Milton Musical Society performed Departures at Fore

BAGS were packed and travellers assembled at the airport when Milton Musical Society put on Departures, a musical journey created and directed by Tracy Knapp and Olwen Adams.

However nobody could leave as snow has grounded the aeroplanes which gave the opportunity of each group of passengers to shine.

First on the scene were five members of a wedding party desperate to get away to the festivities, swiftly followed by six Diamond Ladies of a certain age in the champagne bar wearing sparkly dresses, raring to spend, spend, spend.

Numerous songs and dances from a wide range of musicals were interspersed among the various scenes and I especially liked All I Wanna Do is Eat by the three young hopefuls, who are starving themselves in the hope of being 'discovered'.

Among the group of six passengers was young Frida Berry who sang a brilliant When I Grow Up with great confidence. Tracey Alford as Lauren ran the terminal's coffee bar with her usual verve, dispensing sympathetic advice to stranded passengers, stewards and other members of the airport staff, and summing up with a great The History of Wrong Guys.

A lovely group of 11 nuns, many of them doubling with other roles, who are on their way to see the Pope, gave a good rendition of How I Got the Calling, all of them serene among the surrounding chaos.

One small quibble – the programme did not state who was singing which song so it is not possible to identify each singer but I did like the voice of the man who sang Mr Cellophane. To the choreography designed by Kirsti Warne and the directors with the assistance of musical director Alastair Hume and his 3-strong band, all the cast sang and danced all the way through with great enthusiasm joining together finally for Always Look on the Bright Side of Life and Come Fly with Me, as the runways are finally cleared. A splendid and entertaining evening for the sell-out audience.

Alison Smith