Dancing Queen; The Piano Men; Pop Royalty - An Oriana Hit-Trick

If you weren’t at Matthew Flinders Performance Centre on Sunday, March 22; or at The J in Noosa on Saturday, March 28; then you missed out on something that was really, well … Something! For, on those dates, the Coast’s own acclaimed, accomplished and excellent Oriana Choir presented Pop Royalty.

Following the runaway success of the past 2 years’ Dancing Queen, showcasing the music of ABBA and Queen; and The Piano Men, celebrating the glories of Elton John and Billy Joel, Pop Royalty paid tribute to some of the greatest popular songs of the past 75 years, immortalised by some of the pre-eminent members of pop(ular) music’s own ‘royal family.’

The sobriquets of some of the featured artists tell the story: Elvis, ‘The King’; Aretha Franklin, ‘Queen of Soul’; Nat ‘King’ Cole; Michael Jackson, ‘The King of Pop’; (The Artist Formerly Known As) Prince; John Farnham, Australia’s own ‘King of Pop’; Lady Gaga; and many others, whose genuinely iconic stature merits their inclusion in Pop Royalty. Names like Bob Dylan, Olivia Newton-John, Taylor Swift, Eric Clapton, Tina Turner, Helen Reddy, and many more, gave us songs that expressed the gamut of human emotion, from joy to despair, compassion, love lost and won, and the sheer love of life.

Accompanied by a superb seven-piece band, led by keyboard virtuoso Scott Gaedtke; with guest appearances by the Sunshine Coast Youth Choir; marvellous choral arrangements of many treasured pop songs, interspersed with uniformly excellent solo performances by individual choir members; and all under the simply superb direction of the delightful and multi-talented Elisabeth Wallis Gaedtke – Pop Royalty was, from beginning to end, an exhilarating experience, a delight for the ears, the eyes and the emotions. Lighting, staging, costuming and choreography all contributed to the quality of the show, which was, in a word, fabulous.

Everyone on the stage performed with enthusiasm and passion. The company looked and sounded as if they were thoroughly enjoying themselves, and that communicated to their audiences, who responded in kind. There were so many standout moments that it’s difficult to single any out. But if push comes to shove, then mention must be made of the final songs of each half of the show.

Part One concluded with a truly thrilling and uplifting choral delivery of John Farnham’s magnificent signature “You’re the Voice”, featuring, to the great surprise and delight of the audience, piper Craig Ellis. The moment when the band stopped playing and the choir sang the chorus a cappella was hair-raising. And speaking of thrilling – the finale was a visually and aurally stunning performance of Michael Jackson’s classic, “Thriller.” Featuring terrific choreography and costuming, and including members of the Youth Choir, this spectacle was an entirely fitting conclusion to what was a marvellous two hours of entertainment.

Pop Royalty was the latest of many highlights in Oriana Choir’s storied career to date. How privileged we are to have such superb, professional-standard productions being presented by our own local people!

Rehearsals will soon begin for Oriana’s next project, An Oriana Songbook. Keep an eye on their website, oriana.org.au, for details.  

Ian Rix

April 3, 2026.

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