Tall Stories,, The Libary Theatre, Manchester

TALL Stories by "The Shout" choir failed to reach our high expectations.

This "musical theatre experience" was billed as charting the experiences of immigrants to New York in the first half of the 20th century, from the holds of the ships to the heights of the Manhattan skyscrapers they built.

A promising opening sequence had the new arrivals singing their personal stories holding grainy black and white photographs showing their real life characters.

As they grappled to learn the new language and deal with the thought of loved ones they had left behind, the parallel with the current refugee debate was thought provoking.

The singing was faultless and there were some striking solos, from folk to jazz, portraying the array of different cultures added to New York by their arrival.

But a sequence with an Italian immigrant singing about pizza lacked subtlety and there was a tendency to hammer home excessively the inter-racial theme.

The sparse wooden scenery was a series of ladders with windows inside, perhaps representing a window of opportunity, which were winched up by ropes to depict the building of skyscrapers.

But the production failed to fully develop the experiences of the refugees as they settled into their new life, instead returning to sections from earlier songs.

The Shout aims to break the boundaries of traditional choirs, and for this it deserves its accolade as "Time Out Classical Artist of the Year".

The majority of the audience were enraptured, proving the production's point that it would be a dull world if everyone was the same.

CLARISSA SATCHELL