Singers bring the past to life

The St. Albert Singers Guild sets out to show us that those catchy, often romantic melodies that flooded the airwaves from the ’50s, ’60s and ’70s still have a way of charming both old and new listeners.

In A Blast From the Past, The St. Albert Mixed Singers and The Women’s Ensemble join vocal forces to pay homage to a vintage catalogue of singer-songwriters that although no longer mainstream, are still celebrated as the pillars of modern popular music.

Directed by Criselda Mierau and accompanied by a four-piece St. Albert band, the two-hour concert salutes three decades of musical icons from Bobby Darrin, Elvis Presley and The Beach Boys to Marvin Gaye, Nancy Sinatra, Barry Manilow and Manhattan Transfer.

“We’re even doing a couple of songs from Grease just so we can bring a car out,” laughs Mierau who has booked the Arden Theatre for May 16 and 17.

She has set the frothy storyline in a ’50s diner decorated with a jukebox and bar pulls for drinks. The cafĂ© has a very apt St. Albert moniker. It’s dubbed Nolan’s Diner, and sure enough, Nolan Crouse is temporarily hanging up his mayoral chain of office to wear a soda jerk’s white cap.

The concert starts off in the ’70s and the character Nolan owns a soda shop/cafĂ©. He is a throwback to the ’50s, “a cranky, crusty old man” who isn’t too sure about this new-fangled music of the ’70s.

“While I serve customers, I like to play music and the choir is my jukebox,” says Crouse, who displayed comedic thespian’s chops as a town crier at the Mayor’s Gala last March.

Not only does the soda jerk create a tie-in for the different periods, but his role is to fill in gaps with entertaining historical, political and social tidbits that defined the three decades.

Outfitted in psychedelic colours, classic bellbottoms and wide lapels, the two choirs – about 90 members – create a wave of musical mania throughout two of their big medleys dedicated to the Motown sound and the Fab Four.

“In our Beatles medley, we’d like the audience to sing along. It’s fun and when you have a whole audience singing, it becomes a community of song,” Mierau said.

Numerous performances in varying combinations are also planned, but one that is set to grab the emotions is a version of The Platters Only You. Nearly 20 male vocalists sing this mega hit with tenors Jonathan Smethurst, Vic Mitchell and Johannes Irnich flipping into falsetto.

Mierau, who has a deep social conscience, strongly believed this historical landmark song is an important crux to the program.

“It was a crossover hit. It was the first time a black group hit No. 1. Many white artists took black songs, recorded them and they climbed the charts. But this was the first time a black group went to No. 1.”

Providing support for the choirs is Maxim Dance Band composed of Gunnar Lang (guitar-keyboard), Dan Kallal (bass), Steve Simmons (guitar) and Julian DiCastri (drummer). The band will be ensconced in the Arden pit with only the tops of their heads visible to the audience.

“What’s cool about this show is that it recreates a time, an energy, a music and thoughts that bring the community together,” Mierau said.