase this Society demonstrating as it did the skill of one of the many backstage and front of house workers who may not be seen but play their part in creating a show’s success. Wirral Heartbeat benefitted financially and the whole of the audience benefitted artistically. What more could you want? |
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PREVIEW: Wirral charity show will celebrate 'the joy of being alive' A FORMER barrister has organised a special concert for health charity to thank nurses that helped him recover from a life-changing heart attack. Proceeds from West Kirby Light Opera Society's The Rhythm Of Life Show – staged at Westbourne Hall in West Kirby on February 24-25 and created by Michael Kennedy – will go to Wirral Heart Beat, which assists the work of Wirral Heart Support Service at St Catherine’s Hospital in Birkenhead. The show, featuring 40 members of WKLOS and 30 dancers from Wallasey School of ballet, will feature songs from shows including Les Miserables, My Fair Lady, Chess, High Society and The Witches of Eastwick, among many others. Looking forward to raising funds for the charity, Michael told the Globe: "It is one which is dear to my heart as I suffered a serious heart attack in 2016, which forced my early retirement at the age of 54, after 33 years as a barrister. "I have nothing but praise for the heart support services in Wirral. This is my way of saying thank you” "It's going to be lovely show, celebrating the joy of being alive. So with that in mind, I’ve chosen a programme of songs that are lively and upbeat. "For me, it's not a chance to raise much-needed funds for a life-saving cause, it also means I will get a chance to do what I love doing, performing on stage. Recalling the heart attack, the Caldy-based actor and singer continued: "Before it happened, I always viewed myself as having good health. "I was somebody who never went near the doctor unless I absolutely had to. "The only time I'd been in a hospital was as a visitor; certainly never had any operations or procedures. "Then suddenly, wholly out of the blue with no warning signs, I had this massive heart attack. "It is a lesson for everybody really, I think, because you take your health for granted and never think it will happen to you; it happens to somebody else. It turned my life upside down. "On the day it happened I was transported from Arrowe Park Hospital to Broadgreen in Liverpool and within half an hour was in the operating theatre. "It's just been a voyage, me and the NHS are the best of friends now. It's really opened my eyes and have nothing but praise for the way it operates. "The whole experience taught me that I had very close escape. It came as massive shock, but there was massive outpouring of support from friends and family, which made you realise who you could count on."For example, I couldn’t drive, so people would very kindly take me places, buy things for in shops." Praising Wirral Heart Support Centre, Michael added: "I had never set foot in the Centre, but was blown away when I did. "It's a really smart, state of the art place. "They help you right the way through recovery. They also have talks on how to manage your life after being diagnosed with cardio-vascular disease. "I cannot speak highly enough of the staff there. They are so professional, really dedicated to the jobs that they do and are very caring people. "They really went out of their way to be as welcoming as they could be, to the point now, 15 months on, I will go to bump into them at St Cath's and they are really interested in how I'm getting on." The Saturday, February 24 performance of The Rhythm Of Life starts at 7.30pm. There’s a Sunday matinee performance at 2.30pm. |
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| Poster Design - Nick Sample |
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