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The Society has approximately 40 playing members and
another 30 non-playing members. They are of all ages and come from all backgrounds!
Some members take part in the show every year; others pick and choose the
productions in which they want to be involved.
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New members are always very welcome - please click here if you would like to find out
more about singing with us.
We perform at
Exact dates vary depending on other productions
scheduled at the Theatre. A list of our previous productions can be found here.
Social activities outside of rehearsal are important
to us. Tenpin bowling and skittle evenings are usually well-attended, and in the
past we have organised archery evenings and trips to see other theatrical
productions, both professional and amateur. We have organised a summer outing
to London, with trips on the London Eye
and the river, and arranged an African Drumming workshop one Sunday
afternoon. We repeated this the
following year as it was so enjoyable.
Whenever a member of the Society has a birthday party, a sizeable
contingent of members is usually not far away and in late 2005 a quartet from
the Society was delighted to be asked to sing at the wedding of one of our
members.
We
"adopt" a local charity each year and raise money through concerts,
Christmas carol singing and other activities. In the 2006/07 season, through
our carol-singing efforts at the Asda store and “The Grange” in Oadby, we
raised money for the local bereavement charity CRUSE. Our grateful thanks go to
all those who contributed time or cash to the fund-raising efforts.
We like to travel
and sing too… In July 1996, several members of the Players travelled to
Philadelphia to take part in the 3rd International Gilbert &
Sullivan Festival. They formed part of the amateur chorus behind professional
principals in productions of Ruddigore and The Sorcerer. The
Festival then transferred to Buxton in Derbyshire for further performances in
the town's Opera House. In 1997, a further contingent travelled to San
Francisco to take part in the 4th International Festival. In 2002, five members took part in the 7th
Festival in Eastbourne and Buxton, as chorus members of “The Nomads” company
and in 2005 we have representatives at the Waterford International Festival,
Ireland.
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In the summer of 2000, we were invited to take part in
a Millennium production of Merrie England at Broughton Castle in
Oxfordshire. This was an outdoor production using the Castle as a backdrop. Performed
for three nights, it involved a singing and dancing cast of over 200, a
symphony orchestra, six oarsmen to row the Royal barge across the moat,
trumpeters on the roof of the Castle, dog-handlers and two frogmen. The
experience was truly a once-in-a-lifetime event and we are very grateful to
Banbury Operatic Society both for inviting us and for making us so welcome
during rehearsals and performances.
In the summer of 2004, a large
number of Society members travelled to the 11th Gilbert &
Sullivan Festival in Buxton to take part in the opening Costume Parade and Concert. The result of the costuming can be seen to
the left! We then stayed to watch a most
enjoyable production of Opera della Luna’s The
Ghosts of Ruddigore – a different “take” on the show we were performing in
Spring 2005.
A regular annual event is a
weekend in North Wales in November. Organised by our director Roberta Morrell, the weekend is a mixture of
cabaret, singing and acting workshops, informative talks and quizzes, not
forgetting plenty of socialising with members of other operatic societies! Each
year several past and present members of the D'Oyly Carte come to share their
experiences and knowledge with around 50 amateur singers. Recent years have
included John Ayldon, Patricia Leonard and Mike Buchan.
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Following the 3rd
International Festival (see above), the Players were invited to take our own
production of The Pirates of
Penzance to Buxton as part of the 4th Festival in
August 1997. The Pirates had played to full houses in Leicester that
April, so with a little bit of dusting off we took to the stage of Buxton Opera
House on August 5th. It was a memorable experience to perform in
such a magnificent setting to a knowledgeable and packed audience of 1,000.
Although we had gone to Buxton simply to enjoy the experience, the Festival is
also a competition. We were delighted to learn on its conclusion that we had
won the Sir Arthur Sullivan Challenge Rose Bowl as the "Best Chorale"
amateur performance over the whole Festival, covering its legs in San
Francisco, Philadelphia and Buxton.
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The
2002 production, Bless the Bride, was
the Players’ 50th production and was on stage at the Little Theatre
from 15th - 20th April 2002.
A programme of
events was assembled to celebrate the Golden Anniversary, including a Gala
Concert and a black tie dinner.