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Medway Opera is always on the lookout for new members. |
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Medway Opera is always on the lookout for new members. Singers, actors, stagehands, scenery painters, make up artists, wardrobe, publicists, tea makers, administrators - there are a lot of jobs to be done both on and off stage, and a lot of pleasure to be had doing them.
If you think you might enjoy being a part of Medway Opera, just contact us. We will make you very welcome.
News, Announcements and Medway Opera Members getting up to other things.
Members of Medway Opera get up to other things too. This News Page will keep you up to date with what they are doing and where you can see them.
A journalist once wrote that " ...expecting people to volunteer for an increase in taxes is like expecting Grand Opera to succeed in Chatham." It gives me great pleasure to tell that journalist that Grand Opera has succeeded in Chatham, and it has succeeded because of Medway Opera.
Opera is possibly the most complex of all art forms, combining music, drama and spectacle. It consumes huge amounts of energy and money, and it demands high levels of talent and skill in a wide variety of fields. It needs singers, dancers, actors, designers, directors, costumiers, musicians, managers, craftsmen, technicians, promoters and accountants. And it only succeeds if what it produces is good enough and popular enough to attract a sufficiently large paying audience.
The basic facts of the history of Medway Opera are easy enough to relate. Since the company's founding in 1974, sixteen directors have devised and organised sixty-five productions of thirty different operas in two different theatres. But behind these figures lie the drive, the determination and the downright heroism which has created and moulded Medway Opera into the extraordinary organisation which it has become.
It is hard to describe what drives a company like Medway Opera. Individual members all have their own motivations. For some it is the pleasure gained from being part of a musical ensemble; for others, taking part in the high drama of opera or the comedy of operetta is the appeal. The desire to create something powerful and beautiful; the pleasure of being with other people with a shared passion; the sheer love of opera - all these provide more than enough motivation. But Medway Opera also has its own ethos which has guided it from the beginning. Apart from the fundamental desire to produce the best possible shows, the company aspires to two other principles. The first of these is to make opera more accessible. Towards this end, all Medway Opera's performances are given in English; the ticket price is kept as low as possible and members of the company have given workshops to describe and explain opera. The other guiding principle is the desire to encourage talent by giving it hard-to-find experience and a platform from which to launch a career - a principle which has succeeded with members going on to sing with, amongst others, English National Opera, Cameo Opera and Opera Box.
In 1974 the Medway Opera Company (as it was then called) came into existence because another company, the Peter Hudson Players, had stopped producing shows. Members of that group who had enjoyed working together and wished to stay together founded the new enterprise. Colin Greenslade became the first Producer, Frank Ray was the Musical Director and Doreen Greenslade looked after ticket sales and bookings. Valerie Hildred was the first Secretary and went on to become Principal Producer and then Chairman of the company. Frank Ray also used his considerable experience to produce the very workable constitution on which Medway Opera still runs. Initial membership of the company came from the Peter Hudson Players and their friends. Favourable press coverage attracted further members from choirs and church drama groups and, by the time of the first production, a good working company had been formed. A number of the members who took part in the first production are still active with the company and one of them, Michael Donovan, has taken part in every performance.
The first priority - a requirement which has never gone away - was the need to raise sufficient funds to run the company, and colossal and ingenious effort was put into this. Early performances were given at the theatre in Chatham Town Hall, but by 1982 it was felt that a larger venue was needed and Medway Opera transferred to the Central Theatre. With an increased audience capacity, a larger stage and better backstage facilities, the Central Theatre has been a more appropriate home for Medway Opera. The Town Hall had been a good small venue despite inherent problems, not the least of which was the fact that, at that time, the dressing rooms were five flights of stairs below the stage and were prone to occasional flooding. In 1976, during a production of The Pirates of Penzance, a bomb threat was telephoned to the theatre at the start of Act 2 and the building was immediately evacuated. In the crowd outside, an elderly woman was heard to remark "Isn't it wonderful how many they have to look after us." It was at this point that it was realised that Medway Opera's Chorus, dressed as Victorian policemen, had got mixed up with the real police presence and were being allocated crowd control duties.
Medway Opera Productions
1974 TRIAL BY JURY, THE SORCERER : THE GYPSY BARON 1975 RUDDIGORE : TALES OF HOFFMANN 1976 PIRATES OF PENZANCE : THE GONDOLIERS 1977 COUNT OF LUXEMBOURG : IOLANTHE 1978 YEOMEN OF THE GUARD : BLUEBEARD 1979 PATIENCE : PRINCESS IDA 1980 THE PEARL FISHERS : H.M.S. PINAFORE 1981 LAKME : THE MIKADO 1982 CARMEN : MERRIE ENGLAND 1983 FAUST : THE MERRY WIDOW 1984 TRIAL BY JURY - THE SORCERER : DIE FLEDERMAUS 1985 PIRATES OF PENZANCE : RUDDIGORE 1986 MERRY WIVES OF WINDSOR : THE GONDOLIERS 1987 WALTZES FROM VIENNA : YEOMEN OF THE GUARD 1988 ORPHEUS IN THE UNDERWORLD : IOLANTHE 1989 THE MIKADO : THE MERRY WIDOW 1990 LA BOHEME : PATIENCE 1991 CARMEN : MERRIE ENGLAND 1992 TALES OF HOFFMANN : THE GONDOLIERS 1993 CAVALLERIA RUSTICANA , PAGLIACCI : RUDDYGORE 1994 LA TRAVIATA : H.M.S. PINAFORE : THE BEGGAR'S OPERA 1995 FAUST : PIRATES OF PENZANCE 1996 THE MIKADO : IOLANTHE 1997 CARMEN : TRIAL BY JURY, THE SORCERER 1998 THE PEARL FISHERS : ORPHEUS IN THE UNDERWORLD 1999 PRINCESS IDA : TOSCA 2000 THE GONDOLIERS 2001 PIRATES OF PENZANCE 2002 CAVALLERIA RUSTICANA, PAGLIACCI : YEOMEN OF THE GUARD 2003 LA BOHEME : DIE FLEDERMAUS 2004 THE MIKADO 2005 LA TRAVIATA 2007 CARMEN
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