NEWSLETTER 7 - FEBRUARY 2003

Welcome to the latest edition of our Society newsletter. Whilst this is an unusually quiet period for most members of the Society, quite a lot has been going on behind the scenes, with a number of committee and sub-committee meetings being held to discuss various aspects of Society business.

There is quite a lot of important information in this issue regarding our next and future shows, Society membership, social events and other important dates.

We’re sure you will find this newsletter informative. The committee certainly see it as an important way of keeping all our members and friends informed about Society affairs.

As always, if there is something you would like to contribute to future editions, please let us know.

Membership Sub-Committee Meeting

Our Membership Manager, Alison Adams, recently chaired a meeting of the Membership sub-committee.

The objectives of the meeting were to look at three main areas:

1. The use of people on stage, including the number of people, auditions, and addressing concerns about how much people should be ‘used’ in a particular production.
2. Looking after our members’ interests, including keeping them informed about events, encouraging them to continue being a member even if they’re not in the current show, and making them feel that they are getting ‘value’ from being a member of the Society.
3. Membership Fees and Weekly Show Fees.

Recommendations from this meeting were then presented to the main committee, who voted to adopt some of the proposals. These are detailed below.

Accommodating Everybody on Stage

It is always our aim to welcome new people to the Society. New members are the future of any group, and we want to continue to be seen as the ‘friendly society’.

However, as most of you know, we already have some problems accommodating all those who wish to be in a particular show on stage at any one time. This is compounded by the small size of the Palace Theatre stage.

This is a huge dilemma for the committee. The more people in the show, the more tickets we will sell and the more we will thrive. But how do we balance this against the difficulties of finding stage space for such large numbers?

One solution, taken by some other Societies, would be to audition everybody who wanted to be in a show - even the chorus.

We have decided we don’t want to take this step at this point in time, although we can see some of the benefits. Smaller numbers on stage mean less of a headache for the production team, and make the stage look less cramped from an audience viewpoint. Furthermore, people who have auditioned for a part in the company are more likely to value their place in the show, and not just take it for granted. It might even make certain people question their own records on attendance, punctuality, ticket sales and commitment to the Society.

In the recent past, our production teams have done their utmost to use large numbers of chorus members, even when the show doesn’t really call for them. In the case of Guys And Dolls, which isn’t really written for a large female chorus, Bev and Val bent over backwards to come up with ways of including everybody in the action. Despite these attempts, they were still criticised by certain people who clearly felt they ‘deserved’ to be seen more than they were. The committee will no longer allow such criticisms of our hard working production teams.

Therefore, whilst trying to accommodate everybody who wishes to be in a show, we also need a mechanism where the production team can use limited numbers, or groups, of people in certain songs or scenes without criticism.

We believe the fairest way we can achieve this is to introduce the concept of a two-tier chorus system.

This means that, where the producer sees fit, the chorus may be split into two, for example Chorus A and Chorus B, where Chorus A may be involved in more songs, dances or scenes than Chorus B, who will still be utilised but in a lesser capacity, such as the major numbers only.

Furthermore, there will be auditions for people wishing to be part of Chorus A, although it is expected that attendance, attitude and commitment to the Society will be taken into account, as well as talent when awarding places.

This does not mean that Chorus B members are unimportant or will not play a valuable role in the show.

Right from the start the production team will ensure that it is clear how and when the two choruses will be used. On hearing this information, some people may be happy to be in Chorus B. Not everybody will want to audition, or will want to be part of a more ‘active’ chorus that may include more dance or movement.

However, everybody is welcome to audition for Chorus A, regardless of their age, sex, ability or the time they have been a member. Chorus A membership certainly isn’t automatically reserved for the ‘young’, and will be based on criteria laid down by the production team at the start of main rehearsals.

The introduction of this concept has some impact on the first few rehearsals for Carousel.

Rehearsal Dates

Firstly, we will be holding the Carousel Social Night, which we hope everybody will attend.
We would like to see existing members, newcomers, and even those who may not want to be in Carousel at all. There will be drinks and nibbles available, and we will hear from the producers their ideas about the show.

This social evening is arranged for Tuesday 8 April at 7.30pm at Community House, Easemore Road.

New Members Auditions

The following week, on Tuesday 15 April, we will be holding auditions for all the newcomers to the Society. Further information about the auditions will be given to them at the Social Night.

Principal Auditions

Quite often in the past we have gone through the first few weeks of music rehearsals only to find that, once the principal roles have been cast, a lot of the music has to be re-learned or reorganised and changes have to be made to cater for the removal of those gaining principal parts from the chorus.

Therefore, the committee have decided to hold the principal auditions before the main company rehearsals start.

This has the advantage to the production team of knowing from the outset who is taking the principal roles. Our Musical Director can also use the actual performers, where necessary, when principal characters sing parts of company numbers.

The principal auditions will take place on Tuesday 6 May, again at Community House.

All members, new and old, may audition for a principal role. Audition pieces will be available for everybody to take away at the Carousel Social Night.

As a courtesy, it has been decided that the results of the auditions will be send via the post to everybody who has auditioned. This will remove the need to telephone one of the audition panel to find out if you have been successful or not.

Any queries or complaints about the auditions must be put in writing to the committee, and they will be answered. The questioning of specific members of the production team and/or audition panel that has occurred too often in the past will no longer be tolerated.

Full Rehearsals Start

Finally, on Tuesday 13 May at 7.30pm we have the first full company rehearsal for Carousel.
By this date we will not only have the principal roles cast, but will know how many new members of the Society are joining us.

On this day, details of the involvement for Choruses A and B will be presented, together with information about the auditions for those wanting to be in Chorus A.

Librettos and/or Scores for the show will also be allocated on this day.

Rehearsal Period

Rehearsals will run on Tuesday evenings from 13 May through to November, although we intend to have a break from rehearsals during August this year. The exact dates of the summer closure will be announced in the future.

Thursday rehearsals will begin for principals some time in May, although no specific date has yet been set.

Being a Member of the Society

We value all members of the Society equally, whether they are involved in the current production or not.

We have recently made great strides, particularly with the use of this newsletter, to ensure that members who are not in the show are kept abreast of Society activities and events. This will continue.

However, we really want everybody to value their membership of the Society, and equally want to encourage them to renew their membership each year.

Therefore, we intend to list all our members names in the show programme, and to provide a free programme for those members who are not in the show. In addition, we intend to introduce recognition awards at the AGM, where members will be rewarded for things like ticket sales, attendance, contributions to the Society, and so on.

Don’t forget, too, that every year you remain a member of the Society counts towards your NODA Long Service awards, which are presented each year at the AGM. Membership years count towards your NODA award whether you are actually in a show or not. The awards are given for every five years service after your first ten.

Membership Fees

For 2003, the membership fees will be as follows:

• £8 for Full Membership.
• £4 for Concessionary Membership, for senior citizens, young people and low waged.
• Free for Life Members.

Note that we would like to encourage our Life Members to take their two free tickets to our show on the cheaper performances, such as the Tuesday Evening and Saturday Matinee. Your co-operation in this would be appreciated.

Show Fees

There is a weekly fee payable by everybody who is in the current production. This will continue to be collected at the ‘door’ prior to rehearsals, although it may be paid in advance, as always

For 2003 this is being set at £1 for everybody, which will now include a free drink and biscuit during the interval. These fees are not payable when the Society does not call a rehearsal.
We realise that this means a small rise for those previously paying 50p, but we hope that the inclusion of the refreshments will temper this.

We hope, too, that everybody recognises that £1 a week is very little to pay to enjoy their hobby, and remind everybody that the weekly fee is another way of spreading what would otherwise be a much larger annual membership fee over the weeks.

Carousel Dates and Ticket Prices

The dates for the show have been set. Carousel will be performed at the Palace Theatre in Redditch from Tuesday 18 to Saturday 22 November 2003, at 7.30pm each evening with a Saturday Matinee on 22 November at 2.30pm.

Ticket prices will be kept at the levels for Guys And Dolls, with no increase. These are:

• Tuesday, all tickets £8.00
• Wednesday and Thursday, £9.00 and £8.50
• Friday and Saturday, £9.50 and £9.00
• Saturday Matinee, all tickets £7.50

Guys And Dolls News

What an excellent show it turned out to be!

Huge thanks go to everybody involved in the production, on-stage, back-stage, in the orchestra pit and front of house. Particular thanks go to our production team of Bev, Norma, Val and Diane and to our rehearsal pianist, Pauline.

Reviews were generally excellent, as was the word-of-mouth from our audience members.

Box Office numbers were slightly down from 2001’s Pirates of Penzance, but were very good nevertheless. We sold 1783 seats in total, which equates to a 75.2% fill (Pirates was 78.1%).
Even more welcome is the news that, despite having the largest budget of any show we have ever done, provisional figures show a small profit on the show. This is wonderful, although, of course, we should be aiming to make a profit on every show that we perform!

Well done to everybody involved.

Gift Aid Declaration

Accompanying this newsletter is a Gift Aid Declaration form from the Inland Revenue. This form will allow the Society to claim tax back at 28p for every pound that you give, or have given, to the Society since 6 April 2000.

We hope that every one of you who is a taxpayer is happy to complete this form, and return it to Pearl Taylor, our treasurer, or another committee member when you next see them.

It will not cost you a penny to complete, and has no impact on you, other than allowing your Society to get more money from the Inland Revenue for subscriptions and donations that are made.

Please make a point of doing this, since it will benefit the Society nicely. If you need further copies of the form, please photocopy it.

Social Events

Those of you expecting a karaoke evening on or around Valentine’s Day may have noticed that there wasn’t one!

The committee decided that it would be best to wait until rehearsals had started before organising this evening. This will give us a far better opportunity to sell tickets and promote the event.

The Karaoke Evening will now be held on Saturday 7 June at Cookhill Village Hall. It is open to friends, family, including our friends from Astwood Bank and Studley Operatic Societies. The more the merrier!

Everyone who has attended before knows what a great night it is. There will be a bar and plenty to eat. And just in case you were wondering, no, you don’t have to get up and sing!

Put it in your diaries now!

Future Shows

The exact dates that the Palace Theatre will be closed are still uncertain. However, we still expect it to be closed over our usual November slot in 2004.

We have decided, however, that we will be doing a Spring Concert Tour in 2004. The theme and content of this has not been decided yet, so please pass any ideas or suggestions to Tony Jay, who has agreed to organise the tour as in the past.

Deciding what to perform for our next major show(s) is always a difficult decision. Your committee have to consider all sorts of things, such as is it feasible? Is it suitable? Is it available? Is it sellable?

To help the committee make this decision a sub-committee made up of Tony Lacey, Norma Kift, Bev Hatton, Diane Williams and Julian Wilson were asked to look at a wide range of shows that were initially suggested to them.

They had a hard task, and set themselves some criteria in order to help them produce a shortlist of suitable shows:

Firstly, it should preferably be a show that we had not done before. Secondly, there should be as much chorus material as possible. Thirdly, the opportunity for lots of smaller speaking roles. And fourthly, the show was to have a ‘wow factor’ - something that would excite both us and our audiences.

With this in mind, the sub-committee set about whittling a list of around 16 shows down to a final handful of suggestions that they brought back to the main committee.

42nd Street

We are delighted to announce that our next major production will be the fabulous 42nd Street.
For those of you who don’t know this show, it has lots of chorus work and many famous songs. It will certainly be a box office winner.

It will be challenging, but it will be a great deal of fun. And no, the cast isn’t only made up of youngsters who can tap dance! It will be a great show for anybody to be in.

Whether this is our 2004 or 2005 production depends on whether the theatre is available or if we can find a suitable alternative.

If we don’t find a suitable theatrical location for Autumn 2004, then we will organise another event, or tour, or other performance in its place to keep us fully occupied.

And for our next trick...

Singing In The Rain

A show with 25 speaking parts, an excellent hilarious script, many well known songs and... well...rain!

The technicalities of it would certainly be a challenge, but this show has been available for amateur societies for a while, and has been performed successfully on stages similar in size to the Palace Theatre before.

Again, this show seems to fulfil the main criteria that the sub-committee were looking for, and will be another crowd pleaser.

Finally, we still haven’t given up our interest in Barnum. This is still a show we would like to consider for some time in the future, but we don’t want to commit ourselves too far ahead at the moment.

Many thanks must go to Tony, Norma, Bev and Diane who really got to grips with their difficult task, and made the committee’s job of deciding which shows to go for much easier due to the quality of the information they had presented.

Web Site Updated

Photographs, details and reviews for Guys And Dolls are now available for the world to see on this web site. Details of Carousel can be found there, too, along with a new on-line booking form.

We have already had a lot of praise for the web site, and get quite a few visitors, but still tell all your friends about it!

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