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It doesn’t seem a year since we were last at the Little Theatre with Red Hot and Cole. This revue style show depicting various episodes in the life of Cole Porter and set to his wonderful music, turned out to be a popular draw for our audiences. The preparations were not without their problems. Casting proved somewhat difficult and the leading man was not cast until 4 weeks before the show, but a vibrant cast, and the usual first rate direction from Joe McNulty and choreography from Elaine Johnson, combined with Jonathan Watts’ musical direction ensured that the standards were maintained. The presentation was slick and entertaining, and proved a huge nostalgia trip for our audiences. Excellent houses were the result and the production made a profit (a rarity these days).
After a short Christmas break, it was back to business in earnest in January this year, casting, and rehearsing Me and My Girl which we staged at the Princess Theatre in June. The show looked like getting off to a bad start when our long serving musical director, Jonathan Watts, had to withdraw due to personal reasons. However, we were lucky to have a very capable assistant MD, w aiting in the wings, and John Amery took over the mantle in brilliant style. Luckily that was the only problem encountered and rehearsals have been going with a swing and in great good humour. Me and My Girl is a popular draw at the box office, and despite the fact that both of the other local operatic societies have staged the show in the last 9 years, we managed to draw very good houses to the Princess Theatre. Despite costs of £43,000 another modest profit was the result and our Treasurer could sleep easily once more!!! It was wonderful to have our audiences roaring with laughter every night at the silly antics of Bill Snibson, brilliantly played by David Youll. Richard Clarke gave us his usual highly polished and professional production, aided and abetted by Wendy Jackson’s wonderful choregraphy and John Amery’s slick musical direction.
The produc tions are not the be all and end all of society life, and in March we staged a one-night charity concert at the Princess Theatre in association with our friends at Clear Channel Entertainment, the managers of the theatre. We have a very good working relationship with them and were only too pleased to provide the talents of our members once again. This year’s concert played to 350 patrons and raised £2500 for the NSPCC, Clear Channel’s pet charity.
The society fighting fund continues to provide the much-needed additional sources of funding, as the shows cannot always be relied upon to produce a profit. The latest event being a charity ghost night here at the Little Theatre. Did you know this building is meant to be haunted? Well, 8 of our younger members spent the night in the building 2 weeks ago, to raise funds, but also to try and spot ghosts with the aid of infra-red cameras and a live link up to the website. At the time of writing this article (prior to the evening the results are not known)
There are many social events through the year for the enjoyment of members, such as a Christmas Party, bbqs and various theatre and shopping trips. There was also the social event to beat all social events when in April this year, 27 members and friends took a Caribbean Cruise Holiday. Organised by our Treasurer, Elaine Gard, an avid cruiser, the intrepid 27 jetted off to Barbados, joined the P&O Cruise Liner Ocena and visited St Lucia, St Kitts, Tortola and Antiqua, before sailing back across the Atlantic to the Azores and on to Southampton. It was 14 days of fun and excitment! In 2006 Elaine is running 2 cruises. 10 members set off on August 4th for 16 nights on Aurora through the Med to Venice, and in October 15 or so members set sail on Oriana into the Med.
The 2005 AGM was attended by 45 members showing that they have a keen interest in the affairs of the society. There were no major changes to the committee. The Golden Toad Award was won by Lydia Dockray, one of our younger members, who has become a permanent fixture on our props team and has proved very talented at preparing the various props for our shows Lydia is now heavily involved in the local theatre scene and is fast making herself indispensable. The society remains a keen supporter of the National Operatic and Dramatic Association, and this year 15 members attended the SW Area Weekend at Bicton College, where various workshops and social events are held and there is the opportunity to “network” with like-minded people from across the southwest. The society has always had strong links with NODA and the current secretary Iain Douglas is the current NODA rep for this area.
On the hatches, matches and despatches front, we were sorry to hear of the death of Theo Pole, well known local thespian, whose wife Georgie, was at one time our wardrobe mistress. Member Karen Adderley gave birth to her second child, but things seem to have been rather quiet on these fronts.
The society remains rich in talent, with many younger and new members, which bodes well for the future. Many of these new members appear in the current production. Chorus Line is a real challenge, and rarely performed by amateurs, but TOADS are made of strong stuff, and new director Sarah O‘Connor has been working very hard on the production along with Elaine Johnson as Choreographer and John Amery as MD. The preparations have not been without their problems, but a talented cast will surely be more than ready to entertain on October 24th.
Please contact society secretary Iain Douglas on 01803 290371 for details of how to join TOADS SMC
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