The Deadly Pillows -
...Part II

With a slightly revised script and cast, "Harry Potter and the Deadly Pillows" was performed for a second time at the Tipsy Teapot in Selsey on 31st October. I am not saying that the performance space was small, but forty five paying guests crammed into a room no larger than a shoe box made the Havant Arts Centre seem positively palatial!

While Act One was met with interest, and Act Two with some vocal interaction and laughter, Act Three was almost a riot. The wine had kicked in by this point and all the performers (who had not touched a drop) manfully managed to carry on despite a lot of heckling.

Congratulations to all who took part and, of course, to Ian who wrote it. It was great fun and we get the benefit of a reduced bill for our costumes for Guys and Dolls. With most of the cast still learning their lines seconds before they went on, we have decided that the new name for the murder mystery company should be "By the Skin of the Teeth Productions"!

GUYS AND DOLLS

Come along and join us for our first show at the AIR CONDITIONED Park Community School Theatre. The show is on from 2nd to 5th June at 7.30pm and there is a matinee performance on Saturday 5th June at 2.30pm.
 

Click here for further details. To order your tickets, please contact Mike Powell on (023) 9283 8683 or print and complete this form:

Quiz Night

Join us at Horndean Junior School on Saturday 6th March for an evening of good food and great fun - our annual Quiz Night with Fish and Chip Supper! The fun starts at 7.30pm and there will be a fully licensed bar available. Tickets are £7.50 per person, which includes entry to the quiz and your fish and chip supper.

To book your tickets, please phone Ann on 01329 310849. It will be a great  night, so why not bring all your friends as well?

On a cold December evening, just before Christmas, a band of hardy souls descended on the RMA Tavern in darkest Eastney for a skittles evening, organised by Kaye and Nadine. To start with, we stood around taking in the warmth of the pub, not really wanting to venture out into the cold skittle alley but, encouraged by Kaye and Tony, we braved the cold and were rewarded with a marvellous buffet which had been laid on by the landlord Kevin.

The immediate thought was "let's eat and go home", but no, we were here to play skittles and play skittles we did. Divided into five teams, we each took turns to roll (or hurl, in some cases) the balls towards the skittles, ably assisted by Liz and Steve's sons Matthew and Olly, who risked life and limb at the business end of the alley setting the skittles up again.

For the record, John Dalby returned the highest aggregate men's score and Chris Cox the highest ladies score, but who's counting? Certainly not our Hon Sec, Ann, who went home with the metaphorical wooden spoon!

The team event was then followed by a round of "killer skittles" in which 28 participants, all having paid £1 to enter, played in a sudden death, miss and you're out, one ball at a time at however many skittles were standing after the previous player's go. The last man standing was Ray Hunt who won the pot, which he kindly donated to the society.

In between, the buffet turned out to be just as good as it looked and the pub's profits were raised considerably by our visits to the bar!

Thanks must go to Kaye for organising a truly splendid evening and also to Nadine who dedicated many hours to finding such a good venue and for providing most of the raffle prizes. The raffle raised approximately £80, contributing in no small way to a total profit for the evening of £141 for Society funds - not least the cost involved in putting on Guys and Dolls.

For all those who could not attend, you missed a very enjoyable evening

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Rent-a-Choir

So on the 4th July a small group of us attended the wedding of Joanne and Robin at St Margaret’s Church at Ifield, near Crawley, a beautiful 14th century church where Ian had sung as a boy chorister (ahhh!) The choir sang “The Lord is my Shepherd” (Howard Goodall) and “For the Beauty of the Earth” (John Rutter) and received a generous donation of £200 for the Society.

So if you know of anyone needing a choir for their wedding, speak to a committee member, and remember volunteers to swell the choir would be welcomed.

P.S. Rumour has it that somewhere there is a photo of Ian in his choirboy gear, looking too sweet for words. Your reporter will try and trace this historic document - no doubt a tasteful sepia print - for general publication!

Guys and Dolls Cast

The show has now been cast - click here to see the full cast list.

Retiring Members

The AGM also saw the retirement of our Treasurer of many years, Brian Youngman, and his wife Liz who has acted as ticket secretary for almost as many years. This year also saw Christine Cox, the longest standing member of the Society, relinquish her role as makeup co-ordinator. What will we do without Christine's calming influence before a show as she gently applies our makeup? We are pleased to say that Christine and Brian will continue to be part of the Society. We expressed our enormous appreciation to Liz, Brian and Christine for their hard work in the usual liquid and floral fashion.

Another Sad Farewell

Sadly, we bid farewell to another former member of Denmead Operatic Society - Rosemary Barbara Platt.

DATES FOR YOUR DIARY

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Denmead Operatic Society is a Registered Charity
No. 1021763

Theatrical Jottings

Want to read the latest interviews with people in the local world of amateur theatre? Why not take a look at Theatrical Jottings - a wade through the world of local theatre with Felix and Harry and freinds. Click here to read more.

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