Numurkah Singers

June 24, 2010

The Stave, June 2010

Filed under: newsletter — Tags: , , , — Matt @ 11:27 pm

Hello Singers members!

I hope this June issue of the Stave finds you all well, and looking forward to the school holidays!! From this time there is approximately 21 hours and 19 minutes until the holidays officially start (for my school at least)!! Isn’t that exciting.

Jolly Good Show!

The first order of business in this Stave is to congratulate all those amazing performers in Aladdin the Rock Panto! It was an excellent show, and apparently Beryl (and I’m sure many other people) has had a lot of positive feed back about it. So well done, it was fantastic!

And the winners are…

At the after show celebrations and presentations there were three special awards presented to people whose effort, ability and determination really stood out.

Best Interpretation of a Role award was given to Scott Dealy for his wonderful performance as the Genie!
Director’s Choice Award
went to Aaron (Chappy) Chapman for his excellent job as Abanazzar the Magician.
Most Improved Performer award
was given to Jordan French, for playing the hero Aladdin. Wonderful job!

X-factor!!

Long time Numurkah Singers member Andrew Skinner recently auditioned for the television show the X-Factor. He did not get through, but the judges said that his singing was excellent and encouraged him to work on his performing technique for next year.

Congratulations Andrew, and good luck next year!

EXCITING NEWS SINGERS!

Tim Hose (who may be better known by some as the guy who played Tee To Tum) has some exciting news! He says:

After our successful performance of Aladdin, another production has been planned to be staged later this year!

It will not be a musical and is aimed at performers aged 17+ and especially those who want to act more than sing or dance.

It will be ‘The Importance of Being Earnest‘: one of Oscar Wilde’s most famous plays.

Requiring a maximum cast of nine to stage, we will be looking for a small dedicated group of people to bring this show to life.

Being directed by Tim Hose, it is bound to be a show that everyone involved will enjoy (including the audience!).

Set in Late Victorian England. The story revolves around two main characters: Algernon and Jack who are both well-to-do gents who end up sharing a fabricated persona by the name of Ernest.
The play takes a comedic look at the hypocrisies and social norms of upper-class society in the era, which comes to a hilarious conclusion.

For those interested there will be an information night on Thursday July 7th at 7:30pm at the shed. All are welcome.

To give you more details, here’s a list of the characters:

THE IMPORTANCE OF BEING EARNEST

CHARACTER LIST:

ALGERNON (Male) – Middle-aged upper-class man. Arrogant and rich socialite.

JACK(Male) – In love with the lady Gwendolen. Goes by the name Ernest in the city.

LADY BRACKNELL – Upper-class woman. Algernon’s aunt. Arrogant and rich socialite.

GWENDOLEN – Young woman. In love with ‘Ernest.’

CECILY – Jack’s 18 year old ward. Lives in the country under the tutorship of Miss Prism.

MISS PRISM – Cecily’s governess.

LANE/MERRIMAN/CHASUBLE – ‘can’ be played by a single male performer.

LANE – ACT I only (Algernon’s manservant)
MERRIMAN – ACT II only (Jack’s butler)
CHASUBLE – ACT III only (Local country reverend)”

BUT WHEN??

For all those interested in this play there will be an information night held at the Numurkah Singers shed on Thursday the 8th of July at 7:30pm.

There will then be three workshops where everyone interested can come and familiarize themselves with the play, (and with each other).

These will be held in the shed on Sunday 11th of July at 2pm, Monday the 12th at 7:30pm, and Wednesday the 14th at 7:30pm.  (Thanks to Andrew Green for spotting a typo – these are now the correct dates. ~Matt)

Not everyone involved in the workshops will be cast in the play. There will be a auditions later on. The time and date of these are unsure.

Tim is looking to stage “The Importance of Being Earnest” in September.

Well, on this exciting note I think I shall conclude the Stave, and whish you all a good school holiday. Now there are only 20 hours and 30 minutes to go!

June 2, 2010

That’s a wrap!

Filed under: Aladdin, Productions — Tags: , — Matt @ 10:09 pm

Congratulations everyone on a fantastic set of performances.

It was great to hear the audience getting into the action, (sometimes a little too much, perhaps?) and seeing the smiles on their faces as they left the theatre.  I think it’s safe to say that everyone who came along left well entertained.

I’d like to take this moment to thank the local businesses who sponsored us this year: Guardian Pharmacy, Dyson’s IGA, Plantasyland, Logan & Associates, the Ragg Denn, the Goulburn Murray Credit Union, Riverlands and the Moira Shire council.  It’s wonderful to have them behind us.

May 13, 2010

The Stave – April/May 2010

Filed under: Uncategorized — Tags: , , , , — Matt @ 11:25 am

Hello Singers Members! I hope this April/May Stave finds you well. If you are involved in the very close Singers Production it probably finds you flat out! But with this busyness comes lots of news. So here it is!
No Georgies!
The Committee decided in their March Meeting that we won’t participate in the Georgy Awards this year. This means the judging panel will not be invited to the production and we won’t participate in the ceremony.
But Wait there’s more!
To make up for the Georgy awards Numurkah Singers are going to instigate our own special awards to recognize the people who make outstanding contributions to our production. The presentations will take place in the supper room at the town hall after the final performance of ‘Aladdin’. The three awards are: Best Interpretation of a Role, Most Improved Performer, and Director’s Choice Award.

Vandalism In March the Numurkah Singers sign out the front of the shed was vandalized. One of the boards was actually broken in half. As well as this, continual rubbish dumping has occurred around the shed. If anyone goes past the shed, please keep an eye out for similar activity.
The Working Bee
In late March the Singers had a successful working bee. They managed to clear the front of the Shed and remove the vandalized sign and dodgy fencing.
They are now planning the next phase of the operation: a garden bed to be put in, new gravel and a new sign to be attached to the actual building.
Bump-in!
The time of the bump-in has arrived! In fact its passed! Last Sunday, the 2nd of May, the Singers moved themselves and their stuff into the town hall.
The Show!!!
For those of you who have not spent the last 3 months rehearsing for Aladdin and don’t have a chart to mark off the days until opening night, here is some info.
This year Singers are doing the Rock Pantomime, Aladdin. This is a very different storyline from the Disney movie of the same name, and is actually set in China!
This year we are doing 4 shows. The dates for the show:
Opening night is Friday May 21st at 8pm,
Sunday may 23rd at 2pm,
Sat May 29 at 2pm and 8pm.

Well, I think that’s just about all the news. So that concludes our Stave for this time.
If you have any info that you would like included in the next Stave please contact me (Fran Bolling) at stellarina16@hotmail.com

April 23, 2010

Musical Run-through complete

Filed under: Aladdin, Productions — Tags: , — Matt @ 11:26 pm

Congratulations to everyone on tonight’s epic musical run-through.

While we didn’t quite make it through all the songs, we did at least work through the tricker ones and got them all sounding the best they’ve ever been.  Special mentions go to Brenda and Andrew who both got through near-flawless performances of their big numbers.  Well done everyone.  Keep it up and they’ll be talking about this show all year!

April 19, 2010

New rehearsal schedule

Filed under: Aladdin — Tags: , — Matt @ 7:36 pm

With a few people unavailable on Friday night and quite a few more having a knack for losing their schedules, I thought it might be a good idea to post at least the next couple of weeks on here.

So, here we go.

Monday 19th – 7:30 til 9:30:  Dance rehearsal for I Wanna Be King – Grand Vizier and her attendants.

Wednesday 21st – 7:00 til 8:30: Are You Happy Too – All cast except Grand Vizier and Genie.

Friday 23rd – 7:00 til 9:45: All the songs – whole cast except Genie

Monday 26th – 7:30 til 9:30: That’s a Happy Ending – Leads except Abanazzar

Wednesday 28th – 7:00 til 8:30: Act 1 Scenes 2 and 5 – Chorus, Aladdin, Twankey, Esme, Abanazzar and the Genie.

Friday 30th – Full Run Through: All Cast.

And then we move into the hall…scary.  That’s just two weeks til bump in, then another three until opening night!

March 12, 2010

Incoming Run Through!

Filed under: Aladdin, General, Productions — Tags: , , — Matt @ 5:16 pm

During tonight’s rehearsal we’ll be running through scenes One through Five.  That covers everything from the servants singing about their troubles and the Grand Vizier making her intentions clear right through to Abanazzar trapping Aladdin in the cave where he finds the lamp.

This will be the first time this many scenes have been run together this year, so it’s a great chance for the cast to learn how the first part of the story fits together.  Should be quite a night.

In other news, this year’s first edition of the Stave (our monthly newsletter) has finally gone out.  There were a few teething troubles switching over from our old editor Lauren who’s holidaying overseas for a few months.  In any case, it’s back up and running so you can expect to see more every month provided you’re on our mailing list.

If you’re not on the mailing list for The Stave (that is, if you didn’t receive it) and want to be, or if you’re on it and don’t want to be, you can email me (mhose@numurkahsingers.org.au) or drop me a line on facebook (http://www.facebook.com/swashblade) to be added/removed.

February 23, 2010

Another week, another few scenes

Filed under: Aladdin, Productions — Tags: , — Matt @ 10:18 pm

This week we’re working on the first appearances of both the Genie and the Princess.  Everything’s moving forward so quickly!  A few more weeks and act 1 will be done bar the polishing!

Pekoe’s song, Mr Vanity, it sounding good.  His backing singers are doing a fantastic job.  The bass-man in particular, for a guy who was worried he couldn’t sing just a few weeks ago, is sounding brilliant.

Have I mentioned I love how this show is coming together?

February 15, 2010

The start of another week

Filed under: Aladdin, Productions — Tags: , — Matt @ 8:21 am

Week three of rehearsals is about to start.  Last week, with Friday in particular, went very well.  Other than a little polishing, scene 2 is finished!

Though energy seemed to be lacking at the start of the night, a spot of jogging and clapping on the spot soon had people revved up and the following run-through was astounding!

This week scene 1 will get some attention, with a run through of scenes 1 and 2 on Friday.  I can’t wait!

February 1, 2010

Second rehearsal

Filed under: Aladdin, Productions — Tags: , — Matt @ 11:59 pm

Our first Leads Only rehearsal was tonight. Lots of work on characterisation: moving and talking like the character as well as a bit of work on specific character scenes. Quite a few steps forward toward what I can see in my head when I read the script.

I know we’re only two rehearsals in, but so far every rehearsal has left me feeling even better about the show. If this keeps up, by the end of the month I’ll literally explode with excitement!

January 30, 2010

The Final T-Shirt design

Filed under: Aladdin, Productions — Tags: , — Matt @ 11:01 am

Here it is, the final version of the Aladdin shirt.  We’ll have this one available to cast members as a polo shirt (printed on the back) a t-shirt (printed on the front) and as a three-quarter sleeved fitted tee for the girls (again, printed on the front.)

It’s great to have the shirt organised so early in our production run.  Normally it’s not done until summer’s almost over and everyone’s wearing jumpers which cover it up.  This year you can proudly wear your shirt and let the world know you’re part of one of the greatest musical productions ever and they really really want to come and see it!

Then, of course, once the show’s over, you’ve got a great reminder of what you were involved in, a simple item of clothing that will bring back fond memories every time you see it.  Who knew a shirt could do so much?

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