Acorn Antiques
June 2015
Acorn Antiques 2015
It was Curtain Up! on a new era for Denmead Operatic Society as we presented "Acorn Antiques The Musical", by Victoria Wood - our first show under the new name of Curtain Up! Productions at the Petersfield Festival Hall from 25th-27th June 2015.
Mack & Mabel 2014
Mack and Mabel, the story of the relationship between early film producer Mack Sennett and his star Mabel Normand, was presented at the Petersfield Festival Hall from 15th-17th May 2014.
Masquerade 2013
This was an exciting new venture: presenting our very own show, written especially for us by Ian Clark, at the Park Community School in Havant from 29th May to 1st June 2013.
Titanic The Musical 2012
To mark the one hundredth anniversary of the sinking of the Titanic, we presented this spectacular musical at the Park Community School from 6th-9th June 2012. It was a great success and we won a NODA Accolade of Excellence for the production.
What's next?
We are reprising our 2010 production of 'Allo 'Allo at the Petersfield Festival Hall from 9th to 11th June. This is the stage version of the hilarious BBC TV series of the same name, set in France during the second world war. Click here to find out more about the show and buy your tickets.
2015 John Westbrook Award
As Hilary Westbrook, John's widow, could not attend any of the Acorn Antiques performances due to prior commitments, she delegated the nomination of the John Westbrook Award for 2015 to Val Sykes. Val chose to award the trophy to Mandy Clowes, saying: 'When there are not so many people on stage, each member of the supporting cast is clearly visible and it is extra important to give it everything. Mandy was always fully involved om each scene she was in, acting and reacting to others very well. I loved the three backing "beehive" singers number and she was clearly really enjoying it,'
Raise FREE money for CUP
Doing your shopping on-line? Why not raise money for Curtain Up! Productions at the same time - at absolutely no cost to yourself? You get access to all of your favourite on-line and high street retailers and pay the same prices that you would normally - all that happens is that CUP receives a percentage of the total of your shopping, which can be as much as 3% of the amount you spend. Since we started this scheme, the society has received a total of £580.59 at a cost of absolutely nothing! Click here to find out more and sign up to start generating money. Note that we are still registered as Denmead Operatic Society with easyfundraising.
What's Next
This website is currently being updated.
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Recent Events
Mandy Clowes was awarded the 2015 John Westbrook Trophy for her performance in Acorn Antiques. Read more >>
Acorn Antiques The Musical!
25th-27th June 2015
The Festival Hall, Petersfield
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Directed Musical Director
Dance Captain
Show photographs taken by Steve Day. |
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Review It was curtain up on a new era for Denmead Operatic Society as they presented their first show, under their new name Curtain Up! Productions. “Acorn Antiques – The Musical!” is based on the parodic soap opera of the same name from Victoria Wood’s “As Seen on TV” series from the 1980s. It makes fun of badly produced soap operas with wobbly sets, poor continuity, low production values and improbable plots. Characterisation is key in this show and their previous experience with productions of The Vicar of Dibley, ‘Allo, ‘Allo and He-De-Hi, set the company in good stead. Under the able direction of Ian Clark, they carried it off convincingly, no doubt helped somewhat by the stunning set, which was easily transformed from street scene to antiques shop interior by the slick stage crew, and even featured a working stair lift! Nadine Darnley captured the essence of Mrs Overall with her downtrodden appearance, shuffling gait and Brummie accent. Sue Applin and Kaye Lee-Wright were well paired as the twins: up-tight Miss Babs and the desperate-for-love Miss Berta (respectively), with Sam Spivey perfect as the hard-nosed business woman and long-lost sister, Miss Bonnie. Sophie Dulake and Ryan Richards both shone as the stereotypical YTS-types, Mimi and Hugh, maintaining their characters well throughout. With the three sisters reunited, they only have to find their mother, secure a husband for one of them and locate the hidden money in order to save the ailing antiques business from rampant globalisation and evil loan shark Tony, convincingly portrayed by Mark De Salis. The musical numbers ranged from big, brassy, toe-tapping dances involving the whole cast, to softly sentimental solos. Berta’s solo “Remind Him” was beautifully sung and acted by Kaye Lee-Wright. Sue Applin and Sam Spivey also enchanted us with their individual numbers. I must also mention “Gent’s Duet”, touchingly sung by Ian Clark and Graham Cranmer. An excellent eight-piece band, under the direction of Darren Alderton, produced a tremendous sound but, thanks to a good sound engineer, never overwhelmed the cast in volume, allowing us to hear every one of the clever words in the songs. Acorn Antiques is a challenging piece and Victoria Wood, Julie Walters, Celia Imrie and co. are a hard act to follow, but Curtain Up! carried it off with pizazz and aplomb. Victoria Wood said her intention was to give people a “lovely, happy night in the theatre” and that’s exactly what Curtain Up! Productions gave us. Mark Donalds, NODA Rep |
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