The Gaslight Chorus and its chapter quartets recently held its inaugural annual show, called Golden Dreams, at the Curtis Theater in Brea. And it was, to say the least, a wonderful success.

Golden Dreams celebrated American harmony and heritage. Its opening song, “Sweet Adeline,” began with a single voice, sung by Matt Ordaz. He was quickly joined by Dan Durfey, Brian Hinds, and John Saylor in a quartet until the entire chorus came in, all posing in separate quartets. “Sweet Adeline” set the stage for the show’s theme of tradition and solid close harmony, and everything went up from there. The chorus and quartets sang great and the guest performers were outstanding.

It was apparent from beginning to end that the performers were having fun. You could see it on their faces and hear it in their voices. The growing chorus now has a bigger sound than ever and is improving with every performance. Director Phil Ordaz, who arranged the majority of the chorus’s songs for the show, continues to inspire the chorus to excel in every way. Assistant Director Logan Patrick-Miernicki is doing a great job directing several songs now.

Almost half of the songs presented were performed by chapter quartets, some of which included chorus members with less than one year’s experience singing barbershop. Appearing for their first time in a show were Russ Havemann, Jon Sutherland, Richard Otto, and Rob Nickell. Jon and Richard performed in their first quartet on stage, and both did excellent jobs with solo parts as well. Also appearing for his first time on a Gaslight Chorus show was Mike Aitken and Steve Young who have both sung with other barbershop choruses over the years. It was also great to see songwriter/arranger Dave Briner singing in a quartet again.

Chapter quartets Four Fifteen (Bryan Forbes, Larry Gassman, John Gassman, John Saylor) and VOX (Logan Patrick-Miernicki, Matt Ordaz, Vernon Brock, John Saylor) presented two songs each and they were all audience favorites. John Saylor, the bass of VOX, stood in for Four Fifteen’s bass Frank Gilb and did an excellent job.

Our guest performers were the new Sweet Adeline quartet, Rock It!, and the 2009 Far Western District quartet champion, The Edge. Both quartets did an amazing job and wowed the audience with their style, wit, and great singing.

The show closer could not have been more appropriate when the Chorus sang “If the Lord be Willin’.” It was like an invitation for everyone to join us for our next show in December. Our next Christmas show dates are December 9 & 10 and we will again be at the very cozy Curtis Theatre in Brea. Mark your calendar today and watch our website for more information, fliers, and online ticket ordering.