Sheringham Savoyards

“Pleasures come in endless series” – so wrote Gilbert in IOLANTHE, with an unexpected rhyme to “House of Peris”. The line could stand as a good description of his and Sullivan’s Savoy operas: they contain a wealth of pleasures and seem to go on for ever. THE GRAND DUKE [no 13 in the series] ends in the same key [E major, “Pretty Wedding”] as the start of TRAIL BY JURY [no 1 – “Hark the hour of ten”] – the impression is of an endless musical conveyor belt, if you care to think so. We in our small corner [Little Theatre] have provided an endless series for 32 years, to great and lasting applause. I hope and believe the unavoidable hiatus this year will prove to be not an end but a breathing-space before we soon resume our presentations with renewed vigour and more new voices, male especially. Do persuade your friends to join, do attend the AGM and hear what is planned for the future and do remember further lines from IOLANTHE; “When at the worst affairs will mend, Dark the dawn when day is nigh…..Where a will is, there’s a way!”

Alan

MAY

Friday 6th   Chorus rehearsals for RUDDIGORE began as scheduled in the Friends Meeting House, Sheringham under the baton of Maggi Warren. These continued until June 10th. Lester Shaw was not available so we were grateful to Eira Cox for stepping into the breach to accompany the rehearsals.
Saturday14th  There was again a “Full House” in the Annexe to the Windham Arms for our Annual Dinner when Members, Friends and Guests enjoyed an excellent evening with good food, entertainment and company.

JULY

“THE MIKADO” Bring and Sing took place at St Peter’s Church on the evening of Saturday 2nd. After a belated publicity drive, consisting largely of a poster campaign in Sheringham, enough non members turned up to ensure that we did make at least some donation to the Japanese Disaster Fund. They joined in enthusiastically with our chorus members in singing and appreciating the performances of the Principals. The last minute - and I do mean exactly that! - absence of our expected pianist meant that accompanying the show was perforce shared between Beverley and Maggi, as well as those two “Stars” performing their designated roles. This, as well as the excellent “thinking on his feet” narration by Jason, meant that evening turned into something quite special, with all present “raising their game” to meet the challenges before them. An evening to remember!
Events after this happy occasion took an interesting, if not entirely unexpected, turn with the calling of the Emergency General Meeting in the Meeting Room at St Andrew’s Church on 5th August with 37 Members and 6 Friends attending the meeting. The letter from our Chairman accompanying this News Letter sums up the events of the evening and the conclusions reached by the attendees.

As noted in Andy’s letter:

SEPTEMBER

Friday 2nd   Sing through of PIRATES. St Joe’s 7.30pm
Wednesday 14th AGM Annexe to The Windham Arms 7.30pm
Official Notice of AGM also enclosed/attached.
Andy has mentioned the urgent necessity of appointing a Secretary, Moira having performed above and beyond the call of duty in once again helping out the Society in its hour of need but, she stresses, NO MORE! Due to the changing nature of the Society it is probable that the duties of this post will not be as onerous as at present- it may also be possible to share duties so that all the burden does not fall on one person – so please consider if you can help.
We are hopefully to continue to meet socially outside rehearsals but to do this we also need to appoint a Social Secretary – again – think about it.
Future events will depend on the recommendations of the new Committee.

On reading the list of Officers willing to serve again after the AGM you will see a new name – our Publicity Officer is now called Hazel Warrington, after her marriage to Matthew, on June 11th. We wish them a long and happy time together.

Many Savoyards attended the funeral of Jim Hare, at Cromer Parish Church, in May. As most of you know Jim was a founder member of the Society way back in 1979 - taking the role of Bosun in the first PINAFORE. This role he reprised for our 25th Anniversary production. Between these two appearances he played many Principal roles in both full shows and concerts. Eventually he had to miss out on Summer shows in order to skipper a sailing ship around the Western Isles of Scotland, including some Savoyards as guests/crew, but was, however, able to perform in the Autumn Shows. His last appearance was at the start of our 30th Anniversary Show “TAN TAN TARA TZING BOOM” before joining our President in the front row. He was always happy to advise and provide constructive criticism to any one who sought his help. Alan spoke eloquently at his funeral and joined with those present in marvelling at the breadth of his talents and interests. We send our condolences to Brenda and “the Hare Tribe”.

Lester Shaw is sorry to have been forced to relinquish his accompanist role over the last few months but he assures me that he is keen to return as soon as his health allows.
Finally I have to tell you that this will be my last Newsletter – time to pass on the baton for a change of style etc I think.

Cheers
David