In 2002 Peter Corry promised the audience that he could return to them on the Theatre Royal stage and he kept his promise with a show that was othen matter of fact in the opening half, but during the second half the old magic clicked in and he sat on the edge of the stage and sang into their hearts.
A splendid three-man band sat on stage – a very cold and very bare stage – as Peter Corry strolled out in a pin-striped suit and wine coloured open-necked shirt and reached out with Music Of The Night – Touch me, trust me … let the dream begin. It didn’t, with a curious choice of material featuring Isle Of Capri, Goodnight My Angel and a race-to-the-finish, Oh What A Circus. It’s as if he was testing the mood with jazzy songs and Europop classics.
Wexford singer, Maria Fitzgerald, join him for a slow achy yearning duet, How’s The World Treating You? And he shone with Nella Fantasia and September Song from The Fantastics. The guitarist Johnny Scott was wonderful on acoustic guitar.
In the second half, dressed in a shiny black suit, white shirt and shiny shoes, he impressed with Keeping The Dream Alive and a lovely A Nightingale Sang In Berkley Square. Maria Fitzgerald sang Over The Rainbow and they duetted on the Dion/Bocelli hit, The Prayer.
Sitting on the edge of the stage, he dedicated You’re My Friend to Mary White and his Edelweiss got the gentle sing-along going. From there on it was the dream alive and wonderful. You Raise Me Up slipped into a happy sing-along King Of The Road, a poignant Carrickfergus and a glorious, The Journey Home from Bombay Dreams.
He was on a roll as he reminisced about first coming to the Opera Festival in Peter Kennedy’s show The Joy Of Living. His Stars from Les Miserables was stunning and he encored with a powerful Bring Him Home.
