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.
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 performance started with a 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.
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!
2009 saw the return of The Gondoliers. With the support of Manchester University
G and S Society (MUGSS) we were able to boost our numbers for this performance. For
the society this was financially a difficult year, we needed to break even or make
a profit to continue. With this in mind everyone pulled together and we not only
made The Gondoliers an excellent show which also led to the “Best Comedy Performance”
award being presented to John Mathias by the Manchester Music Awards, but we also
managed to sell more tickets thus successfully achieving a small profit. So we are
now looking forward to performing Iolanthe in 2010.
In 2010 the Society performed Iolanthe which was last performed in 2003. Like every society we continue to see a turnover of members. The Ladies chorus as usual had an abundance of talent which which can be seen in our YouTube clip of the Ladies opening chorus. The male chorus (being outnumbered two to one) certainly rose to the challenge and our chorus of 10 sang strongly and consistently. The peers entrance which can also be seen on YouTube reflects this. Overall it was a very well received performance which received a very nice write up from David Parkes from NODA Northwest. In the same year the society put on a small production of Old Time Music hall. With a reduced number of members the night went down a storm with over 110 people attending Montague Rd, which also gave the audience the opportunity to sing along. The night also gave an opportunity for many chorus members to sing individual verses or songs.