A Music Extravaganza – Manama Singers – Dilmun Club
The Manama Singers, one of the oldest multicultural community choirs in the kingdom, staged a night of fun and entertainment at The Dilmun Club in Saar, where enthusiasts partied to a diverse line-up of soulful solo acts and enchanting chorale ensembles.
There is nothing more thrilling than to watch someone pursue their passion, something they love, and that is how I would best describe the audience experience.
The show began with Phantom of the Opera performed by the troupe wearing their masquerade masks. A ‘mysterious phantom’ navigated the audience, startling my table companion for the night and a few others too!
The moody atmosphere generated by the perfect performance vanished when the choir burst into the light-hearted ‘Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious’ from Mary Poppins. The audience joined in with gusto and the choir’s voice modulation exhibited during this offering was impressive – brava!
The show was well-curated, featuring songs of different energy levels and conjuring different moods, while also providing the musicians, back stage crew and the vocalists to showcase their prowess, which I found commendable.
Manama Singers musical director Jo Mings runs a tight ship, which was evident from the well-rehearsed performance and attention to detail – one of the singers who performed with Ms Mings in a two-person act began on the wrong note, literally, but instantly caught herself and started again, as her partner spurred her on, and the audience cheered with her.
We Will Rock You was a hit and encouraged spectators to tap along on their tables in tune with the catchy chorus, which uplifted everyone’s spirits.
It got me thinking about how universal and timeless music is – it lives on, sometimes long after the artist has passed away, such as keeping the late, great Freddie Mercury alive in our hearts. Kudos to Manama Singers for rekindling that spark with this show.
My favourites were King of the Swingers from Jungle Book and Circle of Life from The Lion King. The songs transported me back to my childhood and I caught myself mouthing the lyrics and snapping my fingers on more than one occasion throughout both the performances, despite normally being quite the wallflower when it comes to nights out.
I also loved how Manama Singers added their own flavour to the songs while keeping the integrity of the compositions intact – a tricky one but balanced beautifully.
Whether it was the addictive ‘tu tu tu’ on The Bare Necessities or the heart-tugging emotional depth in Les Misérables’ One Day More, The Musical Extravaganza was unlike anything the Manama Singers have done before.
The riveting musical delivery and showmanship were a pleasure to behold and I’m eagerly looking forward to the next event.
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