For a concert intended to celebrate both LGBT Pride month and commemorate the tenth anniversary of Windy City Performing Arts’ mixed chorus Unison: Windy City Lesbian & Gay Singers, the event was surprisingly somber and without spirit. Beginning with the less than stellar Combined Choruses opening performance of ‘Cantus In Harmonia,’ even the added touch of a triangle, tambourine and finger cymbals played by chorus members did little to raise the energy level.
A reprieve came in the form of a joyous and rousing rendition of Handel’s ‘Hallelujah, Amen!,’ by the Windy City Gay Chorus, which made me want to shout the same. WCGC’s subdued yet celebratory reading of ‘I Sing The Body Electric’ came to an electrifying conclusion, and provided some much-needed light.
Windy City Slickers, the all-male ensemble, can usually be counted on to liven up the mood, and while I found their interpretation of ‘Raise The Roof’ from The Wild Party to be a bit unfocused and haphazard, they didn’t disappoint with their second selection of the first act. Complete with flashlights for lighting effects and a head-banging interlude, The Windy City Slickers owned Queen’s ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’ long before the song was over.
Most disappointing of all was the performance by Unison. Part of the problem was in the selection of material. ‘I Gondolieri’ and ‘La Passeggiata,’ two compositions by Rossini, complete with gondola cut-out, seemed inappropriate choices for the Pride concert. The other material, including ‘My God Is An Awesome God’ and ‘One Voice’ (which featured multi-colored ribbon waving)suffered in light of this.
A pair of lackluster songs, Stephen Sondheim’s ‘Old Friends’ and Bacharach & David’s ‘I’ll Never Fall In Love Again,’ performed by Windy City Gay Chorus at the opening of the second act, didn’t hold much promise for the remainder of the concert. As with their appearance in the first act, the Slickers’ first number, Eric Lane Barnes’s ‘Welcome Home,’ sounded a bit fuzzy. However, they redeemed themselves with their animated and energized take on Barnes’s ‘Drama Queen.’ After this number, it was clear that the evening belonged to the Slickers.
Unison loosened up a bit with a pair of songs by David Maddux, ‘Getting Married’ (which featured Unison members pairing up and donning bridal veils)and ‘Be Fabulous Wherever You Are,’ but even these moments of levity, and the get-down, get-funky performance of ‘We Are Family’ by the combined choruses, did nothing to dispel Windy City Performing Arts’ stuffy reputation.