T.C.O.S

But for the building work at the Little Theatre, last night would have been our opening night.  As it is, we have the luxury of another week, which last night we took great advantage of.

On location at the Marine Hall (as a result of the new floor being laid this week), I hoped to run the show in it’s entirety and fully expected it to be a stop/start night as entrances and exits would need to be tidied up.  However, it was nothing like that and the show rattled along at a frantic pace with entrances and exits causing no problems at all on the whole. 

It was emphasised at the start how much more room we had at our disposal as opposed to the space used in rehearsals and the extra space was utilised well – mainly by the application of common sense (if there’s a big space….fill it!) and occasionally from either myself or Kathryn pointing frantically to whoever needed to move slightly left, right or forward.  This tended to cause confusion to the poor people on the front and on one occasion, a kneeling Janine was up and down like a fiddlers elbow as we tried to get Little Mike to stand on the top step of the rostra!

The first half came to a close with “Wings Of A Dove” which still needs more welly from everyone.  It didn’t help that the men didn’t go onto the rostra for the “Allelujah’s” and we are going to start with this on Thursday to get it sorted.

The second half started and it has to be said I was a little apprehensive about how “Love Changes Everything” would be.  After last Thursday’s terrible effort of the song, I had been going through the words to it in my head constantly and so, it would appear, had everyone else as it was 100 times better and will now be a worthy opener to Act 2.

The rest of the act followed suit and went with no major hitches until I took to the stage and made a right dogs dinner of “Millionaire”.  Unfortunately, several people followed me, so it too made it’s way onto the “to sort on Thursday” list!  We still haven’t got the ending right on that, which a grumpy David reminded us at the end as he bemoaned the fact it was 10.15, the bar wasn’t open and we were now encroaching on his drinking time so we should just get on with it!!  (Ooooooooooooh! Was the general consensus from the floor).

We sorted out the final positions and the bows before the rehearsal ended with my notes.

Overall, I was delighted with the rehearsal and there were definite signs that the show will be a good one. 

We have one more rehearsal on Thursday (Anchorsholme School at 8pm) and then a dress/technical on Sunday (Marine Hall 1pm).

This will be my last diary for this show so, as always, I thank you for reading and hope you have enjoyed my recollection of events since November!

I would also like to thank each member of the company for your hard work during the rehearsal period and wish you all the best for next week.  You have done the hard bit and should now enjoy the week and enjoy the plaudits that will come your way!

Cheers

Richard

We have reached the stage of the rehearsal period where the diary entries are really difficult to write due to the fact that the show is running very smoothly so nothing of any real note is happening that isn’t picked up on during the course of the night or during the notes at the end.

Last night was no different as we ran through the show once again.  Apart from a messy positional change in “Everything’s Coming Up Roses”, the opening numbers were pretty slick.  The messy bit was tidied up at the end and was put down as being all Tommy’s fault!!

The rest of the half runs itself pretty much and so it wasn’t long before coffee time.

Alison asked everyone to give the Monday night an extra push as tickets are fairly low for that night.  It’s not a night we traditionally perform on so we need to work a bit harder to get them in. The society always makes a donation to charity by giving the proceeds of the Friday night raffle.  As we are not performing on a Friday this time, we have decided to donate Monday’s takings and the charity is “William’s Wish”.  An article will hopefully be going in the Gazette about this and this will hopefully generate a bit more interest for the opening night as supporters of the charity may attend – that’s the theory anyhow!

We carried on with the show and worked through to the end of the show with no problems at all – apart from “Love Changes Everything” which was naff. 

I purposely sat and watched last night, initially to go through technical cues with Alison – although she disappeared to talk to Chris Andrews for the second half, but also to see it from an audience perspective and the one thing that is noticeable and which I have mentioned many times is faces!  In some of the songs certain people look so bored it’s untrue.  Even David hollered out “Smile” on more than one occasion.  I know you will do it on the night, but we need to be doing it now!  It makes such a difference and it automatically gets the audience on your side.  Audiences love to see people enjoying themselves and you have all worked so hard that you should enjoy it. I have no doubts that the show will be very well received and you all now need to share that faith and just go for it!

Thursday is an 8.15 start and with Kathryn and the full compliment of dancers back, we will run the whole show.

Before I sign off, thanks to Eve and Joanna who came in over the weekend (with Andrew) to set “Can’t Take My Eyes Off You”. The routine looked really good last night.

See you all on Thursday – I probably won’t do a diary on Friday so remember, next Tuesday’s rehearsal is at The Marine Hall with a 7.30 start and we will be concentrating on positions and entrances/ exits.

Keep up the good work.

Cheers

Richard

The plan for the night was to run through the whole show from start to finish with no stops.  In the absence of Kathryn and most of the dancers, we omitted their numbers which meant we would have time to tidy up any messy bits at the end.The opening two numbers are not too bad and we went through them both again at the end a couple of times.  The actions just need to be sharper and bigger.This was the common grievance throughout the run through as we plodded from one song to another.  The whole thing needs lifting a couple of levels and when we walk to a new position, we need to be certain of where we are going and walk there with some meaning. Several times last night one or two were wandering around the stage when we were well into the song, still uncertain of where they should be standing.  We spent a lot of time the other week sorting these positions and the majority did as I asked and made a note – it was evident last night who didn’t do this!!! We were also left wanting for words in certain songs and this again affected the singing.  It’s fair to say we were hampered a little by Malcolm on his keyboard who gave the occasional (and it has to be said) overpowering blurt that seemed to put us off a little bit.  I’ll check it on Thursday to see if it has a volume button!!!

The second half was ok although we had timing issues at the end of “Colours Of My Life” which we looked at later in the night.  “Who Wants To Be A Millionaire” was a disaster so we ended up starting it again. The first time we did it, I didn’t even recognise it from the intro.  David played “Come Fly With Me” at a right old pace which had us in Acapulco Bay way before we should have been!  The final 2 numbers were pretty good and had a bit of life in them which we need to put into the rest of the show.

Overall, it was a decent effort for a first run through.  The purpose was to prove to each of us exactly what we need to work on individually and I think we will all have gone home knowing what we need to look at before Thursday.

As I said in the notes at the end of the rehearsal, we need to be more confident in what we are doing and use our faces a lot more to give the songs some life.  The only way this will happen though is when everyone is on the money with their words.  At the moment there are still too many fishing for their words. You know who you are and what you need to do!

We will start with Act 2 on Thursday and we start at 7.30 prompt!

Thanks for your hard work – keep it up.

Cheers Richard

Tonight was all about tidying up the singing – re-affirming the harmonies and introducing the required “light and shade” that will make all the difference come show week.

We started with “Everything’s Coming Up Roses” and David soon stamped his authority on the evening as he urged the ladies to be sure of when they come in.  We also decided to change the end of this song as the four repeats at the end of the song bring it to a bit of a dour climax.  This will affect the movement slightly but nothing we can’t cope with!

We then moved onto act 2 as this is where many of the harmony songs are.  Starting with “Love Changes Everything”, we sang through, then recapped and raised the volume on the last verse to bring it to a dramatic end.  This was the story of the night as each song was revamped.  “Both Sides Now” and “Impossible Dream” benefiting from the work we put into them, the latter slowing down slightly to change the whole impact of the song.

We ploughed through to the break where we then changed into costume for the official team photo for the programme.  Once more, Jean and Christine have worked wonders making the costumes out of some re-cycled dresses and some old school ties!!

We got back to work and sorted a new ending to “Who Wants To Be A Millionaire” and worked on the timing of the medley before moving onto Act 1.  David appealed for us to remember the splits in “Cabaret” and to keep the notes long and fluent in “I Won’t Send Roses”.  “Honey, Honey” still needs a bit more from the girls to bring it to life and you need to remember to sing at the relevant bit in “Just Arrived” (although it was pointed out that you would remember when we do it as you walk on stage just before!!).  “On The Street…” saw the men receive a grilling form David – “It’s not a solo in this show so you need to control your crooning”.  He then had us singing it unaccompanied while he conducted and it was much better.  We need to remember this and spend time going through it outside whilst the show is running next week.  We finished with “Wings Of A Dove” which, if I’m honest wasn’t great but I put that down to the fact it was the end of the night and voices were tired after putting in a good shift.

It sounded really good last night so we now need to carry that into next week when we start running the show.  Thursday will see us tidy up the routines and get them slick and we will also sort out the duets and group songs.

Thanks to you all once more for an excellent rehearsal and see you all ready to start at 8pm on Thursday.

Cheers Richard

The plan for the night was to block as much of Act 2 as possible and as many of the songs only require us to stand and concentrate on the words and harmony, I was secretly hopeful that we would manage to block everything.The ladies were handed strips of ribbon in various colours and this would reflect the colour of their tops for the second half and proved to be very beneficial as Kathryn was sorting out positions.We concentrated on the company songs with a view that the solo’s will link in. We sang through each song, accompanied as ever by David and assisted by Malcolm who fiddled on his organ throughout the night!! Words were allowed and everyone was actively encouraged to mark down their positions for future reference.  The majority appeared to do this and Danny – looking resplendent in rainbow braces made it clear that he had everything in control in his head which he likened to a computer!  The proof will be in the pudding for all on Thursday when we run Act 2!!

As I said earlier, many of the songs in Act 2 are slow ones that require no movement so as hoped, we really rattled through and were well on track when we broke for a quick brew. Alison mentioned tickets and posters and also gave a reminder that there are still some subs and show fees outstanding so please cough up!!!

Nobody had a birthday so we got back to work and eventually got to “Who Wants To Be A Millionaire” by which point many of the girls got a bit of a shock to find that they are in it.  Initially it was down to be a duet but as no-one auditioned I decided to make it a company number.  This required a bit of movement but nothing we couldn’t handle and before long we were at the end of the act. The initial final song was replaced for a medley from “My Fair Lady” so we had a couple of sings through that before calling it a night.

We will run the whole of Act 2 on Thursday – including solos so once again, the plea is to look through the words and remember your positions.

Thanks to you all for a really good night’s work and see you on Thursday for more of the same.

Cheers Richard

At 7.30 there was a remarkably low number of the company in the hall which at this stage is a little disappointing.  Please do all you can to be there and ready to start at 7.30 as time is precious to us!!

It was a night for visitors and we were joined by Geoff & Jane from the start.  Lisa and Jenny also made a welcome appearance (and ended up stepping in to be bodies for the absentees).  We were also joined by Karen Barker and it was good to see her looking so well.

As agreed last Thursday, we started by re-capping “Love Makes…..” and “I Don’t Need…..”.  This proved a bit tricky initially due to the low numbers at the start however we persevered.  Due to Andy F and Gail having to drop out of the show, Kathryn had to reposition quite a bit of each routine and this took quite a while as cast members ambled in up to 8pm.  It was time we needed to spend though and the appeal now is for everyone to remember the changes.  Write the positions down next to the words so that when you are looking through the words the moves and positions are there to learn alongside.

Once these 2 were done, we continued to block Act 1. The ladies were positioned for “I Don’t Know How To Love Him” and that took us to the break.  Alison told everyone that the posters were here and everyone was encouraged to distribute them wherever they can.  We also sang Happy birthday to Christine form Wardrobe.

After the break the ladies sang “I Don’t Know…..” and Kim and Anne sang “I Know Him So Well” and this took us to “Honey Honey”.  The girls sang through it and Kathryn asked for it to be faster – much to David’s displeasure as David once more vented his hatred for the “modern” pop song!!  The men took advantage of the time and went into the other room to go through “Is You Is” which, although unaccompanied sounded good – although it had to be pointed out that it needs to be sung much softer initially and not belted out …(cough ,cough Danny!).  A new ending to “Honey Honey” was established and the men were positioned for “Street Where You Live” before we ended with “Wings Of A Dove”.

And so, Act 1 is now fully set and the plan for Thursday is to have a go at running it from the start.

Much of the second half is stand and sing so shouldn’t take too long to sort out.

Thanks again for another excellent rehearsal.  The show is making good progress but we now need to take responsibility and learn the words and just give each routine that little bit more each time we do it.

See you on Thursday – 8pm start.

Cheers

Richard

Apologies for the lateness of this weeks diary.  Believe it or not, it has been a bit hectic at work so I’ve not had chance to get anything done till Friday pm!!!

For that reason, I’m afraid you will have to settle for a combined version of events relating to both rehearsals.

On Tuesday we started from the top of the show by blocking “Everything’s Coming Up Roses”.  We sang through it before Kathryn began the unenviable task of positioning us and teaching some moves.  Things seemed to come together well and numbers seemed to

balance and it was only a matter of time before the basics of the routine were set.  We moved onto “Cabaret” which had us moving to various positions before ending up in a circle with the men inside facing out and the girls outside facing in.  Kathryn gave the girls a demonstration of their next moved which involved them bending forward and lunging in towards the men.  This was deemed a no-goer when tried with the appropriate lyrics of “Come blow your horn”!! Once she recovered from the embarrassment, she was able to carry on and finish the routine before we linked the two together and had a brew.

After the break we carried on – Mike and Felicity sang “I Like Your Style” and Janet did “Everytime We Say Goodbye” before we got to “Can’t Take that Away From Me”.  Once more Kathryn was called upon to give us some shape and this led into “Hundreds Of Girls”.

We ended the night by going through it all and an appeal was made to go through it all in our heads before Thursday.

A committee meeting on Wednesday meant that Thursday saw myself, Andrew, Karen, Little Jean & Felicity making our hat-trick of appearances at the hall.  On my way I received a call from Andy Figg to let me know that unfortunately he was having to withdraw from the show due to work commitments and as I got there I was told about Gail’s accident which will mean she will be unable to take part also.  Hope both are able to return to us soon though!

We started in David’s absence by walking through the first two numbers from Tuesday night.  The first attempt was a bit messy as some remembered some bits and others remembered other bits but nobody managed to remember the lot!  A quick refresher and it all came flooding back.  David arrived as we were part way through “Cant’ take that………” which had started far too low and prompted David to make a comment as he headed for his piano.  Kathryn, Joanna and Emily then went through a couple of the dancers numbers as David settled himself down and we recapped from the top.  Having had the opportunity to break it down a bit earlier, it wasn’t too bad and before we knew it we were up to “Hundreds Of Girls”.  Kathryn spent a bit of time setting the men and we then set “Just Arrived”.

We then did “Wings Of A Dove”, “Love Makes The World” and “I Don’t Need Anything”. Wings Of A Dove was fine but it was evident that we haven’t done the other 2 for a couple of weeks - so much so that Fireman Andy (who had been missing when they were set and had therefore never done them) was nowhere near the worst!!! We will start with these two on Tuesday.

A few soloists stayed to go through their songs as another excellent rehearsal came to an end.

Don’t forget, Sheila is there every week taking ticket orders so please get them in.  Hopefully we will have the posters by Tuesday and again the appeal is to distribute them as quickly as possible.

Spend that time over the weekend thinking about what we have done this week and don’t forget to learn your words!!

See you on Tuesday.

Richard

A healthy turn out for our first official Thursday rehearsal saw us start with “Wings Of A Dove”.  As with Tuesday, it was fine up until the bit where we split into groups so we spent a bit of time working out who did what and when.  A couple more run throughs and it was much better. 

 

We moved onto “Love Makes The World Go Round” – initially unaccompanied until David arrived fresh from his choir practice at St Chads.  The first run through of this was awful and it’s hard to believe that it could have been so bad after only 2 days!  The second attempt was better as it slowly came back to people and by the third attempt, it was ok.  Upon David’s arrival we went through it with the music.  The men need to remember the bits we put in for the repeat verse and we all now need to make the moves bigger and give the song a bit of life. 

 

“I Don’t Need Anything” was much the same as “LMTWGR” in as much as it took about 3 goes till it was anything like.We then sang “Everything’s Coming Up Roses” before Kathryn left. That gave us the opportunity to go through all the company songs – some of which we haven’t done for quite a while.  We needed a refresh of some of the harmonies – notably “Both Sides Now” but overall, to quote another famous song, we remembered it well!

 

I was secretly dreading “Running Back For More” but was pleasantly surprised and it was 100 times better than it had been a couple of weeks ago.  Karen “Not So” Young commented that she doesn’t like it so my aim is for her to come to me prior to going on stage to sing it the week of the show and say “I love this one”. Suzanne confirmed that she has listened to it on You Tube and said “It sounds quite good on there”. 

 

We were also joined by Malcolm who helped David turn his pages and felt the need to comment on extra words that weren’t in the music but are on the lyric sheets used by the ladies.

 

I searched many web sites trying to find the lyrics to this song and couldn’t find them anywhere, therefore I ended up listening to the original cast recording and writing them out myself and I can assure you, the extra “I’s” that he was referring to were sung by the actress who played the role in The West End – no doubt approved by the show’s lyricist, Sir Tim Rice.  Now if Sir Tim was happy with it, then I am happy with it !!

 

It was another excellent rehearsal and I think we all benefited from having the opportunity to go through the songs before we start blocking on Tuesday.

 

Please keep on learning the words – once they are nailed, we can work on giving the songs some light and shade to make them even better.

 

See you all on Tuesday for a 7.30 start.

 

Cheers Richard

 

A bit of a later start as a result of Kathryn falling asleep gave Alison the opportunity to make an announcement regarding the next show.  After many weeks of questioning and trying not to laugh as guesses come in thick and fast, the society are thrilled to announce that we will be performing “My Fair Lady” in October with the same production team as Oklahoma!.

The announcement was well received from the floor and with an excellent turn out which saw us only 2 short of a full cast (but for work and illness it would have been 100%), the evening was full of promise as we started with a recap of “Wings Of A Dove”.  On the whole it was well remembered as far as the positioning goes but it went a bit pear shaped at the end when we split into the groups and do different things.  Nothing that a good tidy up won’t mend though.

We then had a sing through “Love Makes The World Go Round” before we set about blocking it.  Once again it’s more about moving around into different positions than actual dancing.  It helped that the majority seemed familiar with the words which was pleasing.  We worked through to the break and as the ladies headed for the steamed up kitchen, the men were called round the piano to go through a bit of harmony for the song.  This worked and was put to the test after the break.  Gemma and Little Jean also went through “Only He” before we were summoned back to the floor.  To let David have a bit of a break, we sang along to the track for “Wings Of A Dove” before going through the routine again with the track.

We then started on “I Don’t Need Anything”.  Once again we sang through it to start but the ending was a bit iffy.  David put this down to the fact that the music he had finished before the end.  I tried to convince David that he could perhaps busk something and tried to sing to him how I envisaged it ending.  Now I know I’m no Placido Domingo but what David played bore absolutely no resemblance to the tune I sang so it was agreed that we would just end the song with a slowed down version of the last line!!

Kathryn started to block the number and it wasn’t long before we were linking the two songs together.  At one point David broke into Grieg’s Concerto (made famous by Morecambe And Wise) which prompted me to question why he couldn’t tag a simple ending to the song when he can play such a masterpiece unprompted!!!

We got to the end of the song and Kathryn asked if she could think about the final position – her request was granted on the condition she doesn’t wait until dress rehearsal to set it!!

We went through the two numbers again before Little Mike and Flis and Gemma and Little Jean sang their duets again.

It was an excellent rehearsal and we now start blocking the show and linking it together on Thursday night – 8pm start.

Thanks to all and see you on Thursday.

Richard

We were back to “mixed” rehearsals and the intention was to finish “Wings Of A Dove”.  It had been 3 weeks since the routine had been set so nobody was expecting it to be perfect – no danger of that!  It soon became evident that some remembered bits of it and with half a dozen or so to fit in, Kathryn deemed it wise to stop the mayhem unfolding before our eyes and start again, slotting in those of us who were missing initially! The routine is simple but involves a lot of different positional changes and will be a fitting end to act one.  By the time we broke for a brew, we had set the number completely.

 

We did it a couple more times before we recapped the Ladies and Men’s songs we had done the previous 2 weeks.  The ladies started with “I Don’t Know How To Love Him” which got a very good from me and a not bad from David.  The men followed with “On The Street Where You Live” which received an “Ooooh I love this song” from Karen ‘Not So’ Young.  After our attempt we got a “Yes, it’ll be ok” from David.  The ladies returned with “Running Back For More” – oh dear was the verdict on that one I’m afraid – More likely to be “Running For The Door” if I’m honest.  The ladies were advised to look for the song on You Tube and familiarise themselves with it.  The men then did “Hundreds Of Girls” which was good but needs a bit more of the “power and punch” that is referred to in the song.  “Honey Honey” followed and although still a bit timid, once they let rip, it will be fine.  The ladies were advised to listen to the soundtrack and just go for it – it’s basically a free for all as far as the Oohs and wop wops go – within reason!  The men sang “Fly Me To The Moon” and had to be reminded of the timings we agreed on before the ladies were given the replacement words for “But Not For Me” – “I Do, I Do, I Do, I Do, I Do” from Mamma Mia.  As with “Honey Honey”, the advice is to sing along to the soundtrack and make it a good upbeat number.  The ladies were then given an early night and the men went through “Is You Is”.

 

We then went through some of the solo songs before retiring to the pub.

 

Next week sees us start Thursday rehearsals and things will really start to come together as we start positioning each number. It’s now time to really knuckle down and learn the words.

 

Tickets should also be there next week – now the venue saga has finally been resolved!!

 

Thanks to all for a good nights work and see you next week.

 

Cheers Richard

As the ladies spent the night in watching “The Brits” or “Man Ure” on the telly, the men were going through their paces as we worked through the men’s songs. Before we started, Alison gave an update regarding the building work at The Little Theatre.

 

There has been a lot of activity over the last week – following last weeks proposition to the ladies about the show going ahead w/c 26/04 I emailed the men to check their availability and based on the responses, the show will now be staged at The Marine Hall for 4 nights from Monday 26th to Thursday 29th April.  The dress/tech rehearsal will be on the Sunday sometime in the early afternoon (due to a prior engagement at the Marine Hall on the Sunday evening). 

 

A special thanks to Wyre Borough Council for their incredible communication throughout !!!! (you may sense a hint of sarcasm there readers!!!) With that established, we started with “On The Street Where You Live” because everyone knows it said David.  He was right and once we sorted the long “IIIIIIIIIII’s” it was fine after only a couple of tries. We moved swiftly on to “Hundred’s Of Girls” where verses were handed out to Tommy, Little Mike and Danny – all of whom rose to the occasion and belted out their respective bits with aplomb!  Andy H questioned the words as they are different to the ones on his cd and by going through we soon chopped and changed the order of verses to suit the music.  Another one on the bag – this was all going too well for this show!

 

Next was “Come Fly With Me” for which I emphasised that it is sung in unison and not with our own Sinatra-esque additions!  We worked on the timing, particularly in the middle sequence of the song and ensured we all sang together with an impressive “A – Capulco Bay”. Three down and still time for a quick blast of “Who Wants Top Be A Millionaire” before a well earned break.

 

We got back to work on “Is You Is” from “Five Guys Named Moe”.  Andrew who had invested in the cd several weeks ago put it on for us all to listen to and we all sang along.  It was deemed a fine buy as it is a cracking song – the cd cost Andrew the hearty sum of 5 pence by the way – now that’s a bargain!!!  Splitting into 3 groups with Andrew, Andy and unknown to him, Graeme taking the top line,  Myself ,Andy and Luke taking the bass and the rest having the tune we had a go.  Not a bad first attempt to be honest and it showed real potential to be a show stopper.  We had several attempts and once again worked on getting the notes crisp and sharp.

We had a sing through of everything we had done and Little Mike went through “I Like Your Style” with me initially and then Andrew singing in for Felicity.

 

I was really pleased with the rehearsal and now we have finally resolved the theatre details, it’s all wagons roll for next week when we will be recapping and finishing “Wings Of A Dove”.

 

Thanks to all and see everyone next week.

 

Cheers Richard

The rehearsal began with a huge thank you and congratulations to all those who took part in the concert last Friday night.  It was a brilliant night and, as always, you rose to the occasion and gave a fantastic performance.  The society has received many favourable comments from both audience members and the band themselves and it is something we hope to do again sometime in the future.  The benefit of us being involved in these sort of evenings are massive.  Not only does it give us the opportunity to create and adapt a concert format which we can use as and when required, it also introduces us to a wider audience.  I know there were people watching on Friday who had never seen us but who will now hopefully come to our future shows.

 

 Those who auditioned on Sunday were also thanked and the results were read out during the break.

 

The plan was to go through all the Ladies company songs and we started with “I Don’t Know How To Love Him”.  As this song is so well known, it only needed a couple of sing through’s before it was deemed ok by David.  We then moved onto “Honey Honey” for which the sopranos sing the main and the altos Ooh and wop wop etc.  We had a sing through and it was pretty tame initially as the altos tried to establish the timings of their wop wops.  I played the backing track but this didn’t really help if I’m honest.  Steph then offered her phone as she had the track on there and everyone listened as the phone was held high.  We went through it again and although still a little timid, there was enough to convince me that it will work.

 

 I then produced a tape – yes that’s right folks, in this digital world of ipods, MP3’s, mini discs etc, I produced a tape of the little seen but highly acclaimed musical “Blondel” which tells the story of a minstrel in the court of King Richard I.  The reason for playing the tape was not so I could show off my knowledge of the show, but so the ladies could listen to their next song “Running Back For More”.  As it played and reached the saxophone solo, Little Jean commented that it sounded like something off “Now That’s What I Call The 80’s”.  David sorted out a bit of a harmony for the chorus and once again, although a little quiet, once everyone is more familiar with it, it will be fine.

 

We then had a drink and Alison let everyone know about a potential issue with the availability of The Little Theatre due to some building work there that is scheduled some time in the future.  We have been working behind the scenes hoping for something official from Wyre Borough Council but as yet, have heard nothing.  As the show is only 8 or 9 weeks away, we are now pushing them so we can get tickets and posters done.  The options available to us are:

 

To plod on regardless and hope the building work doesn’t start before our dates.

Source an alternative venue.

Take up WBC’s offer to use The Marine Hall (which is only available the following week for 4 nights) Option 3 would appear to be the most logical choice so Alison asked whether the change in date would cause anyone any issues.  It didn’t seem to do and I have since written to all the men to ask them the same question.

We got back to work with “But Not For Me” which I chose for the show as I remember it as a bluesy ballad from “Crazy For You”.  The arrangement David played had it much more up tempo and to be honest, it didn’t sound right so I will re-think that one and probably replace it with something else. We sang through everything we had done before the ladies were thanked and sent on their way so the soloists could go through their songs. 

 

Overall, it was a productive night.  I just feel maybe some of the ladies are still holding back a bit and are scared of just going for it and belting the songs out – I’m sure that will come though as we start blocking things and become more comfortable with the songs.

 

Next week it’s the turn of the men so ladies, make use of your night off by looking through your words – Tuesday telly is rubbish anyway!!

 

Thanks for your hard work.

 

Cheers Richard

Tonight’s rehearsal was all about polishing the songs for the concert and then giving those auditioning an opportunity to go through the solos.

 

The evening began with an appeal to sell tickets for the concert as at the moment we are not breaking even with the number of tickets sold so far.  With the number of us taking part and the fact it is only one night, it had been hoped that we would sell all the tickets but at the moment we are way off the mark.  The whole point of us doing this concert is to make a healthy profit for the society and if ticket sales don’t increase, we will have no choice but to cancel.  This will be a great shame as it promises to be a really good night and I for one have put in an awful lot of work in collating the songs and making the tickets and posters etc.  Therefore, please, please , please give it a really good push  over the next few days and please ring Sheila on 860856 to confirm your booking.

 

We carried on regardless and sang through each of the company songs with David correcting a few minor issues along the way.  “Moon River” in particular stood out.  We got another opportunity to go though the Anything Goes numbers and Judi and myself are going to Manchester on Sunday to have a go at it with the band.

 

We broke for a brew – bizarrely with 2 concert songs to go which meant everyone then had to sit back down before they were free to go.  Once we had finished the concert rehearsal, it was stressed once more how important it was to sell more tickets.

We then worked through the running order and went through each audition piece and the signs are there will be some very healthy competition for the solos.

 

The audition date has now moved to Sunday 7th February – starting at 1.30.

 

Next week, Alison and myself will be missing but Kathryn is going to start blocking “Wings Of A Dove” and, providing ticket sales pick up, David will go through the concert again. All being well, we will then meet at The Marine Hall at 6.15 on Friday 5th so we can arrange positions and go through a few of the songs before hand. I hope this is the case! For those of you who are not in the show but still read the diaries, please support this concert and ring Sheila for a ticket NOW!!!!. 

 

It is events like this and the Songs From The Shows that allow us to put on the “big” shows and as good as “Oklahoma” was, the reality is we lost a lot of money on it and this concert is one way of making some of that money back.

 

Thanks for your hard work, have a great rehearsal next week and I hope to see you all on Friday the 5th.

 

Cheers Richard

We seemed to be a little bit thin on the ground at 7.30 – either that or Andrew had got over excited when putting the chairs out! 

 

We started with a recap of “Love Changes Everything” to warm us up before David handed out another manuscript, this time for “Both Sides Now”.  The first two verses are now split so that the ladies sing one bit and the men the other.  Then at verse 3 there is a key change and some harmony added which will transform the song from being a good ‘un to being a belter!

We then moved onto the more upbeat “Love Makes The World….” And “I Don’t Need Anything…” which in effect finish the show.  These caused us no problems at all and David was able to sort out a link between the two songs and a suitable ending on the spot – my he’s good!!

 

Next on the agenda was “Wings Of A Dove” – a classic tune from arguably the greatest band ever, Madness – did I tell you about the night I met 2 members of the band……………? I had worked out who should sing what bits of the song and began to explain:  “The ladies are woah’s and oohers at the relevant parts. The tenors are yeh, yeh, yehers and everyone else are Wings Of A Dovers”.  We then sang along with the cd 2 or 3 times with each group singing along to their bits.  We then had a couple more goes with the backing track we are using and for a first attempt, it was pretty good.

 

As we broke for a brew, Alison bade everyone’s attention to inform them that our favourite Tea Bird, Margaret will be celebrating her 90th birthday this weekend.  She was presented with flowers and Jeanette had made a cake and the company gave her a rousing and well deserved rendition of “Happy Birthday”. Ralph then got up to pay his own tribute to Margaret. We finished the break by singing the same song to Elizabeth who will be 15 on Friday.

 

The second half of the rehearsal was used to recap the harmonies we have learnt previously.  Starting with “They Can’t Take That Away…” then  “The Colours Of My Life”  and Back Row Annie’s favourite, “Eidelweiss”.  We wound up with a recap of “Both Sides Now” before starting the band concert rehearsal.

 

Judi was unable to attend as she wasn’t well so we didn’t do any of the Anything Goes numbers but we sang through all the company songs.  Andrew had found the music we were missing last week so we started with “let’s face the music….”  On the whole, it all sounded ok although I think we need to spend a bit longer on “Music Of the Night” and, surprisingly “Nothing Like A Dame” seemed to lack a bit of pizzazz and oomph.  The 4 soloists stayed behind to go through their songs and each delivered brilliantly.

 

Next week, there is a slight amendment to the schedule due to the concert.  With missing the rehearsal a couple of weeks ago, we cannot afford to miss another, therefore we will have a concert rehearsal at 7.30 followed by an audition rehearsal.  There will also be an audition rehearsal the following Thursday if required.

Although it would still appear to be early days, we are now very much into the rehearsal period so please spend the time working on the harmonies and learning the words at home.  Once the words are there, the natural light and shade of the songs will come through and that’s very often the difference between an ok rendition of a song and a great rendition.  I want greatness!!!

 

Thanks to all for an excellent rehearsal and see you next week.

 

Cheers Richard

After last weeks incident, it was good to be back!  Alison and Andrew have been attending regularly over the course of the week and an industrial humidifier seems to be doing a good job even though there is still a hill and a few floor blocks have fallen off.  They have barricaded the affected area off using the hard board from the Oklahoma extension so as we walked into the hall, we were faced with a wooden wall that resembled a scene from “Danger UXB”.

 

A brief warm up saw David experiment with his “See, Blue, Car” routine so the basses and altos started at the bottom of the scale and the tenors and sopranos from the top of the scale and this caused all kinds of problems when we met in the middle!

 

We started with “Everything’s Coming Up Roses” and on the whole, it was well remembered, to quote David.  We sang through it a couple more times before moving on.  We recapped everything we had learnt before Christmas and the harmonies for “Eidelweiss”, “Can’t Take That Away”  and “Colours Of My Life” are starting to gel nicely.  Harmonies for “Love Changes Everything” were then handed out and bashed out by David before he asked us to have a go. 

 

At the break, Alison reminded everyone that their subs and show fee’s are now due and should be paid to Mary.  It’s still only £20 a year to be a member and just £10 to be in the show – a bargain by comparison to some other societies I might add!!!

 

We got back to work – picking up “Love Changes Everything” and once again, David has done a really good arrangement of it and to his credit, a different one to the last time we sang this song.  We finished the show rehearsal with “Both Sides Now” which is sung in unison and sounds really good.

 

With that, we had a go at the songs for the band concert.  It didn’t get off to the best start as David was missing the music for the first 3 songs!  Alison was sent into the dark, flood damaged committee room to look for the music from 2 “songs from the shows” ago, however this proved fruitless.  Andrew then advised that he thinks he has the music at home so we will sing through them next week.  We went through the other company songs which are from “Movies Were Movies” and they were fine.

 

We then moved onto the “Anything Goes” section which we will be singing with the big band and which sees a very welcome return for Judi.  We had a run through which we used to try to remember where we “Ooh’d” and where we sang before having another go.  It must have been strange for those who weren’t in the show but I’m sure they will manage!  We finished with “Anything Goes” which is mainly Judi anyway with the company just coming in at the end so there are no real problems with that one.

 

Given the tight timescale between now and the concert, and the number of new members wanting to take part, we will make use of the music stands that Chris Andrews bought for us and use our words on the night. We need to make sure we sell this concert to our families and friends as it promises to be a really good night’s entertainment.

 

Kathryn is starting the tap routine this Thursday so anyone wanting to be in it needs to be there for 7.00.

 

Thanks to all for a good rehearsal and see you all next week.

 

Cheers Richard

First of all, Happy New Year.  I hope you all had a good Christmas.

 

 

Secondly, apologies for having to cancel last night’s rehearsal.  I received a call from Kathryn as I was walking into work to say there was a flood at the hall.  I sent Tony Tantastic a text to tell him I would be a bit late for work and dropped Charlotte off at school and headed to the hall to investigate.  If I’m honest I was expecting a bit of a leak that a bucket underneath would have resolved until we could get a more permanent fix.  How wrong was I???? As I walked in, the foyer and both toilets were flooded and as I entered the main hall, it too was flooded to well beyond the chairs.  From the little committee room I could hear water and as I opened the door, it was pouring from the ceiling.  There are three things I know to do in such a situation:- 

 

 

The first is to swear repeatedly and at various speeds (with the emphasis on certain vowels) for about 15 - 20 seconds. The second is to shut the door and hope it will all be ok when you open it again.The third is to ring “our Alison!!!”.

 

After doing option 3, I turned the heating off and put various pans and bowls down in the small room.  The dripping stopped after a while as a result of the heating being turned off and I began the mopping up exercise. 

 

The plumbers arrived and headed into the loft where they were able to identify the problem and they came back a couple of hours later to replace the part and even bled the radiators while they were there.

 

After several conversations with Alison and Kathryn, and considering the bad weather conditions, we decided it best to call off the rehearsal, thus giving the floor a chance to dry out properly. It is unfortunate because we were going to incorporate a rehearsal for the band concert also but worse things happen at sea!!!

 

We will be back next week though and Kathryn is also going to start the tap next Thursday so if you are wanting to be in the tap routine, please be there.

 

I will have the tickets and posters for the band concert next week so please start to canvass your family and friends to come along.  Tickets are £8.50 and the seating is unreserved tabled seating to give the room a “cabaret” feel. 

 

See you all next week – raring to go!!!

 

Cheers Richard

We were a little depleted in numbers last night as a result of time of year with work commitments taking precedence for many.  That said, there were still probably over 30 of us to crack on with learning the next few songs. 

 

We started by recapping last week’s songs beginning with “Everything’s Coming Up Roses”.  On the whole we remembered it and the harmonies came through very well.  We moved onto “You’re The Top” which was a bit iffy at first as we struggled to get the words out.  It is still quite a long song although I have cut a few verses as Andy Figg will confirm!!!  It got better after a couple more goes as we established the tempo and who sings what and when.  Next up was “I Won’t Send Roses” where David emphasised the need for prolonging the notes and introducing some light and shade into the singing. All this will come as we get more familiar with the song but it is a valid point none the less.  We were then handed some manuscripts with some harmonies for “They Can’t Take That Away From Me”.  As ever, these featured David’s easy to read writing and he bashed his way through each part for the middle section of the song.  We had a quick go at “Eidelweiss” before breaking for a brew.

 

There was a collection box in lieiu of sending Christmas cards with donations going to Kidney Research UK.  I had explained earlier the reason for us supporting this charity as it is almost 12 months ago since Andrew donated a kidney to his sister.  The donations came to around £50 so thank you for your kind contributions.  This figure will now be added to that raised from the Friday night raffle from the show and sent on.

 

Alison then thanked everyone who helped with the Christmas fair on Saturday, particularly the YES Team and the Social Committee for all their hard work.  First estimations suggest we have made around £900.

 

We got back to it and sang “Both Sides Now”.  This was a bit tricky initially as the timing of some of the lines are not quite as you would expect.  After a full sing through, David began to break it down and once again, as our confidence in the song grew, it got much better.  It is another one that calls out for the light and shade mentioned earlier once we are fully up to scratch with it.  David then gave us a tale about a problematic photocopier which had prevented him from copying the harmonies for “Love Changes Everything”.  He therefore just had to bash out the notes and we sang along.  Copies will be given out when we return in the new year as somebody (see Oklahoma diaries for explanation of this term) has taken it to copy!  The harmonies for this song are fairly simple and straight forward and as always, sound excellent.

 

The final song we had a go at was “The Colors Of My Life” for which David had revived a previous harmony – last used in 2000 we were informed. 

 

 The rehearsal came to a close at around ten to ten although about 15 minutes before, Ralph departed in his usual style with a compliment to the company and a festive greeting to us all!.

 

In two weeks, we have got through 9 company songs which is some going.  The first week back will see us recap everything we have done and I suspect we will need to spend some time on the harmonies to refresh our memories.

 

I would like to thank you all for your hard work so far with this show and on behalf of the Officials and the Executive Committee of TCOS say a huge thanks for another excellent year.  We have produced 2 cracking shows and the membership continues to thrive.Here’s to an equally successful 2010.

 

 For those going to the Mezzaluna next week, you need to be in The Venue for 7.30.

 

 I hope you all have a wonderful Christmas and New Year and see you all on January 5th 2010.

 

 Cheers Richard

Another excellent turn out with more familiar faces returning.  So much so that we ran out of words so a few had to share.  I will get more done for next week!

We started with a very smart David (he had been for a photo with Gail at Astbury’s before the rehearsal) going through his vocal warm up before starting with “Everything’s Coming Up Roses”.  After an initial sing through he then set about splitting the singing a bit and introduced a few simple yet very effective harmonies and echoes from the men which gave the song a lift.  We then moved onto “Cabaret” where again, lines were divided between the men and the ladies to mix it up a bit. After two or three goes, we seemed to have got the idea and we moved on to “Can’t Take That Away From Me”.  We sang through it once before breaking for a brew.

Alison reminded everyone about the Christmas Fair on Saturday and gave one final appeal for donations for the stalls and the return of raffle ticket monies.  Please do all you can to attend on Saturday – a lot of work has gone into the fair and it is an opportunity for the society to make a few quid to help fund future productions. We also sang Happy Birthday to Pete who is celebrating next Monday.

I then spoke about the concert with the GMP big band and asked for final names.  I will provide a running order etc for next week.  Rehearsals for the concert will start in the new year and will take place following our usual Tuesday night rehearsal from 9.30.

We reconvened and had a look at “Love Changes Everything”.  David explained that the harmony he had (which had been used a few years ago) is in a different key and for that reason, he will work out something else for next week.  We sang through it in unison with one or two adding harmonies as David shouted out which bits he was going to harmonise.  I was expecting us to have something to work with for this song so as there wasn’t, we moved on to look at a couple scheduled for next week – namely “I Won’t Send Roses” and “Eidelweiss”.  David felt “Roses” was too low - a claim that was hotly contested by the altos who found it to be just right.  The last song we worked on was “Eidelweiss” which brought a claim of “I hate this song” from Anne G.  She was soon put in her place by several others who quite rightly leapt to it’s defence!  David bashed out a couple of harmony lines for the altos and the men and when it was all put together it sounded really good.  He did insist on playing it as though he was rushing to get home and insisted it should be “moderato”.  He finally succumbed to my request to play it “moderato-ly slower”.

We had a recap through everything we had done and called it a night at around ten to ten. We got through quite a bit so please look through between now and next week and even though it is very early days, start learning the words.

Next week is the last rehearsal before we break for Christmas and there will be a charity box in place of sending individual Christmas cards.  All money donated will go to Kidney Research UK.

Thanks all for a good night and see some of you at Boogie Nights and DON’T FORGET THE CHRISTMAS FAIR – SATURDAY 11AM

Cheers Richard

Welcome back to the diary and welcome to our latest production – Songs Form The Shows – The Sound Of Musicals.

 

 A healthy turn out for our first night which included some new faces and some returning to the fold!

 

The purpose of the night was to sing through every song which we did.  For the less well known songs Andrew and myself had pooled our resources together to bring recordings so we could sing along to.  I explained that we haven’t done a cd of the songs this year but the majority of songs could be found on the internet on sites like You Tube.

 

At the break, Alison asked for confirmation of names for the trip to see Howard’s production of Boogie Nights on the 25th.  Did anyone see the feature on Granada Reports on Monday concerning his society’s concerns that this may be their last production after over 100 years.  It shows how lucky we are at TCOS and how much of an asset our hall is to us to keep us afloat. Songs From The Shows are also an integral part of keeping us up and running as it is the money made on these that allows us to fund the big production shows and that is why, as a society, we have always treated them as a major production. 

 

Anyway, I digress, we have a coach booked to take us to Oswaldtwistle and those confirmed will be contacted with times etc.  Alison also asked for contributions for the Christmas Fair on November 28th – bottles, chocolates, smellies etc and Diane reminded us all to bring raffle money next week.  Andy then announced that the Fireman calendar featuring Daz has now been printed and is available at £7.50.  Daz we were advised is Mr February and is pictured with a rose and very little else!!!

 

Once everyone had calmed down, we got back to the singing and I flitted to and from the corner to inset various cd’s and even a couple of tapes (Luke looked on in amazement at these ancient music making contraptions!!).

 

David did an admirable job bashing through each song – some of which he had only been given the music for that night and will work on some harmonies.It is always difficult knowing what to expect from the first rehearsal as it is the first real chance to get a reaction to the songs that have been chosen but the general consensus seemed to be that it had been beneficial and we are ready to start properly next week.

 

The rehearsal schedule has been handed out and is also available on the web site.

 

We have a lot of work ahead of us but I have no doubt, we will have a lot of laughs that will ultimately result in another excellent show.

 

See you all next week.

Richard