FHODS Highlights Edition 86 (March 2024)
A WORD FROM THE CHAIR
With spring just around the corner this feels like a good time for new beginnings and we are very pleased to inform members that we have successfully recruited two new members of staff to fill the Technical Theatre Manager role and to share Michelle’s role as Administrative Assistant. Robert (Technical Theatre Manager), and Ella (Administrative Assistant), will be starting with us on 3rd April and I am sure all members will join us in warmly welcoming them.
Huge congratulations must go to all involved in our recent production of “A murder is announced”. With packed audiences, there was a real buzz as people were leaving the auditorium having thoroughly enjoyed the show. As always, thanks to all of our volunteers, your continued support is vital and hugely appreciated.
We have several exciting productions in the pipeline at the moment. Rehearsals for Hobson’s Choice, our May play, are well under way, Beauty and the Beast, our summer musical, has started rehearsing, Six Dance Lessons, our first play to go on in the foyer, is also rehearsing and if successful, we hope to use the foyer more for similar productions.
A reminder that there will be a get together on Tuesday 26th March for our September musical Sister Act at 6pm in the foyer. For further information please email either Alice Hawkins (director – a.bell3@btinternet.com) or Mike Manton (producer – mikemanton@gmail.com).
Also another reminder to members about our next working party day on 14th April from 10am at the theatre. We are hoping for good weather so that we can continue clearing the outside space around the office and containers to make a nice seating area for members and eventually customers. We look forward to seeing lots of you there.
Finally, some sad news for members. Reana, our wonderful Events and Marketing Manager has decided the time is right to pursue new adventures and will be leaving us at the end of April. Reana has worked tirelessly in the office for almost 6 years and her commitment, dedication and passion for the theatre will be greatly missed. Reana would like to reassure members that we will still see her, as she would like to continue volunteering at events and visiting the theatre regularly, which we are all very pleased to hear. I am sure all members will want to join me in thanking Reana hugely for her contribution to the theatre and to wish her success and happiness for the future.
Alice Hawkins
PERFORMANCE & PLANNING COMMITTEE UPDATE
Our first production of the year, Agatha Christie’s A Murder is Announced, was a huge success – congratulations to the production team and cast. We had a near-sell out show – thank you to all of you who came to guess whodunnit!
Our next production is from our talented Youth Section who will bring us Into the Woods on 19-20 April, closely followed by the classic Hobson’s Choice on 16-18 May, brought into the swinging sixties. Tickets for both productions are now on sale – don’t leave it too late to get your seat! Auditions for our September production of Sister Act are on 7 April – as always, our auditions are open to members and non-members so please do spread the word.
Panto 2024
The deadline for submission for Aladdin is fast approaching – you can submit a proposal to P&P at jules_morrow@hotmail.com until 31 March. We’ll be announcing details of the successful team next month.
2025 Programme
We’ve been delighted to have some fantastic proposals for next year’s programme, but if you are interested in directing it’s not too late! Expressions of interest for 2025 close on 7 April, with the deadline for proposals on 5 May. So if you are thinking about proposing a show but haven’t yet been in touch, please do email me at jules_morrow@hotmail.com before 7 April and we can support you to develop a proposal by the May deadline.
As always, if you would like to get involved backstage do let me know, we’re always on the look out for new people to help to make our productions the best they can be.
Thanks so much for your continued support and I hope to see you soon at one of our upcoming productions.
Julie Morrow, P&P Chair
NEW FHODS MEMBERSHIP SYSTEM
Dear members, we are pleased to announce the launch of our new FHODS membership management system provided by MemberMojo.
You should’ve received an email on 18th March telling you all about the new system. If did not receive an email, please check your junk folder and email settings and be sure to add mailer.fhods@membermojo.co.uk to your allowed senders list if you use junk filters.
If you still do not have the email, then it may be that we have an incorrect email address for you on the system (we did get a few failures) — or we don’t have your email address at all. Please contact our membership secretary Michelle Hartley: membership@fhods.org.uk so we can correct this for you!
N.B. I included the wrong email address in that email – apologies if you’ve tried to make contact by it! The correct email address is membership@fhods.org.uk.
MemberMojo provides automated renewal reminders and an online payment system, meaning you can renew your membership at your convenience and even pay by credit/debit card online.
MemberMojo also provides a member portal where you can view and edit your personal details, check your membership number, review your payments and create/change your password.
Please let us know if you have any questions or feedback about the new system!
Ben Forrest
FHODS Exec Committee.
GET TOGETHER AND AUDITIONS – SISTER ACT
A reminder that the get-together and auditions for Sister Act are approaching fast.
Based on the 1992 film, it is set in the fabulous late-1970s Philadelphia. When disco diva Deloris Van Cartier witnesses a murder, she’s placed in protective custody where she won’t be found: a convent. Disguised as a nun, she finds herself at odds with the rigid lifestyle of Mother Superior. Using her unique talents, Deloris breathes new life into the church and community, ultimately blowing her cover. Will Deloris and her newly found sisterhood be a match when the murderer shows up?
Sister Act will be performed September 13-21. We will be having a get-together at the Tower Theatre at 6pm on Tuesday March 26 and auditions will be from 1pm on Sunday April 7.
Details of auditions and all audition pieces are now available on the FHODS Audition Website.
FACILITIES UPDATE
Right chaps, settle down, time for the fun stuff. In the past month we’ve had so much fun. We’ve had a rat! (“Dead for a ducat!”). It was running around in the auditorium, we tried to sign it up for crew but it wasn’t interested. I was asked what we should do about it. Apparently ‘The Pied Piper’ was the wrong answer, honestly there’s no pleasing some people (“That’s just what Jesus said sir!”).
So anyways we got in the pest control guy and we laid some traps for mice and rats and we put down some UV powder (in the crawl space beneath the seating). UV powder? Yep, what happens is the critter comes and snacks on the bait and treads in the UV powder, then a few days later you come back with a UV lamp and all the little footprints and tail swishes glow in neon yellow and you can figure out the comings and goings. Clever huh? There were quite a few footprints. And there were two dead woodmice, one male, one female, so if not already a breeding pair then a pair capable of breeding. So it wasn’t a rat in the auditorium it was a woodmouse, which is quite a bit bigger than a house mouse and leaves behind different sized turds – isn’t this fun?!. Oh the glamour of a life in the theatre.
We spent a lot of time getting in a contractor to quote for secondary glazing throughout and after much chasing they finally announced they didn’t want to do it as it was too hard and difficult. Yay. Also due to the extensive rains we’ve had some water ingress issues but I have a foolproof plan to counter this – I’m going to wait for it to stop raining. OK, it’s a nuisance but for the time being it’s bearable and we’ll look at addressing later.
We had a gas engineer in to service the boilers (legally we are obliged to hold gas safety certificates for those). Sadly the upshot was that we ended up with stickers on our boilers saying ‘Danger. Do not use’. The boilers had not been correctly wired together so in effect one was doing all the work. Also as the radiators have not been flushed for some time and all the crud that builds up was feeding back into the boilers, which in turn was causing the expansion tanks to leak water onto the the internal electrics. But other than that it was fine. The repair bill for that is £3,200 (that’s for a full chemical flush and two full boiler strip out repairs/replacement of life expired components and the gas safety certificates).
I’m sorry but I have to have those certificates. I know it sounds boring (probably because it is boring), but it’s actually quite important. We might be an amateur society but we’re a professional business and we need all the certificates every professional business needs, no-one cuts us any breaks because we’re a charity.
To continue that theme, during March, we are going to commence engaging with a Fire Risk Assessment consultant. It’s a legal requirement for us to have a Fire Risk Assessment and we don’t got one. That will lead to new adventures – correct positioning of fire escape luminaires, monthly fire extinguisher inspections, fire alarm testing, all sorts of grooviness. We need to instigate a regular fire safety programme, I know it’s really dull and I’m sorry I’m spending more of your hard earned money on more stuff you won’t see, but without these things our insurances won’t be valid and we’ll be attracting liabilities which could, worse case, shut us down. These are things that profesional businesses have to do and we just have to grit our teeth and work through it. Sorry.
Generally we need to move into a PPM regime. PPM is Planned Preventative Maintenance and we’ve not really been doing that consistently. It’s like having your car serviced, MOT’d etc. Currently the tyres are bald, the brakes grind, the oil needs changing and worst of all you can’t get Test Match Special on the radio (I know right! Nightmare!).
In other news. We bought a new drill! It’s yellow! It’s dead sexy and has two battery packs and we bought it using our new trade account card from Wickes which means we get 10% off from now on. Generally with regard to workshop kit we’re in not too bad a position but we have had a tendency in the past to buy on the cheap and when it comes to power tools and the like you generally tend to get what you pay for and we want the good stuff.
Finally I’ll end with a topic that most people are keen on. Chocolate! You will see that in the green room there is now a fridge. It has chocolates and soft drinks in it. If you fancy a snack take what you want and leave the money in the tupperware tub. It’s an ‘honour system’ (honour? You lot? Yeah whatevs). There is no surveillance, Big Brother is not watching you (you’re really not that interesting, get over yourself). If you take something please pay for it and we’ll use any profit to buy more equipment for the workshop. Look at it this way – by eating chocolate you’re making a real difference. Pork out to help out innit?
Paul Milton
Exec Facility Manager
INTO THE WOODS – APRIL 19-20
The Youth Section are working super hard on Sondheim’s classic musical, but ticket sales need a push!
This group are the next generation of FHODDIES, and we would really appreciate the support of FHODS members coming to see the show. With the amount of members we have, it would be easy to nearly get full houses, so please, please do come and support them.
Tickets are only £11 for adults and £8 for under 18’s, so it’s a relatively cheap night out to be treated to some incredible performances from our younger members.
We had a photoshoot last weekend, where we actually went ‘into the woods’, and got some lovely teaser pics. They have an Instagram account for anyone who would like to check it out @FHODSYOUTHSECTION, and they are posting updates and some of these pictures regularly.
Sondheim musicals are tricky to perform, those who were in Company and Sweeney Todd will be able to tell you! But the amount of work, talent and passion these youngsters have, are handling it like a duck to water – so please come and support the show.
Thank you in advance
Michelle Hartley – Youth Section Co-ordinator
INTO THE WOODS SET BUILD – SATURDAY APRIL 13, 10AM
Calling all handy people! We will be starting the set build for Into the Woods on the above date and time, it would be wonderful if we could have some volunteers to come and help us put the set up for this show. Usually, cast members will help with the set build, but as this is a Youth Production, legally they are not allowed to help, so we need you!
If you can, please come along for however long you can, bring your own tools (if you have them), and there will be tea, coffee and cake, and I might even bring some sausage rolls!
If this is something that you can help with, please let me know on michelle.candles@gmail.com
DISNEY’S BEAUTY AND THE BEAST – JUNE 28-30 & JULY 4-7
We are so excited to announce that we now have a complete cast for the show, welcoming Steve Hawkins into the role of Cogsworth.
We had some incredible auditions for our Children’s Ensemble and our Dancers, with over 40 children attending, and we are pleased to announce the children cast below and their performance dates, so family and friends can get booking!
Children’s acting ensemble Team A:
Tilly Seward
Astrid Bonfante Horrox
Penelope Spickett
Edith Ireland
Telilah Jepson
Children’s acting ensemble Team B:
Lyla Giles
Elodie Fordham
Annabel Prineas
Sofia Wright
Miles Record
Dancers Team A:
Thomas Arnold
Annabelle Gibson
Hattie Sparks
Milla-Eve Swarbrick
Dancers Team B:
Oliver Minns-Wilson
Darcey Parry
Violet Hawkins
Orla O’Callaghan
Senior Dancers:
Annabel Gosford
Lottie Binks
Charlotte Flutter
Lilly Husk
Footstool/Dog: Samantha Hartley
Show Dates and Teams:
Friday 28th June – Evening -Team A
Saturday 29th June – Matinee – Team B
Saturday 29th June – Evening – Team B
Sunday 30th June – Relaxed Matinee – Team A
Thursday 4th July – Evening – Team A
Friday 5th July – Evening – Team B
Saturday 6th July – Matinee – Team A
Saturday 6th July – Evening – Team A
Sunday 7th July – Singalong Matinee – Team B
Senior Dancers and the Footstool will be in every performance.
Don’t forget that we have a Relaxed performance of the show on Sunday 30th June, and an exclusive Sing-a-long performance on Sunday 7th July. So if you’ve ever wanted to channel your inner Belle or Beast, then this is your chance!
Michelle Hartley – Director
