A Jubilee Year Variety Show
Date - 2nd November 2012
Society - Vane Tempest Theatre Group
Venue - Seaham School of Technology, Seaham
Type of Production - Variety Show
Director - Keith Armitage
Musical Director - Enid Jones
Choreographer - Kathryn Burnett
Report - Author: Gordon Richardson
This was exactly what it ‘said on the tin’ – Plenty of variety to suit all ages with an underlying theme of celebrating this Diamond Jubilee year of the Queen’s accession to the throne. Starting appropriately with ‘Sing’, the Jubilee song written by Gary Barlow and Lord Webber; the tone was set for the evening with fine choral singing. Many solo pieces were provided by the rich voices of Ruth Southwick, Aaron Hepple, Ben Wardropper, Laura Geary, Maurice McShane and Carolyn Adgar as we were led through a pastiche of the last sixty years in music, sketches, comedy and even magic. Master of Ceremonies for the evening was Keith Armitage, the show’s director, as he gave a brief history of the last sixty years, often with humorous anecdotes.
The group’s youngest member, Natalie Bowmaker, regaled us with a keyboard solo of one of her own arrangements, Peter Shreyhane and Pat May separately provided us with entertainment in the way of monologues, and Tony Southwick provided a magic section that even I was invited onto stage to act as his ‘stooge’ – you’ll be glad to hear (or not) that he didn’t make me disappear although I’m still trying to work out how he knew it was the 5 of Clubs I’d chosen.... Several short and sometimes thought provoking sketches were delivered, and the whole show was finally brought to a close with a ‘Patriotic Selection’, led by Suzy Wake, which had the audience enthusiastically waving flags and joining in.
A special mention must be reserved for the technical side of things – the set was well dressed and looked appropriate in each section. Lighting was simple but ‘just right’, and sound reinforcement worked well.
Thank you for allowing me to recapture the patriotism of earlier this year – though I’m still trying to work out how did he know which card I had?????
Date - 2nd November 2012
Society - Vane Tempest Theatre Group
Venue - Seaham School of Technology, Seaham
Type of Production - Variety Show
Director - Keith Armitage
Musical Director - Enid Jones
Choreographer - Kathryn Burnett
Report - Author: Gordon Richardson
This was exactly what it ‘said on the tin’ – Plenty of variety to suit all ages with an underlying theme of celebrating this Diamond Jubilee year of the Queen’s accession to the throne. Starting appropriately with ‘Sing’, the Jubilee song written by Gary Barlow and Lord Webber; the tone was set for the evening with fine choral singing. Many solo pieces were provided by the rich voices of Ruth Southwick, Aaron Hepple, Ben Wardropper, Laura Geary, Maurice McShane and Carolyn Adgar as we were led through a pastiche of the last sixty years in music, sketches, comedy and even magic. Master of Ceremonies for the evening was Keith Armitage, the show’s director, as he gave a brief history of the last sixty years, often with humorous anecdotes.
The group’s youngest member, Natalie Bowmaker, regaled us with a keyboard solo of one of her own arrangements, Peter Shreyhane and Pat May separately provided us with entertainment in the way of monologues, and Tony Southwick provided a magic section that even I was invited onto stage to act as his ‘stooge’ – you’ll be glad to hear (or not) that he didn’t make me disappear although I’m still trying to work out how he knew it was the 5 of Clubs I’d chosen.... Several short and sometimes thought provoking sketches were delivered, and the whole show was finally brought to a close with a ‘Patriotic Selection’, led by Suzy Wake, which had the audience enthusiastically waving flags and joining in.
A special mention must be reserved for the technical side of things – the set was well dressed and looked appropriate in each section. Lighting was simple but ‘just right’, and sound reinforcement worked well.
Thank you for allowing me to recapture the patriotism of earlier this year – though I’m still trying to work out how did he know which card I had?????
