Forum Players

Latest News and Dates (Updated 6th May 2009)
For dates for your diary please click on the Calendar link below

Message from HQ

At the last Committee Meeting, we unfortunately did not have sufficient attendees for some proper decision making, however, the people present managed to have a good discussion about club life, and about forthcoming events. In fact:-

Everything is … almost ready

…. For our Spring production, Variety is the Spice of Life. After an intense and enjoyable schedule of rehearsals everything is getting finally completed, in order to make the show word and music perfect. Everybody has been working very hard in order to treat Rodger & Hammerstein and George Gershwin with the respect they deserve. There will be something for everybody, old, less old, music lovers and non-music lovers, and Sam Keeble and David Gibson will lead us through the evening, telling us amusing stories about life and music. The chorus composed by a combination of Forum Players and Operatic Society will sing marvellous and unforgettable memories, extracts from My Fair Lady, The King and I etc. Not to be missed will be Emily Walters singing The Boy I love is up in the Gallery, and John Sendall’s When Father papered the Parlour, ably supported by Ros, a few sketches with Roger and Matthew amongst others, and a parade of London songs for everybody to join in. The melodrama is not certainly an affair for the faint-hearted, and I would recommend to people with an emotional predisposition not to come and see it. The plot is, indeed, very dark, and only at the end will we discover who killed Cosimo Decrepit. Be aware of a truly Shakespearean ending! The audience will be invited to participate emotionally and vocally. The tickets are out for sale, so bring as many friends, relatives, neighbours as possible – nobody must be spared from this experience.

Everything seems to be ready – the programme, T-shirts etc. – BUT the same cannot be said for the scenery and the artwork in general, so the Forum Players Studio is under pressure to put the finishing touches and brush strokes to what is promising to be an enjoyable show! So for me, it’s off to the scene dock …

Important: Panto 2010

Please remember the date for the panto reading! Finally, everything will be revealed, and Brenda Phelps is finishing her script to be read out on 20th May. Please make sure as many club members can be there as possible.

First reading will take place on 20th May in the Main Hall.

Performance dates will be Sat 23rd, Sun 24th and Sat 30th January 2010.

Visiting Friends

A month ago, a patrol of us visited Maidenhead Players’ production of Hello Dolly in order to salute Sally Rowlandson, and Christine and Geoff’s daughter Sally in the title role. A very good standard of singing and choreography, especially by the two ladies mentioned. Having taken part in a production of Hello Dolly myself a few years ago, I was naturally looking for faults but I could not find many. After the show we met up briefly with Sally, and it was nice to see how show business can bring people together and make them friends forever.

The other thing that made that night interesting for me was the fact that I received a parking ticket of Ł25, and I noticed that the ticket price for the show was Ł14. This seems a high price for an amateur production. I’m sure our treasurer will disagree with me on this point, but I think that companies or theatre associations should always rely on an amount of fund raising rather than ‘attacking’ spectators’ pockets, particularly in these financially precarious times.

Unfortunately …

… This summer, we won’t have a repetition of Jill Hyde’s Youth Production because of work commitments she will not be available to take on a project like this. If you remember, this production attracted a large number of youngsters from the area. The production managed to create a lot of interest in the community at the time, and we hope to have something like this again in the future.

When the Curtain falls

When the curtain will fall on the last night of the Spring Production, people will wonder how we will spend the rest of year. It has not been possible for me to organise a calendar of events that I could present to the committee, to fill in the gap until the pantomime, and I’m very aware that resting “is bad for body and spirit” and can make our visibility in the area suffer. As you know, the library is being extended at the moment. The work is almost completed, but as any of you with experience of builders will surely agree, builders sometimes have a different calendar (and watch!) from the rest of the world, whether they are building Olympic stadiums, conservatories or fitting kitchens. The librarian told me that the completion of the library extension will by delayed. Therefore, a) the Children’s Theatre will not take place at the library – please see Linda Perry’s article below for more information, and b) the Summer Festival which was well supported last year will take place at the newly refurbished library at the end of July/beginning of August, in the format we know. Linda Perry and I are currently discussing suitable texts for the festival, and we will let you know more in due course.

In addition, there is a call for some help with artistic input to some more social events, such as the evening at Magnolia House for charity hosted by Elaine Baudouin, and it would be great if Forum Player members could participate. Please refer to the information under Dates for your Diary.

Special Well Wishes to Margaret Seaman

Some of you may know that Margaret has not been well. Get well soon Margaret, and we hope to see you at one of our forthcoming events.

What's On etc.

Compilation of forthcoming events and activities as discussed in the monthly Committee Meeting.

Visit to Meadows School, Wooburn Green by Linda and Rick

for a detailed report see below. If you are interested in taking part in the proposed performance at the school, please contact Linda or Rick.

Summer Shows

Rick is going to meet up with the librarian to discuss some dates for the summer programme in the Library. He is also going to see the Landlord in the Bounty on the river to see if we can do something there in the summer.

Village Fete on 6th June

Rick has spoken to Penny Walsh about this and asked if we would be able to do some Bacon sandwiches BEFORE the BBQ starts and if we could “fill in” around the jazz band with some songs with the Operatic society. He is still waiting to hear back. At the moment we are still planning to go ahead with the teas, coffees etc in the Target room as before. There will be a Tombola, for which we need some prizes – please donate generously!

Forum Players Badges

Leigh still has lots of badges for sale – please contact Leigh if you are interested in buying one.

Donation to WPC Underhill Trust Fund

John notified Leigh that the total amount donated to the Trust fund for the children of WPC Underhill was Ł126.70 from the profit of sales of programmes from this year’s Panto.

Variety is the Spice of Life - Tickets

Tickets are now on sale at the Library or via Leigh if that’s difficult. Her number is 01628 523291. Please get selling to family and friends or even complete strangers as the more the merrier and it’s going to be a very entertaining show.

Help is needed Front of House on 14th, 15th and 16th so if you can help could you let Wendy know on wendy@forumplayers.com

Forthcoming Show at Meadows School, Wooburn

by Linda Perry

For the beginning of this story we must go back in time to 3rd December, 2007. It was my job as a committee member to phone schools in Bourne End and surrounding areas to ask whether they would help us to promote our forthcoming Panto, The Witches of Bourne End, by displaying a poster and handing out ‘flyers’ to the children.

I had very positive feedback from the 20 schools I had targeted. However, there was one in particular which really stood out. It was number 14 on my list, Meadows School, Wooburn. I found myself speaking with the Head Teacher, Phyllis Carr, and repeated exactly what I had said to the last 13 schools. Mrs. Carr told me that she would be delighted to help us. She also added how much she loved coming to our shows and that she would be “more than happy” to help and support us. Then it happened: Mrs. Carr said, rather cheekily, “If ever you wanted to do a dress rehearsal at the school, OR, maybe put on a little performance, maybe a half hour sketch or something … anything … I know that the children would absolutely love it.”

Well, what could I say to that? I thought it was a fantastic idea and told Mrs. Carr that I would have to put it to the committee and would get back to her. The committee liked the idea and said that we would review it after Christmas. However, it was put on the ‘back burner’ because of other projects already in hand. I phoned Mrs. Carr and explained but told her we would not forget about it.

Fast-forward to the present day - well, almost - to February 2009. During the monthly committee meeting I mentioned Meadows School again. Rick gave me the go-ahead to phone Mrs. Carr to arrange for he and I to visit her at the school to discuss ideas for a little show. We met Mrs. Carr on 3rd April 2009 – exactly a year and 4 months to the day after that first phone call. Rick and I were shown to a classroom with children, heads down, reading intently (or so they wanted us to believe). Mrs. Carr introduced us and asked if anyone had heard of Forum Players or had seen any of our Pantos. Well, imagine our surprise when Henrietta Joseph-Green put her hand up. Mrs. Carr asked her whether she had seen one of our Pantos. Henrietta proudly told her that she performed in the last one, King Humpty Dumpty. Mrs. Carr and the other children were suitably impressed. “Did you enjoy it?” Mrs. Carr asked.

Thankfully, Henrietta said, “Yes, very much.” Then it was ‘heads down’ again while the three of us discussed ideas. Mrs. Carr said she was thrilled that we were going to do something for the children then asked us if we would like to stay and watch the school’s Easter Assembly. Both Rick and I said that we would love to. As there were 20 minutes or so before the assembly began we were shown into the staff room (by Henrietta!) and had a cup of coffee.

We were bowled over by the assembly. It took me back to when Natalie and Chris were little. The effort put in by all of the children amazed us, and the looks on their faces when showing us their works of art was really lovely. I felt proud of them and didn’t even know them! Afterwards, Mrs. Carr introduced us to the whole school and told them that we were going to perform a little show for them soon. They were very excited. As were we! We were made to feel very welcome by everyone. It was a lovely way to spend a morning.

Our show will be along the same lines as the Children’s Theatre in the Library. Hopefully, some of the members of Forum who have ‘hung up’ their work-boots will help out with the acting. The youngsters of Forum, who have acted in the library shows in the past, will be at school; so one of our ideas is to three or four older children from Meadows School in the show. Mrs. Carr loved this idea.

Now all we have to do is to decide:- • Which story will we do? We have a couple of ideas already. • Who is going to be in it? Stand by your phones! • When will we do it? Probably in June, but we will have a couple of rehearsals before that.

No problems!?!

This is an exciting venture and I know that Forum Players will rise to the occasion and put on a good show, as usual. And, I hope we will have as much fun as we have had with the Children’s Theatre and the Summer Festival Shows!

BBQ

Cost will be Ł6 per head, bring your own drink. We will provide all food and any left over cash will go to charity. Please let Emily Walters know if you want to come by Monday 29th June, as well as any dietary needs.

NOW BOOKING FOR via Jill Hyde jill@forumplayers.com

The Naked Truth - March 26th – 28th
Flashdance - May 11th – 16th
Chicago - June 15th – 20th
Le Grande Cirque – July 1st – 4th
Seven Brides For Seven Brothers – July 7th – 11th
Evita – November 16th – 28th

NB Jill will only book if she has 8 or more people wanting tickets.

The Wycombe Swan Summer Youth Project this year is Crazy For You. I am proposing to book seats for the evening of Saturday August 8th as usual. I know it’s a long time away but if you are interested, please let me know.

If you are interested in going to any of the suggestions, or indeed have any suggestions of your own for anything else at the Swan or at any other theatres then please let Jill know by e-mailing her at jill@forumplayers.com

And finally (If you've read this far)
Anybody who would like to contribute to the Newsletter or write to the Chairman, feel free to get in touch with Rick by email to rick@forumplayers.com