We're pleased to present our poster for The Mikado. Once again we're grateful to Helen Selwood-Starr for her wonderfully creative work in pulling together yet another striking design!
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This year the Swindon G&S Committee are looking at producing an A4 programme for our next show ‘The Mikado’, with added content. We are looking for Individuals, companies, or other organizations to sponsor the programme in the form of an advert. Adverts will cost £25 quarter page, £50 half page and £80 full page. If you, or anyone you know, would be interested in this please get in touch with us via our contacts page.
Our good friends at Ramsbury have invited us back for an evening of Gilbert and Sullivan (what else!?!). At this concert we'll be singing all your favourites from the operettas plus some of our own favourites too. Come along for a great evening's entertainment!
We're pleased to be supporting this concert in memory of Gordon Crabbe. It's free, so why not come along for an evening of wonderful music!
We are pleased to announce that the Auditions for Mikado are now complete and the cast selected is as follows:-
The Mikado of Japan - Alan Fryer Nanki-Poo - Matthew McMurray Pooh-Bah - David Stephenson Pish-Tush - Jon Baron Ko-Ko - Stuart Benjamin Yum-Yum - Natalie Chequer Pitti-Sing - Jo Courage Peep-Bo - Chloe Starling Katisha - Sandra Burchell The panel were very impressed with the standard of auditions which made it particularly difficult to choose. As a result we would like to thank everybody for their efforts and hope to see you all for rehearsals for both concerts and show. - The Audition Committee Our very good friend Rachel Wright has sent us the following message: "Cirencester Operatic Society present an exciting new production of Gilbert & Sullivan’s Patience at The Barn Theatre, Beeches Road, 21st to 25th October (including a Saturday matinee). You all know Patience is a musical about love, desire, and pretension. Hilariously funny and bittersweet by turns, the songs have glorious melodies, and we include the Cirencester premiere of a lost number, cut in 1881. While remaining true to the spirit of Gilbert and Sullivan, the show is updated to the 1950s, allowing us to use some of our wonderful collection of vintage frocks and handbags! The society is excited to welcome some talented new performers for this production, joining some familiar faces. This includes Rob, Tom, Steph, John and David from Swindon. The cast on stage will be supported by an orchestra led by local musician Suzanne Barnes. The production has been conceived and directed by Simon Moss, who says: “Patience is as relevant today as when it was written. By updating the show the aim is to cast a fresh light on the satire, and make the piece more accessible to modern audiences. We are confident that those that already know Patience will enjoy the new twists, and we really hope to turn some younger people onto G&S.” So what are you waiting for? Tickets are available from the Cirencester Visitors Information Centre or from cirencesteroperaticsociety.ticketsource.co.uk" Earlier this year we reported the passing of former society President Gordon Crabbe. Gordon was very active in the Swindon music scene particularly in the Old Town Partnership of Churches. To commemorate the life of Gordon, and the 70 years he spent as a musician in Swindon, we are teaming up with Christ Church and Immanuel Church choirs for a celebratory concert.
The concert will take place at 7.00pm on Saturday 15th November at Christ Church in Old Town. The evening will also feature Gordon's son, Ian Crabbe, playing the organ. Our contribution will be: Eagle High (Utopia Ltd) When the buds are blossoming (Ruddigore) and Night has spread her pall once more (The Yeomen of the Guard) We extend an open invitation to any past members of the Swindon Gilbert & Sullivan Society who may have known Gordon to join us for this event. Rehearsals will take place on 21st, 28th, October, 5th, 12th, November. Please bring copies of the music (if you have them) and please contact us via our website contacts page to confirm that you're coming. For those who may be interested, other music for the concert includes... O thou the central orb (Wood) Alleluia chorus (Handel) Blessed be the God and Father (SS Wesley) Jubilate and Te Deum in B flat (Stanford) Magnificat and Nunc Dimitus in G (Sumsion) Plus a sung psalm ...which will be sung by the choirs, and a couple of congregational hymns which will be sung by everyone. Please join us – either singing or being part of the audience – for what promises to be a very special evening. Admission is free; there will be a retiring collection in aid of Leukaemia and Lymphoma Research. Auditions for The Mikado, our 2015 show (27th April – 2nd May) will take place on Tuesday 14th October at 7.00pm. If you ARE interested in auditioning and want to get ahead of the game, then the audition pieces are attached here as a delicately crafted .PDF file. You'll also see an audition form which can be filled in and brought along to our next rehearsal.
Watch this space for more details of audition timetable...
On Tuesday 9th September we will be holding our 46th Annual General Meeting and we would very much like to see as many members and Friends of the society there as possible. At the meeting we will be reviewing the past year and discussing plans for future years.
The AGM will take place at the Wroughton Workingmen’s Club, Devises Road, Wroughton SN4 0SA and commences at 7.30pm. Please note that any interested party may attend the meeting however, only fully paid up members can take part in any vote that may take place. The committee wish to make this an informative meeting, and will try to answer any questions/comments as fully as possible. We look forward to seeing you there! Ah! There you are! We hope you've had a lovely summer break. But as the slow-moving, corpulent, forgotten month of August begins to slip from our lazy grasp we turn our attention to that most forthright and overly-sensible month of September. A month of new schools, clean books, cut and combed hair, chillier starts... [This goes on for sometime - Ed.]
...Anyway you will be pleased to know that the first rehearsal for The Mikado is at 7.45pm on Tuesday 2nd September 2014 at Wroughton Workingmens’ Club. For those of you who don't know its on Devizes Road, Wroughton, SN4 0SA (to gain entry to the building press the button on the right hand wall and wait for high pitched whistle then pull the door to enter). This will be followed by The Swindon Gilbert and Sullivan Society AGM on Tuesday 9th September - it would be great to see a large turn-out for this. We make great efforts to keep the meeting short, unstuffy, and it gives you a voice in how your society is run. Thereafter rehearsals will continue as normal every Tuesday (or as 'normal' as they usually are...) until show-week. WE LOOK FORWARD TO SEEING YOU! |
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July 2023
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