Amateur Stage Magazine

Recently, Darlington Operatic Society encouraged the Editor of its local paper to take part in their production of Titanic. This week, show concluded Peter Barron, wrote about his experience.

It's great to see that taking part was such a revelation for him. It has to encourage others to do the same. The only way to realise just what amateurs do is to take part yourself so we challenge groups to take a leaf out of Darlington's book and encourage participation by someone in your community who could take up your cause. Who knows you may get results like this.

"At the end of his 11-show run in Titanic: The Musical, editor Peter Barron reflects on the importance of amateur theatre to local communities

AND now, the end is here – and so I’ve faced the final curtain. The Northern Echo’s reviewer may have cruelly described my performance as “wooden”, but, hey, I did it my way...

When I agreed in February to play the role of former Northern Echo editor WT Stead in Darlington Operatic Society’s lavish production of Titanic: The Musical, I didn’t quite realise what I was letting myself in for.

But having survived an epic voyage – unlike the great man I portrayed – I will look back on it as one of the most enjoyable and memorable experiences of my life.

It was smart planning by the society to mark the 100th anniversary of the world’s most famous maritime disaster by staging Titanic: The Musical at Darlington Civic Theatre.

And, let’s face it, it was a public relations masterstroke to grasp an historic connection by getting the local newspaper editor to appear in the role of his illustrious predecessor who died when the great ship sank on April 15, 1912.

Originally, the intention was that I would appear in a single scene in just the first show. But that initial agreement grew into several scenes in every show as weeks of rehearsals took shape and showbusiness seeped into my veins.

It has always been my view that editors should immerse themselves in their communities so that they can understand them better.

For 13 years as editor of this newspaper, I have failed to understand the value of Darlington Operatic Society and the many other amateur theatre groups which exist throughout the country. But my Titanic journey has made me realise how much they need to be cherished.

For a start, the word “amateur” needs to be kept in perspective. Darlington Operatic Society has been bringing top quality, affordable local theatre to the area for 60 years. The members may include teachers, accountants, dentists and students, but the only thing that is amateur about them is that they don’t get paid to put on their productions.

The level of dedication and professionalism has to be seen to be believed, with each show costing about £85,000 to produce.

Figures for 2009-10 show that Darlington Operatic Society productions contributed £30,000 to the Civic Theatre budget – more than any of the professional touring shows. In these days of public sector cuts, where would the Civic Theatre be without the two shows produced every year by its local society?

On average, the society donates £12,000 a year to local charities, including St Teresa’s Hospice, Darlington Samaritans, Darlington Hospital Radio, Darlington and District Talking Newspaper, Guide Dogs For The Blind, and the Great North Air Ambulance.

The organisation brings together people of all ages, giving them confidence, teaching them teamwork, and building relationships which often blossom into lifelong partnerships.

There are opportunities to not only perform, but to understand the many facets of stage management. Everyone is part of a team whether they are on stage or backstage.

The society also provides a springboard for performers to learn their craft before turning professional.

For example, Darlington lad Peter McGovern appeared with the society in West Side Story in 2001 and went on to appear in a recent production of The Madness of King George III at the Apollo Theatre in London’s West End.

In my short time with the members of Darlington Operatic Society, I have learnt some important lessons:

• Amateur theatre groups play a crucial role in community life;
• They do not get the support they deserve and local authorities – and local newspapers – need to do more to help;
• Genuine talent is by no means limited to the professional ranks;
• There is room for even those of us with limited (even wooden) ability;
• It is not easy to get through a two-hour show with a horribly itchy moustache and beard glued on;
• Bad reviews hurt and great reviews are a cause of celebration. When a woman I’d never met greeted me outside the stage door after one of the shows, took me by the arm and said “You’re not wooden love”, it meant the world.

I HAVE made new friends and been touched by the camaraderie that comes with sharing a dressing room and performing together.

I admit that when the curtain began to come down for the last time on Saturday night, I had a somewhat misty view of the audience.

I set out with three objectives: to rekindle the memory of a pioneering editor; to help publicise a great show; and to appear in it without getting in the way of those with real talent. I hope those aims have been achieved.

It has been a privilege to sail with the wonderful characters who make up Darlington Operatic Society.

My final act is to plead for more support for local amateur theatre groups, which do so much to enrich our lives...

... the end

Reprinted with kind permission of The Northern Echo
For more information please visit Darlington Operatic Society

FULL STEAM AHEAD IN BATH THIS WEEKEND

Get a kick out BLOG’s “Full Steam Ahead” The Guildhall, Bath Thursday 26 – Sat 28 April 7:30

Amateur theatre group Bath Light Operatic Group (BLOG) brings their ever popular songs from the shows to The Guildhall Bath this week.  Under the direction of Scott Rogers the evening is a mix of song from musicals that celebrate “a bygone age”

Capturing the luxurious decadence of the era the group will perform songs from shows such as Anything Goes, Cabaret, Sunset Boulevard and the Titanic the musical. Classic musical theatre songs and characters will provide a fitting tribute to mark the centenary of the sinking of The Titanic within the fitting surroundings of one of the sumptuous venues in Bath.

Scott Rogers brings a highly talented 40 strong company together with Matt Finch as Musical Director; this will no doubt be an evening of nostalgia, transatlantic travel and an opportunity to see some of the finest members of the award winning company in action. Don’t miss the boat!

Tickets £14 / £11 are available on the door or in advance from the Box Office: 01225 863740

Performances nightly from Thursday – Saturday 7:30

APR 18th 2012
Now just a week to opening night.... the entire cast have been working tirelessly to perfect this truly inspiring musical. Anyone watching the dramas on TV will know that Titanic was not just about the rich... but also the poorest of people searching for a new life for themselves and their families, this is highlighted in the musical brilliantly.

Book online at www.darlingtonos.org.uk

MAR 28th 2012
Been away from the blog for a week due to heavy rehearsal schedule and my 'day job' - it always astounds me how so many people with very busy lives can fit all the necessary work in to putting on a show - I understand the pressures and appreciate the dedication many people have.

So.... we have worked and worked and worked the 'lifeboat' scene for Titanic - possibly the most emotional scene in the entire show. Not sure how it all looks from the front but you get an amazing buzz being in it!

Book online at www.darlingtonos.org.uk

MAR 20th 2012
With opening night just over 5 weeks away we are in the awesome position of running the show and able to add layer upon layer of sub-plot, thought, emotion and empathy to everything within this hugely uplifting but ultimately heartbreaking show.

Act One is a huge pleasure to be a part of.... with everyone basking in the splendour and majesty of sailing aboard the most luxurious ocean liner ever built... slowly lulling the audience into a false sense of security that surely this can not be a show about a dramatic tragedy... until the sudden end of Act One when the realisation literally hits home.

Act Two starts quietly - people not really knowing what is going on, but the tension soon starts to bubble up into a frenzy. Such a delight to be a part of this production.

Book online at www.darlingtonos.org.uk

MAR 5th 2012
As the Centenary of the sinking of Titanic draws ever nearer it is amazing how much 'free publicity' we are getting - Titanic is slowly and surely being drip-fed into the psyche of the general public. Newspaper articles, the new ITV mini series, the re-launch of the James cameron film in 3D.... everywhere you go it is Titanic, Titanic, Titanic... and I for one am not complaining.

Book online at www.darlingtonos.org.uk

MAR 1st 2012
I was not called for rehearsal last night but went to watch Stefan, Claire, Rob and Matilda working on their scenes as Edgar, Alice, Charles and Caroline. Those who know Titanic as a show will know that there are no huge dialogue scenes, so characters have to be set very quickly to an audience. The two couples - each looking for something very different from life, have some very beautiful and poignant scenes together and it was a delight to see them growing throughout the evening. Text came in during rehearsal from our Ticket Administrator - 1500 tickets sold so far with 8 weeks still to go to opening night.... things are looking very good all round.

Book online at www.darlingtonos.org.uk

FEB 29th 2012
Leap year - will anyone pop the question...?

So.... a small scale rehearsal last night running through all the 'Bridge Scenes' with Captain Smith, Lightoller, Murdoch, Hitchens, Etches, Ismay and Andrews. The musically spoken dialogue in these scenes are as difficult to perfect as any musical number... split second timing of dialogue and song accurately to the underscoring. Followed by 'The Blame' with Bride, Smith, Ismay and Andrews - such a powerful scene with which (playing Andrews) I am having so much fun.

FEB 28th 2012
In just 8 weeks time the curtain will rise on a truly emotional piece of theatre as DarlingtonOS present "Titanic, The Musical" at the beautiful 900 seater Civic Theatre.

Director Scott St Martyn has already blocked Act I in his first set of 8 rehearsals and we are now being put through our paces cleaning everything up under Assistant Director Joanne Hand.

We hope to update you all, through this Blog, with the ups and downs of the last 2 months leading up to showtime!

Titanic - Wednesday April 25 to Saturday May 5 (matinee Saturday April 28). Book online at www.darlingtonos.org.uk

The trailer is done and is now available on the website at http://www.loft-theatre.co.uk/shows/piaf_trail.php

Check it out and let us know what you think.

We are in the last 2 weeks of rehearsal and things are shaping up nicely.

From the backstreets of Paris to worldwide fame, this play with music charts the adult life of Édith Gassion (known to all as “Piaf”, the sparrow), the celebrated French singer and entertainer whose constant companions were alcohol, drugs and heartache. Including such classic songs as La Vie en Rose, Mon Dieu and Non, Je Ne Regrette Rien, the play vividly explores the glamour and squalor, the rise and fall of this complex, fragile and enigmatic performer – intimate, intense and indestructible, ready to make any sacrifice for her art – who continues to be remembered and revered for her exceptional voice and extraordinary troubled life.

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Keep us up to date with whats happening performance wise in the town of North cheshire eg. Runcorn, Warrington, St Helens, Altrincham areas etc

What is it?
Where and whens it going on?
Hows it going so far?

Plays/ Musical Theatre/ Gilbert&Sullivan/Operetta/Dance

etc etc etc 

The March issue of Amateur Stage is about to be released and you can now pre-order your copy online.

The March issue features a special article about online ticketing, reviews of panto scripts, listings for shows around the country in April and May, loads of news, and all our regular features.

To get your copy click HERE

HOW CAN AMATEUR STAGE HELP YOU?

With a huge influx of new subscribers in 2011, we thought this issue was a good opportunity to outline how Amateur Stage can help you and your group.

As a magazine for amateur theatre we’d love to help you publicise your show but more often than not the material we receive is either unsuitable for publication or too late for publication. Therefore, we offer this guide as guidance for your publicity teams to try to get as many of you as possible into the magazine and on our website.

The best bit about what we do is that most of what is offered to groups is FREE. Follow the guide and we promise to help as often as we can.

DIARY ENTRIES

We aim to publish every diary entry that is submitted to us. Submitting a diary entry has now been made very easy with our new online submission system.  Some important points to remember though:-

·      Diary entries are published two months in advance. This magazine January contains listings for February and March 2012.  The deadline for diary issues is the 15^th of the month prior to publication.  Submissions after this date will not be published.

·      You can publish your listings as far in advance as you like. We have no problems with you listing until the end of 2020 if you are that organised.

·      We can no longer accept postal listings or bulk email listings. Every listing must be entered by you online.

·      Please do not assume that your listing will come in from another source. If you do not enter your listing with us chances are it won’t be in the magazine.

·      If you have a website please enter its URL. You’d be surprised how many people seek further information online.

How to use the online system:-

1. Go to http://diary.asmagazine.co.uk

2. Register as a user - this only takes a minute or so. Once you register remember your details for future use.

3. Choose the Create a venue option and enter details of all the theatres and performance spaces that your group uses. Once these are in the system you need never re-type them again.

4. Go back to the Home page and choose Add A Production. Go through show by show and put in your production details. You can list as far in advance as you want just make sure you have all the relevant information to hand, if you don't have everything we need the system won't accept your listing.

PRODUCTION PHOTOS

In each issue of Amateur Stage we endeavour to publish photos of productions from Amateur productions across the UK. We endeavour to publish all photos and offer the following guidelines for submission:-

·      Photos must of high resolution. Ideally 300dpi (dots per inch) or more. If in doubt go to your local camera shop and ask them to set your digital camera on a suitable high resolution setting. Magazine printing is very different to putting your pictures online and we need the best definition possible. We get lots of pictures sent to us that are smaller than postage stamps because the resolution isn’t high enough. Make sure your camera is on the right setting.

·      We give preference to actual show photos. Photos that are staged for publicity or in unusual contexts are only published if space permits. We want to see what your productions look like so get snapping.

·      When submitting your photos please ensure you send us a photographer credit if applicable along with the name of your group and the name of the show.

THE PLAY / MUSICAL PRODUCED

This is a great way to promote your group if you have staged a really great show be it a play or a musical.  This series of articles has been running since the magazines inception and we are always looking for groups interested in writing an article.  Once again, those with great quality pictures usually move to the front of the queue and sometimes land the front cover.

We’ve just started uploading the archive of articles to our website for groups everywhere to see. If you want to discuss your groups experiences with staging a show then get writing. Contact us for information about submission guidelines.

NEWS

We’d like to publish as much news from groups around the UK as possible. We aren’t clairvoyant though so make sure your publicity committee is sending us information. Things we’d like to know about include:-

·      Are you a new group starting up?

·      Is the group celebrating a significant birthday or milestone?

·      Premieres of new shows;

·      Issues affecting amateur theatre in your area;

The list is endless but its important that you consider a few things before sending your information:-

·      Make sure you send us all the information.

·      Make sure you send us contact details so if we need more information we can reach you;

·      Make sure you send great pics to go with your news;

·      As daft as this sounds make sure you tell us the name of the group, the name of the show and dates of any events. You’d be surprised how often this is left out;

·      Aim for the middle group, Two sentences isn’t quite enough and ten pages is too much. Aim for three or four concise paragraphs and if we need more we can let you know.

·      Make sure you give us plenty of notice.  We are a monthly magazine so sending it a week before your event or anniversary means it probably won’t be published in time.

PUBLICITY TEAMS

Make sure your PR person or publicity team has joined our online mailing list under the Publicity section. In circumstances where we need information this is the first set of people we contact. If your group isn’t on this list you are missing out. Join the list via our website.

OUR WEBSITE (www.amateurstagemagazine.co.uk)

The Amateur Stage website works just like Facebook. We’ve designed it to make it as easy as possible to use and allow our members a chance to chat and link up with each other. Almost 900 people have now signed up for a FREE profile and we’d like all of you to join in.  To make the site function at its best you should set up a profile for yourself personally, then establish a group for your society or special interest so that other people can join in.

The website allows you to:-

·      Submit your diary listings

·      Read old issues of Amateur Stage online

·      Subscribe or purchase single issues

·      Read news items of interest

·      Chat online with other members

·      Submit photos and videos for others to see

·      Search the database of Play Produced articles

·      Write blogs for publication

·      Purchase tickets for West End shows. Regional shows (coming soon)

·      Submit postings to the forum

There are more features on the way and we’ll talk about these in the magazine as they come online.

FACEBOOK AND TWITTER

We would like to encourage everyone to join our Facebook and Twitter groups.

On Facebook.

Look up Amateur Stage Magazine and LIKE us.  Post info about your shows on our wall so others can see and comment.

On Twitter

Look up Amateur Stage and join us.

Over the next few months we’ll be running tutorials on making the most of social media in the magazine and joining these groups will give you a better understanding of what we are talking about and help you promote your shows in the meantime.

ONLINE NEWSLETTER

Each month we email a newsletter to over 7000 registered recipients. If you want  to publicise your events on this email it costs £45 plus VAT. You can submit an image and 150 words together with a website link. Deadline is 15^th Month with the email sent on the 20^th. Join the mailing list on our website to receive this email each month.

MAGAZINE ADVERTISING

We do offer some special rates for groups who want to advertise in the magazine. Contact us for further details.

HOW TO REACH US

In the first instance send enquiries or your material to editor@asmagazine.co.uk.

PLEASE NOTE:

Please submit all of your information by email. We are unable to accept large submissions which are not in an electronic format.  Scans of large volumes of text cannot be accepted.

Amateur Stage Expo is thrilled today to welcome SEDOS as the first amateur theatre group to sign up to exhibit at Expo.

 Expo is being held at the Business Design Centre in Islington, London on March 31 and April 1, 2012. This enormous two day event is being staged to showcase amateur theatre from across the UK on an unprecedented scale.
 
The Expo will feature commercial exhibitors, live performances, workshops and discussion groups, and hands on technical sessions. We are actively encouraging groups to exhibit at the event to showcase their achievements, recruit new members and encourage new audiences.
 
Founded in 1905, Sedos produces a mix of plays and musicals in Central London (where it also has rehearsal space) as well as performing at the Edinburgh Fringe and organising an 'In the City' tour of modern adaptations of classic plays. The society is the resident theatre company at the Bridewell Theatre, off Fleet Street, where it will be staging Three Sisters, Spring Awakening and Guys & Dolls in 2012, as well as a three-week Summer Festival and House & Garden - an innovative Alan Ayckbourn show involving one cast performing two plays in front of two audiences in two theatres... simultaneously. Sedos's 2012 season also includes As You Like It at the Edinburgh Fringe and some weekend workshop productions. In all, the company programmes around 8 to 10 challenging fringe theatre productions annually, raises around £5,000 a year for charity and has a reputation for West End quality - in fact Sedos is proud of its claim to be the City of London's premier amateur theatre group. The company also has an excellent website and a strong social media presence. You can find out more about SEDOS at  www.sedos.co.uk.
  
Matt Gould, Secretary of SEDOS said today ""Sedos is excited to be taking part in the Expo because it's a great opportunity for us to extend our reach to potential new audience members (perhaps even sell a few tickets!), performers and production teams. It will also be useful to get together with people from different theatre companies, rights holders and organisations to share ideas and expertise, as well as probably a few drinks and war stories. It should be a really fun weekend."

Expo co-ordinator Douglas Mayo added "This Expo is not just about commercial exhibitors, it offers group of all shapes and sizes a chance to shine in their own right. We'd like to encourage all groups to talk to us about exhibiting."
 
If your group would like to exhibit at Expo please email us on
expo@amateurstageexpo.co.uk.
 
The Amateur Stage Expo is being presented in partnership with Josef Weinberger Limited. The Really Useful Group join amdram.co.uk and The Little Box Office as event sponsors.
 
Further information on the Expo can be found at www.amateurstageexpo.co.uk.