Coffee House 2010, excerpt from Feb.25 Voice Newsletter:
As usual, the evening walked the edge of spontaneity and casual informality.
The children are summoned in a seeming random way,McCombe MC-ing, up to the stage for the piece they may have honed for months, or they might have slapped together that day — and the really beautiful thing is that it is not always easy to tell which was which! Talent emerges under pressure for some, and there were so many moments of such exquisite loveliness it wouldtake a whole newsletter to recount them all. A few of the highlights for me: Chloe’s soaring adage to Scotland,The Bonnie Banks o’ Loch Lomond accompanied by her father was gorgeous – her voice is velvet. Nathan ,one arm in a cast, and his father, brought the house
down with Nathan’s rendition of K’Naan’s When I Get Older. The awe and love on Nathan’s dad’s face was
only trumped by Nathan’s one-armed delivery of “When I get older, I will be stronger….” The flag of freedom is alive and well at Alan Howard; the audience joined in the chorus and wouldn’t let it stop. Perfect! …
The Coffee House proved to be a highlight of the Alan
Howard calendar. Dance! Poetry! Humour! Nostalgia!
And talent to burn! …