Excerpts from show reviews
The audience was treated to a very musical overture from an orchestra most ably led by Lucy Cumming, under the overall musical direction of Derek Holland.
Once again, Lighting and Sound were capably handled, and your strong orchestra under the baton of Derek Holland provided a solid bedrock upon which the musical numbers were placed.
Under the direction of Derek Holland the orchestra was first class. Their pedigree was obvious. There was a slightly "thin" overture until the arrival of the brass section, but the volume, sound and togetherness were a pleasure for the audience and must have been a delight for the cast to work with.
Derek led a tuneful and well balanced orchestra throughout this performance, and as last year, it was a pleasure to observe their immaculate dress.Also interesting to note was the attentiveness adopted by members of the orchestra - no magazines, crosswords or knitting taking place - a truly prodessional group of people.
Orchestra and direction: Clearly your great strength... Orchestra work was top quality and musical direction authoritative.
Musical Direction - Derek Holland: Again, the highest possible standard was achieved.
The music, under the direction of Derek Holland, was faithfully intrepreted and the orchestra was well balanced and tuneful, apart from some less than pitch-perfect trumpet playing during the overture. However, this was soon eradicated and the bulk of the musical numbers were well performed... All in all, a musical delight - congratulations, Derek.
Musical Director Derek Holland, in his debut for JLOS, interpreted this Arthur Sullivan score magnificently. The overture was truly beautiful and set the standard for the rest of the show. The Orchestra was well balanced and tuneful, and sympathetic to those singers with not-so-strong voices... I have seen Derek's work before, but this must be his best accomplishment to date from my point of view.
The overture, as played by the orchestra under the direction of Mr Derek Holland, set the standard for this excellent production.