Audrey in the Sky with Diamonds
Things we loved
- Great harmonising
- Fun music choices
Things we would reconsider
- Limited seating
- Only two shows
It’s not just the Adelaide Fringe’s 60th anniversary this year, as the Adelaide University Choral Society is also turning 60, and they’ve pulled off an amazing performance for it. With covers of songs by Queen, Katy Perry, The Beatles, Billie Joel and Smash Mouth, the choir create a night to remember.
You may be wondering what is with the penguin, the choir’s mascot who is named Audrey. The answer is in the abbreviation ‘AUCS’ as it sounds very similar to the name of the bird, Auk. Auk’s are a kind of bird distantly related to the penguin, and look rather similar, hence the penguin mascot. A mascot that is present for the entire performance, wearing the choral societies logo, her name is in the title of the show after all.
The choir itself is almost 50 people strong, with a live band helping for certain songs, their presence is truly astounding. They performed both with the band and without, their a cappella renditions will give you goosebumps with their beautiful harmonising.
The choir even performed mashups of songs you wouldn’t ordinarily expect, such as Careless Whisper by George Michael, and Dance Monkey by Tones and I. No matter your thoughts on the latter song, the result of the blending of tracks was absolutely astounding. The two songs work together much better than you would ever expect. The musical director’s wife was the inspiration for the mashups, due to her only remembering parts of songs and mixing them together while singing them out loud.
The choir also perform songs in different styles to the originals, and the unexpected hilarity of All Star in a 16th century style is made even better by the amazing quality of the singers.
With the cabaret style seating in the hall, at first you feel as though you’ve walked in on a community quiz night, with homemade platters and dips scattering tables. The fair priced bar selling drinks and snacks, and the open hall’s acoustics make the location even better.
Structured in three acts, the choir perform 3-4 songs and then leave people to chat and eat before coming back. This not only extends their performance but allows people to grab another drink or head to the bathroom without interrupting the gorgeous singing.
If all of this wasn’t enough, their opening performance was spectacular enough that two separate encores were called for.
Overall a wonderful night, and a perfect event for the whole family.