By JOHN FARNWORTH
For The Register-Guard

THE CONCERT program "20th Century America in Review" had its second annual performance Sunday before a sold-out Soreng Theatre audience.

Diane Retallack, artistic director and conductor of the professional Eugene Vocal Arts Ensemble and the amateur Eugene Concert Choir, provided 2 1/2 hours of enthusiastic music-making that resonated with an audience seemingly determined to like what they heard and saw.

The program encompassed more than 40 selections, representing the historical, psychological, political and nationalistic evolutions of the United States over the past 100 years.

The entertainment was presented both aurally and visually. The visual effects were consistently beguiling, the aural ones, less so.

The choirs made a stunning sight on stage. The front row women in the smaller, professional group were dressed in attractive, electric blue gowns and were backed by their male colleagues and the almost 100-voice amateur group, all in black dresses and tuxedos.

They were flanked by seven truly excellent instrumentalists who turned in such exemplary performance that they all must be mentioned: Vicki Brabham and Melvina Bartels, piano; Tim Clarke, trumpet; Alan Tarpinian, drums; Tim Black, saxophone; John Vavrek, guitar; and Mark Schneider, bass.

As the music progressed from the turn of the (last) century, with such favorite old chestnuts as "Take Me Out to the Ballgame," to the end of the 20th century, with Michael Jackson and Lionel Ritchie's "We Are the World," the audience was invited to join in singing some of the easier and more popular selections.

It did so with gusto and enthusiasm.

Visual effects included choristers' hats appropriate to the song being sung, plus a good deal of body language such as swaying, clowning and dancing - all very amusing and entertaining.

The Soreng Theatre's acoustics are not the best in the West, and certainly some of the choir's lack of projection can be blamed on this. However, the singers did project well in a handful of the popular pieces, proving that it could be done.

Notable in this respect were "We're Off to See the Wizard," "Swing Low, Swing Down" and, best of all, "Elijah Rock" by Moses Hogan.

In other pieces, however, projection was weak, entrances were timid and ragged, and enunciation was fuzzy.

Perhaps the least effective performances came in the two selections from Leonard Bernstein's "West Side Story" and in Irving Berlin's "Give Me Your Tired, Your Poor."

The absolute highlight was David Lomond's impersonation of Elvis Presley in a medley of Elvis favorites. "Jailhouse Rock," "Hound Dog" and "Blue Suede Shoes" were delivered with panache and accuracy (of sound and movement) that would have delighted the King himself.

Screaming and swooning like members of the Elvis Fan Club, the female members of the choirs obviously were thoroughly enjoying Lomond's performance. Terrific stuff!

All in all, then, this was a fun-filled program that afforded the audience much pleasure and amusement. There were some remarkable performances and some less so, but the audience loved it all.

And that, after all, is what entertainment is all about.

John Farnworth reviews classical music for The Register-Guard.

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