Edgar Gallimore, in his usual theatrical manner, narrated his concert, dubbed 'Lives Of Me', which was held on Thursday to mark his birthday.

Tesi Johnson, Gleaner Writer

"You're now a sexagenarian!" declared Edgar Gallimore's long-time friend Fae Ellington, when she spoke at his birthday celebratory concert dubbed 'Lives of Me', held on Thursday evening at the Courtleigh Auditorium, St. Lucia Avenue, New Kingston.

She proceeded to raise a toast, an actual piece of toasted bread, in honour of the man of the hour, before ushering on the remainder of the theatrics and performances that comprised a lengthy but intriguing show.

As expected, it was a grand affair, a grand black and white affair actually, where guests dressed in black, white or combinations thereof, to celebrate with 'Ed' and enjoy an evening of some of Jamaica's best in dance, music and theatre. In his role as narrator, Ed set the pace for the show, appropriately injecting the suited performances to complement the tales he told.

The noted soliloquy

As such, Karl Williams performed the noted soliloquy 'To be or not to be' from William Shakespeare's Hamlet, one of Ed's favourite of Shakespeare's works; there was a selection of pieces intended to depict the 'Jonkanoo era', when the Jonkanoo Lounge was the place to see and be seen, and Ed's then favourite scene; and Sabrina Williams sang her rendition of 'Wind beneath my wings' in memory of Ed's late wife Jackie.

Also among the more outstanding performances was Neila Ebanks' dance 'The only constant,' which took the audience on a journey through life, culminating with the only constant, death; Karl Williams soliloquy from William Shakespeare's Hamlet, 'To be or not to be'; and Starr Jackson's fire dance. Many others graced the stage, including Dance Theatre Xaymaca, Chevaughn Clayton, Christine Fisher, Rafael Salizar and Nicholas Laraque, Pat Gooden, Jason Jones, John McFarlane, Christine Virgo, Harold Davis, Kingsley 'Ragashanti' Stewart, pianist Dennis Rushton, the Bridgeport Dance Ensemble, ET Webster, Ossie D and Stevie G, Michael Harris, Rev. John E. Scott, and of course the Fabulous 5.