Friday 17 April 2009

Rock Tour 2 - Kidderminster

And so to Kidderminster for the last performance of the tour. It has been an excellent tour - performances have been good, audiences big, and more conversations and prayer taking place afterwards than ever. It has been a joy to be part of, and what better place to conclude it all than Kidderminster - organised by Sue Stinton and Katy Cornwell. The New Life Together choir have been meeting and performing together for years, and they have been friends with CMM and regular attenders at events for just as long.

We all arrived at the Kidderminster Town Hall in time for a team meeting, where we spent quite a bit of time in prayer, as one of our cast members, Clair, had had an accident on the way to the venue. But thankfully she was ok and Martin was able to go and fetch her. They then got caught in West Bromwich Albion traffic, but still made it in time to have a quick bite to eat and then rehearsal with the choir.


Tickets had been going pretty well for the performance, and so many went on the door that they had to open up the balcony, which was excellent news.


We have been performing at the Kidderminster Town Hall for the last few tours, and had always struggled a little for dressing room space - there was only really one room available - the bar - and there were no mirrors. This time we were delighted to discover that there were a whole suite of rooms we had never discovered before, the King Charles Suite. It is rather a grand banqueting room with comfortable rooms and even a fully equipped dressing room with full length mirrors. Wonderful! This did however mean that the girls and boys had to share makeup facilities. The girls received a fascinating insight into life in the men's dressing room - particularly the rousing renditions of 'chestnuts roasting on an open fire' (in homage to Jonathan's 'chestnut' coloured makeup) and also 'We love you Brenda, we do', whenever Brenda delivers the freshly ironed costumes.


The final performance of the tour passed without any mishaps. The choir sang really well, and it was lovely to finish the tour among friends in front of a full hall.


Thanks again to Sue and all her helpers.

Rock Tour 2 - Derby

After nearly a week off, the touring party were once again out on the road, for this, the penultimate performance of Rock Tour 2. But the journey was not without it's mishaps. Alan's beautiful new Audi decided to completely give up - all the electrics failed on the A38 in Birmingham, leaving him stranded with Helen and Viv, the prayer coordinator for the weekend. Thankfully Gill, a member of EBRG and one of the choreographers for Rock was reasonable nearby, and she drove Helen and Viv to Derby, where they arrived just in time for dinner. Alan arrived with Gill's husband Bill just in time for prayers before the performance. Everyone else arrived ok, apart from Laura and Ann, who got a little lost in Derby. They made it in the end though.

The Derby performance had been looked forward to with much anticipation by several members of the touring party. Marilyn, Laura, Felicity and Richard all had lots of people attending from their churches - Richard had sold a significant portion of the tickets for the night to his church, who came on a coach. Also, Helen's mum was part of the choir, along with several members of her church in Long Eaton.

The Derby performance has traditionally been organised by Ian MacLaren of Derby Wesley Owen. Ian retired a few months before the performance, but still helped with the organising along with other staff from the Wesley Owen who sold the tickets. The main Derby choir was trained by Peter Nelson, and they were supplemented by a choir from Nottingham trained by Anne Hicks, and a choir from Long Eaton trained by Jane Allen. It was the first time the Long Eaton choir had been involved.

The Derby Assembly Rooms have a unique layout for the performers. The stage itself is enormous both in breadth and depth, and is surrounded by a black wall about 3 metres high. At the top of this wall the choir seats started, almost like a balcony, and the choir was so big it surrounded three sides of the stage.

The performance was great fun - so much room to use, and tickets pretty much sold out. The choir sounded fantastic, and there was a great buzz in the auditorium afterwards.

Thanks so much to all those who worked so hard to make it all possible. The Derby choir always holds their own performances afterwards, so our thoughts and prayers are with you. And also with the Long Eaton choir, who are performing themselves on 26th April.

Rock Tour 2 - Norwich

After a fabulous day in Ipswich and a wonderful morning meeting, it was just a short journey over the border into Norfolk, to Norwich. Norwich is almost like a second home to Roger and Mary - they have been supported for years by Meadow Way Chapel, and the Southgate family.
After driving very slowly through Norwich Saturday shopping traffic, we finally arrived at the venue - the Salvation Army Citadel. This is the second time this venue has been used. For Wildfire six years ago we used the Norwich family church, and it was booked for Jail Break, but was burnt down a couple of months before the performance. The Salvation Army Citadel stepped in for Jail Break, and it was such a good venue we used it again for Rock.

Salvation Army Citadels make excellent concert venues, as there is almost always some permanent tiered seating at the front - ideal for choirs. The tiered seating at Norwich was not quite big enough for the large choir for Rock, so some of the sopranos were down on stage left, and some more above them in the balcony. The instrumentalists were up on the balcony on stage left - their beautiful tones drifting over the top of the auditorium.

After a delicious lunch organised by the local team (headed up by Jenny Osborne) we had a quick team meeting during which the choir started arriving for rehearsal ahead of the first performance of the day. The Norwich choir, trained by Jenny Osborne, was supplemented by a choir from Lowestoft, trained by Peter Winter. Together they made an excellent sound, which filled the 450 seater auditorium beautifully.

The first performance went well, and the audience seats were almost all filled. We were then able to share with the choir over tea before the second performance, which was great - while attempting to find out the news of qualifying for the first formula 1 grand prix of the season with very little mobile phone signal...

The second performance of the day went well too, although slightly interrupted by a lady in the choir fainting during Just as I am. After being led off the stage, she fainted again, blocking one of the two entrances to the stage so that the dancers couldn't get on ready for song 14 - the healing of the lame man. Martin, who's job it is to carry on one of the dancers to be the lame man instead grabbed the nearest person - Sally, who was still wearing her costume from the previous song. The lady that fainted recovered well, which is a relief. Days with both a matinnee and an evening performance can be quite challenging to choirs, sitting under the hot lights for so long.

Thanks so much to Jenny and Ruth and all the team in Norwich. Most of the touring party travelled to Meadow Way chapel for the following morning's service, with Ann, Annie, Marilyn and Helen augmenting their excellent worship band. It was a lovely service, with Roger preaching, and an excellent way to end the week's tour.

Rock Tour 2 - Ipswich

And on to our second new venue of the tour - Ipswich. We have long had many friends in Suffolk and the surrounding areas - Colchester, West Mersea, Stowmarket to name just a few. So it was great to finally have an Ipswich performance. The Christmas before last, Helen and Annie had been invited to lead an Inn Crowd in a day at Bethesda Baptist Church in the middle of Ipswich. The organiser, Peter Miller, along with his wife Olive, had done an incredible job organising that day - a choir of approximately 100, and an orchestra of 15 or so. With so much support and enthusiasm behind him, we rather bullied Peter into organising an Ipswich venue for Rock, and what a wonderful job he did!

After our morning team meeting in Worthing, we set off on the long journey through the Dartford Tunnel to Ipswich. On arrival we discovered that although the Technicians had had some difficulty, things were well under way. Peter had managed to pull together a massive choir for the performance, and choir seats were filling up every inch of the stage that could be spared - a huge chunk of the tenors and basses were directly behind the musicians, which gave them a new perspective on the performance!

The Corn Exchange in Ipswich is like a big old... corn exchange. It looks inside like an old railway station - most of the audience seats were on the flat below the stage, but there was some tiering in the balcony and just below it. It holds about 800 people, and for the performance of Rock, was pretty much sold out, which was very exciting. We heard not long after arriving that over the past few years in Ipswich there had been low attendances at shows, and the hall staff were amazed to have a full auditorium. Sadly we discovered that on the day of the performance some of the hall staff had been made redundant. We pray that Rock will have had a big impact on them.


After our team meeting we had a good pray around the building - it is amazing some of the things that happen in a public hall that need clearing away - psychics, seances, mediums.

The Ipswich team (there must have been at least 20 volunteers helping on the day) had put together a wonderful tea for us of jacket potatoes and fillings, which gave us plenty of energy for the performance. We had a good rehearsal with the choir - and an important one too - we needed to get used to wading through choir members in order to get on to the performing area!


The performance went well too - both Helen and Alyson had family in the audience, which was wonderful. Amy managed to play for half of the musical, and had to come off following the crucifixion scene because she was coughing, but at least she made it that far!


Thanks so much to Peter, Olive and their extensive team of helpers and all the different choir trainers - Mike Arbon, David White, Karen Hill, Pat Kirby. What a wonderful event it was.

Thursday 16 April 2009

Rock Tour 2 - Worthing

The following morning we met together back at All Saints in Crowborough, and had a lovely morning meeting. Just outside the side chapel where we met there was a grand piano, and Devon led us all in a sing song together before we moved on to Worthing. It's moments like that that make tour incredibly special.

We travelled down to Worthing, parked, and hurried down to the sea front. It was a bit of a cold day, but that would not stop all of the midlanders in the team from getting a glimpse of the ocean. Fish and chips on the pier were the order of the day, although some of the team were sidetracked by other eating establishments that offered seating inside out of the wind... After lunch came the traditional stone throwing into the sea, or even some paddling, in the case of Richard and Brenda, and then a wander back through the town to the Assembly Rooms. We have performed at the Assembly rooms for the last few musicals, and it was great to see all our friends - Jane and George Hicks, Steve Brown and John Barnes.

After the team meeting we gave the understudies a rest and had a bit of spare time, and then had dinner - during which Sally had been plotting. When the rehearsal began, instead of track 1 of Rock, track 1 of Jail Break began - Where the Spirit of the Lord is. The choir had been primed, and they all knew the words. Sally had taught the dancers the dance, and good fun was had by all - except perhaps Roger and Alan, who were not amused...

The Assembly Rooms is a great place to perform. There is a large stage with two levels to work on - which the dancers enjoyed, and choir tiering too. We had a good performance again - that has been one of the features of the tour with very consistant performances and everyone trying their hardest

There was a lot of chatter and conversations afterwards, with many friends to be met and spoken to. Anna, one of the dancers, seems to have family all over the country. This time it was her grandmother, who had travelled across from Bognor Regis, a town regularly visited by CMM for music weeks and musicals in a day.


Thanks so much to all those who organised the Rock performance at the Assembly Rooms. It's strange to think that we won't be visiting there again.

Rock Tour 2 - Crowborough

We met the following morning at a church in Horsham. Sue Messenger, the Crawley organiser, felt well enough to join us, and it was great to see her. After another round of happy birthday for Felicity, we drove the short distance to Crowborough - several cars unsuccessfully trying to find the 100 Acre wood and play pooh sticks.



The venue at Crowborough was All Saints Church, right on the green in the middle of the town/village. It is a pretty ordinary looking Anglican church on the outside, but inside you can see the benefits of £2million worth of work. The original structure has trippled in size, and the extension is beautiful, and very practical, giving plenty of rooms for the cast and choir to use. There is even underfloor heating...


This is the second time we have been able to visit Crowborough. Cliff and Julie Wootton and their family have long been friends of CMM, as regular visitors to our holiday weeks at Lee Abbey, and it has been great to have them on board both for Jail Break and for Rock. They were joined in their organisation by Mark and Cheryl Farnham - an excellent team. The choir had greatly increased in size from last time, under the excellent tuition of the director of music at All Saints - Duncan Fraser.


After our team meeting we had a bit of spare time before dinner, so a few of the team had a birthday party downstairs in the hall for Felicity. This included musical statues, bumps, chairs as well as a brilliant rendition of the hokey cokey.

After a wonderful shepherd's pie, we got down to rehearsing with the choir. The choir were all situated on stage right in an L shape - this meant that they were really able to hear each other well and the blend was excellent. The instrumentalists were stage left, and the cast and dancers were performing in front of some screens hiding the communion table, font and lectern.

The performance was almost completely sold out, which was brilliant. There was also tea and coffee served at the end, which was great, because it meant there was plenty of time to chat to those that had come to watch. This unfortunately meant a late night for Brenda and Barrie in the wardrobe department, as some of the costumes were returned pretty late.

Thanks so much once again to Cliff, Julie, Mark, Cheryl and Duncan. Also thanks to All Saints for having us again. We are really looking forward to coming again on June 13th at our Rock Roadshow.

Rock Tour 2 - Crawley



After a day off from touring (although many of the touring party went back to work for a day) we all travelled down to Crawley to begin the tour proper - a 5 day stretch. Mary Jones joined us for this stretch of the tour, and it was great to have her with us.



We have regularly performed in the Redhill/Crawley area for the last few musicals, usually at the Harlequin Theatre in Redhill. But with Jail Break we performed at both the Harlequin and the Hawth Theatre in Crawley. This time, when the initiator of Rock in the area, Sue Messenger, tried to book the Harlequin, it was unavailable. So instead we were based at the Hawth. The Hawth is a lovely theatre with excellent facilities, a big stage, and a wonderful huge car park - so we were happy!


The choir supporting us at the Hawth were made up of several groups - one choir trained in Redhill by Marian Holmes, another trained in Crawley by Kirsten McCorkell, and yet another choir trained in East Grinstead. Together they made a fantastic sound, and it was a delight to perform with them tiered up behind us.


The day at Crawley also happened to be Paul's birthday, and the following day was to be Felicity's birthday, so we embarrassed them both as much as we could. Firstly with birthday cakes in the team meeting in the afternoon, and then later we made Paul play the part of Jesus (he is the understudy) for the rehearsal. I'm not sure he viewed that as a wonderful gift, but he did very well!


After an excellent rehearsal and some tea, the performance began. Unfortunately, Amy was still unwell and unable to play her clarinet, so she helped us all backstage. While behind the scenes, she also did a bit of praying, and felt that God was leading her to go on stage during the prophetic section in song 15. After some discussion and further prayer with team leader Alan, it was felt that it was right, and when the moment came, Amy, assisted by two of the dancers, led a beautifully simple mime and dance about laying their burdens before God. It's amazing how God can use even those amongst us who are unwell to speak his word.

The performance went really well, and we all dispersed to our hosts for the night - spread right across the county.


Thanks so much to all of those who helped organise the performance of Rock in Crawley. Thanks go to Sue, who initially stepped out in faith, and was unwell on the day of the performance. Thanks go to those who assisted with the organisation - John, Jim, Roger and the choir trainers Marian and Kirsten.

Wednesday 15 April 2009

Rock Tour 2 - Banbury


Following the two performances in Chorleywood, the team had a bit of a lighter day for Mother's day in Banbury. Well, at least the cast did. The techies instead were facing an interesting time at St. Mary's church in the centre of the town. This is a beautiful church whose facilities are increasingly being used for concerts. Classical concerts generally that don't require any amplification. There is a domed gold leafed ceiling that creates the most glorious echo - not so good if you're using PA. But they did a fantastic job, and everything was ready when we arrived from our morning meeting in Hemel Hempstead.


The Banbury performance of Rock was organised by Jenny Smith. Jenny and her family have been involved with CMM for a long time - Eddie, her husband, has been part of the cast in several of the tours, including Jairus' Daughter, Pharisee, Snakes and Ladders, and Wildfire. Eddie trained the Banbury choir for Jail Break, but this time took a back seat as he is training for the Anglican Priesthood in Oxford. So Jenny took over, and enlisted the Oxford choir and their choir trainer, Alan Roberts to join them. This was a fantastic answer to prayer, as there had not been enough room for the Oxford choir to join up with Witney. The Banbury/Oxford choir was also augmented by a group of singers from Daventry on the night, who were trained by David Brierley.


The cast arrived in plenty of time to hold extra rehearsals - the instrumentalists wanted to practice how to manage without Amy, as she still hadn't recovered, and the actors needed to put the understudies through their paces. It was a wonderful opportunity for the understudies to have a go at songs the choir don't really sing in, such as Surely you must have been with him and The Look of Love.


We also had time for a team meeting that afternoon, so we got plenty done. Following the team meeting and while the cast and instrumentalists were rehearsing, Margaret enlisted Jenny, Eddie and their two sons Michael and Stephen to join the team praying round the building. The boys took to it with particular relish, waving flags and praying in every nook and cranny of the building - even the balcony that was not going to be used!


The choir arrived to share in dinner with the team, and then we had a quick rehearsal together. This gave Carol, Annie and Marilyn time to discover what it was like performing behind a pillar where only Roger and the audience could see them. It was hard for the instrumentalists to be detatched from the action.


The performance itself went very well, and the cast did a good job being quiet, as the only backstage was in the stairwell by the fire exit. The audience seemed to enjoy it, and it was lovely seeing the front row full of people in wheelchairs and their carers. Some of the members of the team were able to talk and pray with them afterwards, which was great.

Thanks so much to Jenny and all her helpers - Mothering Sunday was a difficult one to sell tickets for, but they did a fantastic job.

Tuesday 14 April 2009

Rock Tour 2 - Chorleywood


The next performance of the tour found us among very familiar faces - Joyful Noise Choir. The choir have performed with us for a long time, along with their conductor, Sarah Moreton, who has often been a soloist for CMM.


After Sarah initially struggled to find a suitable venue, we ended up at the St Clement Danes School on the edge of Chorleywood, and in the excellent Barbirolli Hall. Sarah and her helpers had done some stirling work, reversing the hall round. The technicians got to sit on the permanent stage, the choir on the tiered seating normally found at the back of the hall, and the cast performed in front of the choir on a stage specially hired in for the occasion. It sounds complicated, but it did work remarkably well.


As it was a Saturday, we once again had two performances, and the hall seemed to be full for both of them. Well done to the choir for selling so many tickets - it felt very full and the audiences were very responsive.



Unfortunately during the day at Chorleywood we had a couple of casualties. Firstly, Amy, our clarinettist had been suffering from a chest infection for the past few months, and all of the playing irritated the condition. This meant that Carole, Annie and Marilyn suddenly found themselves mid performance having to fill in the parts usually played on clarinet. They did an excellent job, but Amy understandably was very upset at not being able to be involved. Unfortunately Amy struggled to play for much of the remainder of the tour.

Secondly, Sally, one of the dancers, aggravated a neck and shoulder injury, so she had to take it easy. The other girls managed to cover her part, but with a lot of practice, particularly for the song Just as I am, which Anna had to learn almost from scratch. Thankfully Sally recovered well and was dancing again at Banbury the following day.


An interesting development occurred in Chorleywood for the prophetic section at the end of song 15. This is the point in the musical where the backing track keeps playing, and all of the touring party try to be open to God to hear what he is saying in the situation. This usually leads to one of the soloists singing out what they think God is saying, or a dancer or instrumentalists using their gifts under God's direction. Usually when this has happened, Roger weighs up the situation. He may say a few words, pray, or simply allow the musical to continue with the next bit of drama. At the evening performance and after some prayer and a great amount of prodding from God, Helen did the summing up rather than Roger. It created a very different dynamic on stage, with the words coming from the character Susannah, rather than the conductor. More prayer is needed as to whether this becomes a regular feature, but it really is exciting to see how God is allowing the performances to grow, develop, and be used by him.


Finally, one of the most exciting things about the performances at Chorleywood were the conversations that took place afterwards. There seemed to be a lot of chatting and praying going on. Most notably, Margaret our prayer coordinator, had some excellent conversations with the St. John's Ambulance people. One of them particularly had had some experience of Church in the past through the boys brigade, and he seemed to be really affected by Rock. We pray that he may come to know Jesus as a result of what he has seen and heard.


Our huge thanks go to Sarah and all her helpers, including Marion, Christine and Susan (who has since won the weakest link!). We also want to thank the lovely gentleman who helped by praying round the building with Margaret, the St. John's people and the stewards. It was an excellent day.

Rock Tour 2 - Walsall


After a week back in the office, the Rock team attempted to gather at the Methodist Central Hall in Walsall for 5pm on a Friday evening. These Friday night starts are always interesting, especially when they involve the M6 near Birmingham...


It was great having Ann Walters back after she missed the Aldershot and Witney performances. She was desperately needed as by the choir rehearsal we were still two dancers down - Sally and Anna were due in on the train and hadn't yet made it. Anna ran in just in time for the opening song of the rehearsal, and thankfully Sally made it by the performance. So much for Ann taking it easy!


Those of us who made it on time were treated to a wonderful meal of jacket potatoes and fillings. We also had a good look round the central hall. The auditorium itself is an interesting space with tiered seating at the back and on either side, as well as some seating on the flat in front of a low stage which normally holds the communion table, font, pulpit and lectern. It would be a perfect venue for snooker... The instrumentalists ended up being placed far up by the organ console on on the top of the tiering stage right, and the choir filled the tiered seating stage left. The audience then filled the remaining seats. Tickets sold so well some audience even ended up behind the tenors and bases!

The choir, trained by Penny King, did remarkably well. In rehearsal the men had been outnumbered - 6 men to about 80 sopranos and altos! On the night they were supplemented by a few from Kidderminster and Birmingham, and they sounded fabulous. It was great being on stage and hearing that wall of sound coming from your left.


The performance went very well. Alan, our team leader, had managed to get a seat next to his wife Sue on the front row of the audience. He generally cries whenever his daughter Rachel comes on stage, and at the crucifixion scene - but normally he is far enough away from the stage for the cast not to see...

It was also wonderful to see so many of the touring party chatting with the audience after the performance. This is something that seems to have really grown during Rock, and has led to lots of prayer ministry opportunities. God is really using the musical.

Thanks go to Penny King and her husband Peter for all their hard work, as well as the hard work of all the team supporting them. It was a great evening.

Rock Tour 2 - Witney


Witney formed the second part of our Rock double header double header. After two performances in Aldershot, we had a further two on the Sunday in Witney.

We met in the morning at Aldershot Methodist Church, before the congregation arrived for their Sunday service. The local hosts made us feel very welcome, and we had a lovely time of sharing with them. We then split into different carloads and made our way to Witney. It's difficult finding a cheap Sunday lunch in such a pleasant Oxfordshire village, but most of us seemed to manage it! I'm still not sure how Roger and Alan managed to move after their enormous roast dinner and pudding...


After a team meeting out in the glorious sunshine the cast gathered on stage to meet the choir. And once on stage, discovered that they were suddenly much depleted in number. Catherine and Alyson were both ill, and Ann was assisting with Alyson. And Devon had gone missing. So that meant the rehearsal was an interesting one, with noone to play the part of Miriam, and Clair and Martin stepping in for Alyson and Devon. Alan had an interesting time as team leader trying to get everyone into the right places at the right time for rehearsal! He did a great job, because Roger didn't notice at all! It was one of those occasions where the choir were smiling on the outside, but probably terrified at the ineptitude of the cast on the inside...


Thankfully both Catherine and Alyson were recovered enough for the afternoon performance, and Devon had been found. Both performances that day went brilliantly well. The choir were superb - excellently trained by Paul Herrington, and the audience seats were full. Shirley, the event organiser, had been concerned at losing the use of the drama studios as changing space a few days before the performance, but the cast managed fine in the school PE changing rooms. Brenda was a trooper, ironing costumes for the cast in the corridoor behind the stage.




We also had a fantastic time of fellowship with the choir during an enormous bring and share tea in the school canteen between performances. This was brilliantly looked after by Maggie and contained a disturbing amount of home cooking. Absolutely delicious - thanks everyone for your hard work!


One of the highlights of the Witney performance for me was the times of prayer with the choir before the performances. These are normally special times with every choir, but this time it took place in an incredibly echoey sports hall. This meant that the obligatory renditions of 'Spirit of the Living God' and 'Abba Father' were utterly beautiful - vibrating round the hall in 30 part harmony. Gorgeous.


So thanks once again to Paul and Maggie Herrington, and Shirley Enoch for their hard work in organising a performance in Witney. Our prayers are with the choir as you continue to work together and perform in the area.

Rock Tour 2 - Aldershot



So the tour of Rock began properly on Saturday 14th March. For this weekend we were sadly without Ann Walters, one of the dancers, who had been taken ill after the Hinckley performance. The rest of the touring party made their way from the different corners of the country to the Princes' Hall in Aldershot. The hall, perhaps not the most beautiful building from the outside, had excellent facilities inside, including a large auditorium and a good sized stage. The Hall was in the main town part of Aldershot, and not the military town. I understand a few members of the touring party were disappointed at the lack of men in uniform...


Aldershot is one of the two new venues on the second tour of Rock, but there were many connections with previous performances. Many of the choir had taken part in the Eton performance of Jail Break back in 2006, and some had even sung in the Wildfire performance in Camberley in 2003. Derek Wade, who bravely agreed to take the event on, has been known to us for some years through MWF - the Music and Worship Foundation.

Two choirs had been trained for the occasion - one by Derek himself, and another by Eric Moore. There were about 50 in the choir in total, and they did an excellent job. Derek had been very brave and had decided to go for a matinnee as well as an evening performance. This left a choir of 50 nearly 1000 tickets to sell. Both performances felt comfortably full - it was well worth performing twice.





Another of the joys of matinnee performances is that the cast and crew get plenty of time to mix with the choir between performances. Our tea was served in a church 2 minutes walk away, and we were very well looked after - and I was amazed at the remarkable speed with which the meal was tidied away afterwards!



It was brilliant to be able to perform Rock in Aldershot. It is always fantastic to have a new venue and new people to meet. As well as Derek and Eric, huge thanks also go to Sue and Trevor Smith, and Denise Williams for their help with tickets and accommodation and no doubt numerous other little jobs.

Wednesday 8 April 2009

Rock in Hinckley


After a quick rehearsal on the preceeding Tuesday night, almost all of the cast gathered at Hinckley Methodist Church for a full rehearsal and performance in front of an unpaying audience. This is what Roger calls a 'Pre-Season Friendly'.



And very friendly it was too. Hinckley Methodist is Simon Cooper's home church, although he has since moved to Worcester with his wife Laura. Simon plays Jesus in Rock, and he has a huge fan base in Hinckley, which was great to see. Simon's sister Rachel trained the choir, made up from singers from all over the Methodist Circuit, who had all closed their evening services specially for the performance. The choir did a brilliant job, even managing to perform from memory on not a great many rehearsals.




We performed in the church itself, which gave rise to some interesting challenges. The stage was fairly large, but due to the layout of the church, we had to perform diagonally across it. This meant that one of the most challenging pieces when almost all of the cast are on at once - Were you there - was even more so. Some of the men had to stand up the steps to the pulpit to give the dancers enough room. The instrumentalists had their own minstrels' gallery up above the back of the stage by the organ console. Special mention has to go to Malachi Theatre Services for dealing well with the complexities of the venue.



After a bit of a ropy afternoon runthrough, we had a really good evening performance in front of a packed house. Many thanks go to Simon, Rachel, and all those at Hinckley who helped organise the event. We were made to feel really welcome and were well looked after. Well done all round!

Tour 2

All the remaining previsits were very successful, and it was a real joy to meet up with all the choir members ahead of the performances.

Tour 2 is also now complete, and I hope to bring you full reports in a couple of weeks time. Watch this space...