About the Society
Contents
History
We started in 1968, and gave our first fully-staged performance in Halifax
Playhouse three years later. Since then, there have been three main strands
to our activities:
The annual production
We usually perform our annual show around the first week of November in
Halifax Playhouse.
This is fully staged, fully costumed, and performed with an orchestra.
Auditions for principal parts (which are open to anybody) take place at the
end of April, and we start learning the music from May onwards.
Chorus members are not required to audition.
At the beginning of September the Director ('Producer' for traditionalists)
comes along and starts to add the action.
There is plenty for non-singers to take part in as well, at show time. There is
scenery to be built, props to be made and collected, backstage areas to
organise, and front-of-house activities like welcoming the audience and
selling programmes. Performance week can be hectic, but is lots of fun.
Our main show for 2011 is
HMS Pinafore,
November 1st - 5th.
Our past productions are listed here,
or you can pick 'Archive' from the buttons at the left to examine particular
shows, programmes, venues, performers etc from our history.
Concerts
Once the annual show has been tidied away, we begin preparations for our
Concert season.
This is mainly in the Spring, but sometimes we have sung concerts at other
times of the year.
We usually perform six or seven concerts at venues around Halifax,
though we have been further afield to Huddersfield, Bradford and even
beyond Skipton.
The concert programme is based on
Gilbert and Sullivan, with choruses, solos and
ensembles, and perhaps some longer dramatic excerpts from the operas. We usually
include a short selection from other composers too, to give ourselves and the audience
some further variety.
We are always happy to perform at new venues, with either our full chorus (of around
25 to 30 singers) or a smaller group. If you would be interested in a concert from us,
please see our contacts page.
The society pose for a photo at the end of the 2005 concert season
Back row: Leyland Smith, Steven Greenwood, Ian Hillis, David Prosser,
Trevor Roberts, Jim Smithies
Third Row: Richard Buxton, Colin Fine, Michael Templeton, Andrew Stopford,
Mike Whitwam, Peter Sugden, Colin Akers (Musical Director)
Second Row: Carol Fleming, Christine Johnson, Kath Whitwam, Rachel Prosser,
Jean Greenwood, Hannah Brian
Front Row: Carol Engel, Janice Roberts, Christine Roberts, Sheila Simpson, Stephanie Bolton,
Marie Sugden, Kathryn Buxton, Catherine Warwick (Accompanist)
Photo by James Smithies
Other activities
Club nights are some of the most popular occasions with both our singing members and our
listening supporters. These are evenings where we will sing through a complete Gilbert and
Sullivan show, or perhaps another piece from the same period, with the audience providing
the chorus (this is optional! We cordially welcome those who just want to listen).
We generally organise three or four of these, between February and June; and in
recent years we have also held a Pot-pourri evening, where anybody is welcome to come
along with their party piece. It's amazing what hidden talent can show itself on these
occasions!
Fund-raising is very important for the society, particularly to finance the
annual show, and silent auctions, quiz nights, and talks by visiting speakers
have
all taken place over the last few years. There are sometimes also purely
social events such as the society's cricket match.
Membership
Membership is open to all: we have active members in their teens, and others
who are retired people. The subscription is £15 per year. Those who appear in
the main show are asked to pay an additional performance fee of £20.
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Page created by Colin Fine
. Last updated $Date: 2011/03/06 $