Review: The Valli Boys, Côr Meibion Llanelli Male Voice Choir and others at Ffwrnes Theatre

The Valli Boys, Côr Meibion Llanelli Male Voice Choir, The Phil Harmonics, pianist Thomas Park in concert at Ffwrnes Theatre, Llanelli, Saturday, February 4.





Oh, what a night!
Ffwrnes Theatre was alive to the sounds of music from Frankie Valli and The Four Seasons on Saturday night.
Tribute act The Valli Boys rocked the packed house with classics from the Jersey Boys musical.
But the night wasn’t all about the Four Seasons.
Côr Meibion Llanelli and The Phil Harmonics chipped in with classics from Elvis Presley and Queen.
And the evening saw a Ffwrnes concert debut for Thomas Park, a 12 year-old pupil of Coedcae School, Llanelli, and the recent winner of the Llanelli Rotary Club Young Musician of the Year competition.
Thomas, originally from South Korea, but now living in Llanelli, provided a stunning example of his outstanding talent as a pianist with a faultless excerpt from Variations Brillantes by Frederic Chopin.
Make a note of the name: Thomas Park is a young man going places.
The evening was organised by the Chairman of Carmarthenshire County Council, Councillor Eryl Morgan, to support his chosen charities for his year of office.
Councillor Morgan is raising cash for the Ty Bryngwyn Hospice in Llanelli and for new Prostrate Cancer equipment for Prince Philip Hospital, Llanelli.
“It was a wonderful evening, full of outstanding talent. There was a wonderful silence for Thomas Park’s performance. It’s fair to say the audience were stunned by his performance and we were all in admiration at the young man’s talent.
“My grateful thanks go to all who took part on a memorable evening which will, hopefully, raise a substantial amount of money for my chosen charities.”
Côr Meibion Llanelli, under musical director Mr D Eifion Thomas and with accompanist Rhiannon Williams Hale, opened the evening with some traditional classics. Eleni, Anfonaf Angel (featuring soloist Anthony Bowen), Myfanwy (featuring Eifion Thomas), You’ll Never Walk Alone and Amen were all featured.
The Phil Harmonics – the Llanelli-based ladies choir directed by Phil Thomas – always put having fun front and centre of their performances and they didn’t disappoint, with a first half set which included Do Ron Ron, Lawr ar Lan y Mor, Jar of Hearts, Pan fo’r Nos yn Hir, Always on my Mind and All shook up.
The Valli Boys line-up was made up of George Tebbutt, Ricky Lee Lewis and Ben Thomas, who was fresh from his pantomime run in Ffwrnes.
They ran through the catalogue of classics from the Jersey Boys musical, including Oh, what a night, My eyes adored you and Sherry.
The Phil Harmonics, conducted with great energy by Sarah Mair Richards, wrapped up their night with a Stupid Cupid-Lipstick on your collar mash-up, Sosban Fach, Love me Like You, Calon Lan and Don’t Stop Me Now.
Côr Meibion Llanelli’s second-half set included a number of solo spots for choir stalwarts.
Founder member Byron Thomas was the featured soloist on Can’t Help Falling In Love. Ken Collins starred for Love Me Tender and David Williams was featured on Peace In The Valley. They finished with the Elvis classic Blue Suede Shoes before inviting The Valli Boys and The Phil Harmonics back on stage for a rousing finale of American Trilogy.
The compere for the evening was Robert Lloyd.
It was a night that will live long in the memory – primarily for the debut performance by pianist Thomas Park.

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