THE songs just kept on coming when Studley Operatic Society performed this pre-centenary review in the intimate surroundings of Studley Village Hall.

Amazingly, they managed to perform more than 70 songs in about two hours in this fast-paced show.

However they had, over the past 99 years, put on so many productions, I suppose the real difficulty was in choosing which to leave out!

The show was presented in four different sections - spanning the classics, Gilbert and Sullivan, Operetta and Broadway - and it was an eye-opener to see how the fashions in productions have changed since 1906 when the society put on the (now collector's item) Merry Men of Sherwood.

It has to be said that much of it was completely unknown to me but the more senior members of the audience clearly enjoyed hearing pieces which are now rarely performed.

Songs from The Merry Widow were particularly well received and there was an amusing contribution by a pink bird puppet during Tit Willow from the Mikado which Lou Dilkes managed manfully to perform despite the laughter.

The Broadway pieces were enjoyed by all, with a particularly good Fiddler on the Roof section.

And the evening ended on a high with the presentation of the trophy for Best Show 2004 in the region for last year's spectacular The Scarlet Pimpernel.

LM