Penny Weedon and Cathariana Griffiths
Penny Weedon
September 5th 2009
Penny Weedon
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Following the AGM, we had our second consecutive Ladies night at Basildon, this time in the shape of the lovely Penny Weedon who was to delight us with a wonderful selection of music from the movies.
Having set up her Yamaha EL900 and Tyros 3 she began the evening with That's Entertainment showing off some of the strings, plus an accordion interlude -nice.
Changing the sounds to the harp and flute, we heard With One Look from the Norma Desmond era of silent films. Next we had the theme from the 1957 film Bridge Over The River Kwai where a large contingent of British prisoners defiantly whistles the Colonel Bogey March! Staying on the theme of bridges, Penny took us "over" the Bridges of Madison County, a love story with Meryl Streep and Clint Eastwood before ending the medley with a Bridge Too Far.
Remember Saturday Night At The Movies? - with The Drifters, of course, all played with organ sounds, a disco backing set against a red/mauve background by Keith. And when at the movies, there's perhaps a bit of Kissing In The Backrow as well??
Moving over to the Tyros 3 we had The Continental from the Gay Divorcee with Fred Astaire And Ginger Rogers - oh happy days!!! Green and purple shades set the scene for Elvira Madigan played on strings and piano on the EL900, this being the slow movement from Mozart's Piano Concerto No. 21.
A red background was a must for A Man And A Woman from the 1966 film "Un homme et une femme". All men will agree (!!!) with Thank Heaven For Little Girls. This was swiftly followed by Gigi played on lush strings. And whilst on the theme of girls, there was the Girl In A Sportscar and also Laura from the film with the same title, this being the 2nd most recorded song ever!!!
Then along came Lara from Dr. Zhivago and Tara from Gone With The Wind. Finally to conclude the 1st half a lively rendition of There's Nothing Like A Dame.
Penny looked a picture in her white slacks and blue jacket which she changed for a red one for the second half which she opened with 2001 Space Odyssey. Overtunes of our forthcoming New Years Day concert with the Blue Danube which never fails to thrill.
One of Penny's favourite films ever was Star Trek which she followed with Missing - beautifully played with no rhythm set to a peaceful green/blue background by Keith.
Then we had Arthur's Theme (Best That You Can Do), the 1981 film starring Dudley Moore and Liza Minelli. Along came Tim, the music courtesy of Eric Jump followed by the The Third Man. At Tony's suggestion a medley by Al Johnson followed: The Jolson Story - California Here I Come - Baby Face - The Bells Are Ringing For Me And My Girl - By The Light Of The Silvery Moon - Carolina In The Morning - After The Ball Is Over and to conclude Swanee.
John Barry's The Dove was next before The Local Hero came along! A beautiful dark red backdrop set the scene nicely for Brief Encounter, the music having been taken from Rachmaninov's concerto No. 2. Hollywood's Walk of Fame included Walk Of The Stars - People - Sound Of Music - Be My Love - The Godfather -Lawrence Of Arabia - Rose Marie - Ghost - Showboat - My Fair Lady - Windmills Of Your Mind - Pinocchio - Wizard Of Oz - Wonderful Copenhagen - Around The World in 80 Days - Der Blaue Engel - Saturday Night Forever - Casa Blanca - Thanks For the Memory - Secret Love - High Society - Top Hat - Diamonds Are A Girls Best Friend - Raindrops Keep Falling On My Head - Singing In The Rain - Bright Eyes and lastly The King And I.
All these were accompanied by Tony's slideshow which had been in operation throughout Penny's concert not to forget Peter working on the video camera's as well.
What a wonderful evening at the movies we had enjoyed, all enhanced by Keith's lighting efforts. However, the audience demanded their traditional Basildon encore which featured a short selection from South Pacific played on the Tyros.
Why not come along to a Basildon Keyboard Club Concert, you will be made very welcome, have a great evenings entertainment, a complimentary cup of tea or coffee with biscuits and of course experience the delights of live music played on top of the range electronic organs & keyboards by the best players.