History

Click here to view a photographic history of the Society through the years

Our present direction 'team' continues to strive to keep our standards up to scratch. Over the years, soloists, members of the chorus, backstage helpers, directors and musical directors have come and gone, but the spirit and enthusiasm which Eric Matthews and those founder members brought to our early efforts is as strong as ever. May it continue to thrive in the society for many more years of success - and fun!

As well as performing Pirates of Penzance at the Garrick Theatre, Altrincham we also performed a concert of a selection of Gilbert and Sullivans productions as part of the opening ceremony for the new Sale Civic Centre.

The 2006 performance was a refreshing new version creatively directed by our professional director Alistair Donkin. From the outset this version was really going to be performed as a Victorian melodrama. Old hags for bridesmaids and rivally with the locals setting the scene from opening curtain. Not one for the traditionalists, but Alistairs new version breathed life into one of the less popular G and S shows. Lots of laughter throughout certainly delivered a revitalised Ruddygore for the audience.

12th International Festival Buxton

We arrived early at the theatre and our first call to the stage took place about 11am. Alistair block positioned everyone within 20 minutes. Their was an air of excitement backstage as everyone was eager to give their best performance.
About 2pm we started the dress rehearsal. With Chris Yate now in his familiar position of Musical Director and a professional orchestra under his control we began with Act 2. It all seemed so flat and nerves were starting to show, missed entrances, forgotten words, missed cues! Act 1 began with much more exuberance, the opening number with the fan dance went well and things picked up slightly with Chris pulling back anything that didn't sound up to the normally high standard achieved.

The evening perfromance started witha flourish, the men delivering a powerful fan dance number. KoKo;s little list (with his own interpretation) had the audience rolling with laughter. The show went up a gear and was thoroughly enjoyed by a nearly full Opera hpuse.

We were nominated for an award in the "Most Traditional Performance". We were all extremely pleased that Alison Davis won the "Best Female Actress" as Katisha.

In February we were invited to perform at "The Bridgewater Hall" in Manchester, and in conjunctuion with another 6 societies from the Manchester area in aid of Christies Charity we raised £13000. Our 20 minute performance of excerpts from "The Mikado" where extremely well received.

29th October 2006
Trial By Jury or Spoof and Nothing but the Spoof. Directed by Eileen Jackson.
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A very enjoyable night was had by all performing this very entertaining spoof version of Trial by Jury. The programme consisted of Trial by Jury with songs from other shows intertwined with some very “tenuous links”into Trial. The audience wee entertained with classics like “Nothing Like a Dame” from the men and Misty by the ladies.

Pirates in a Day prooved to be a tremendous success. Bringing together not only our current members but also members from other Societies and people who just fancied a day singing. An evening meal was kindly provided by our “in resident chef” Tony Noden who showed his versitility by also musically directing the whole event. The audiencein the evening were given a musical performance consisting of a chorus of over fifty people plus a wide selection of Principals. Many kind words were spoken after the event and we hopefully will carry out a similar production some time in the future.

Our major yearly performance for 2007 consisted of ‘The Zoo’ and ‘HMS Pinafore’. The Zoo had never been performed by the society so proved to be a new and enjoyable challenge to all concerned. Music by Mr Sullivan and words by Bolton Rowe The Zoo was a delightful 40 minute performance that gave the chorus a great opportunity to develop there individual characters. A very well received performance throughout show week, some people remarked that they enjoyed it so much they wished it was longer!

HMS Pinafore was also well received, with Alistair Donkin working the male chorus hard they finally delivered a well drilled performance. The ladies chorus not only sang well but their costumes were very well designed, each with their own individuality. All principals delivered strong performances and with a strong chorus supporting them this show was performed at the high standard that is expected of Sale G and S.

2008 saw the Society break with tradition for the first time in 35 years and perform Die Fledermaus by Johann Strauss II. The show was once again directed by the very talented and versatile Alistair Donkin. A production that consisted of three acts and three distinct changes of scenery. The show was very well received and this led to four nominations being entered for the Manchester Music Awards. In the same year we had a very successful concert season consisting of three concerts which helped to raise the profile of the

Society. We performed at the Sale festival which led to us being invited back to take a show in 2009. Our second concert of the year was for The Avenue Methodist church to help raise funds for the repairs of the church. The final night was at the Bramhall URC which was so well received we were asked back for 2009!