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Chichester - West Sussex
 
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Liz Peacock
Chairman of CAOS Musical Productions

MESSAGE FROM YOUR CHAIRMAN

 

Hello again,

Since my last letter to you, there have been one or two changes to the committee - Rob Clark is now Vice-Chairman following Michael Walsh's decision to stand down as Vice, although Michael remains on the committee. Laura Squires and Jason Walby were elected to fill the gaps left by those standing down. Everyone else remains the same.

Well  ‘Spring’ has ‘sprung’ at last and CAOS has once again ‘sprung’ into action. Rehearsals for the ‘Viennese Gala’ to be held in May are in full swing. Tickets are  priced at £8 and are on sale and available from Paul Green on 01243 783945 or through our website using the secure ‘Paypal’ route. You don’t have to have a Paypal account to apply for tickets this way as you can use any credit or debit card.  Please be sure to book your seats soon as I understand from Paul that tickets are selling fast. We also have posters available, so if you are able to display one of those for us that would be great. Posters can be obtained either at rehearsal or any committee member can get one for you.

The chosen music is a joy to sing and I am very sure that you will not be disappointed if you can get to the Assembly Room to hear it. I think it's fair to say that Michael Walsh has fallen in love with the music from Gypsy Baron so maybe that will a show to be considered for the future sometime. We will be performing on Thursday 15th, Friday 16th and twice on Saturday 17th evening performances start at 7.30pm and the Saturday matinee at 2.30.

In October we will back at the Minerva theatre, under the direction of Mrs Audrey Pring with our autumn show. ‘Die Fledermaus’, written by  Johann Strauss, really is a fabulous show and which is often referred to as the "Queen of Operettas". We very much look forward to performing it.

Auditions for Die Fledermaus were held on Friday 11th April and below is a list of the principals chosen.

Rosalinda..................….Amanda Crehan
Gabriel Eisenstein.........….David Russell
Adele…....................……Christina Henry Falke…………..................…….Rob Clark
Alfred…….........................…Simon Long
Ida……….….................…….Margo Dodd
Prince Orlofsky......….Matt Hughes-Short Frank…….....................…..John Warner Blint……............................…..John Butt
Frosh…….....................…..Ray Treagust
Ivan…….......................…..Jim Strudwick

 Of particular note is Ray Treagust who successfully auditioned for the part of Frosch. This was less than two months after having a double hip replacement. Well done Ray.

Rehearsals for Die Fledermaus commence straight after the May show on Friday 23rd May so there is no break.

There will be a repeat of the Viennese Gala as part of the Chichester Festivities. The Assembly Rooms are booked for Thursday 10th July with the concert starting at 7:30pm. So please make a note in your diaries.

Our ‘social’ calendar has been busy as usual and we have had some very pleasurable meals out. The latest of these socials having been at Nicolinos, an Italian restaurant in Emsworth which is always an excellent place to go. If you have any suitable ideas of things we can do or go to as a group, please contact John Warner or anyone on the committee. Do come and join in and have some fun.

Have a wonderful summer (if we get one) enjoy the show in May, and we will see you soon.

 

Elizabeth Peacock

Chairman.

WEBSITE MILESTONE

In April 2008, the CAOS Musical Productions website reached an impressive milestone. For the first time ever, over 1,000 hits were recorded during a month. This was despite the website being down for a few days due to technical reasons.

Since the website was first commissioned in March 2007, we have seen the average number of hits per month grow from around 100 to over 600. However, when looking at just the first four months of 2008, the number has risen to over 900 per month.

 

 

Our Unsung Heroes


It was decided at a committee meeting recently that it would be good to recognise some ‘unsung hero’s’ for their outstanding commitment to CAOS. This was done after a performance of Brigadoon, when it was my very pleasant duty to present certificates of ‘Honorary membership’ to Chris Luck, Ian Turner and Ann Burnett. To Roger Ness, Life membership has been extended as a token of our appreciation of what he does on our behalf.

Ian Turner, Ann Burnett and Chris Luck

 

FORTHCOMING SOCIAL EVENTS

Among the ideas for social activites that are currently being pursued are :

  • On Saturday 19th July there will be a Last Night of the Proms concert at Stansted House. We are looking to make up a party of at least 20 which will qualify for a group discount price of £20 per head. If you are interested, please let Liz Peacock have your £20 no later than Friday 16th May.
  • After the success of last year's event another walk is being planned by Gordon Peacock for the morning of Sunday 6th July followed by a pub lunch in or around Bosham. Like last year, those who would like to just come for the lunch are of course very welcome.

    More details to follow.

  • A canal boat trip along the Chichester Canal is again being considered. This will depend upon there being sufficient numbers to make the trip viable.
  • Further outings for the curry club are also in the pipeline. The first of these will be at the Spice Cottage at Westbourne on Saturday 16th August.
  • A summer BBQ and let's hope we don't get eaten alive this year by nasty little insects !! If we can find a suitable venue this will be in or around Chichester. Failing that, plan "B" will be at Liz Peacock's or Rob Clark's at Havant.

    Any offers of a suitable venue would be much appreciated.

If you have any ideas for a social event please contact John Warner on 01243 378754.

 

"Five Little Maids from Chi Are We"

From L to R : Christine McCarthy, Kerrie Wenham, Liz Peacock, Jean Oldaker and Meg Saulet

All the ladies pictured above attended an Opera Workshop at Dunster in 2006. The works studies were HMS Pinafore by Gilbert & Sullivan and the Gypsy Baron by Johann Strauss. The week ended with a costumed performance of HMS Pinafore and a concert version of the Gypsy Baron in the Dunster Village Hall.

Also in attendance at the Opera Week were Rob Clark and the late Vivienne Clark.

For details of these Opera Week workshops please speak to Liz Peacock.

 

CAOS IN MALTA

In March, six members of CAOS Musical Productions travelled to Malta and took part in three concerts. Joining forces with Havant Light Opera, they performed at Holy Trinity Church, St Patrick's Church and the Salesian Theatre. Each of these venues are located in Sliema, Malta.

Back Row : Gordon Peacock (Friend of CAOS), John Butt, John Warner and Rob Clark - Front Row: Vera Shaw (Friend of CAOS), Pam Hack, Kerrie Wenham and Liz Peacock

The first concert had a definite Gilbert and Sullivan flavour, plus some favourite more modern songs. St Patrick's concert was made up entirely of sacred music while the final concert at the Salesian Theatre returned to G&S as the main theme and included a performance of Trial by Jury. Although the second half continued with excerpts from Pirates of Penzance, the concert concluded with those very popular medley's by Andrew Lloyd Webber and Les Miserables.

Trial by Jury with Havant Light Opera's Denise Baugh as the Plaintiff, John Warner as the Usher, Rob Clark as the Defendant, John Butt as the Judge, Liz Peacock as the Mother of the Bride and Kerrie Wenham as the Bridesmaid.

 

 

WHO IS THE BIRTHDAY BOY THEN ?

On Saturday 5th April 2008, Paul Green celebrated his 70th Birthday with friends and family. The birthday dinner was held at the "Brasserie in the Park" at the Chichester Festival Theatre. CAOS were represented by Liz Peacock, Jill Kewell, Pam Budd and Rob Clark.

 

 

 

ITALIAN CURRY NIGHT !!

To the best of my knowledge, the Italians haven't discovered curry yet and I for one would argue that they don't need to. So on Saturday 12th April, if any one of the 20 or so CAOS members were expecting to have their taste buds blasted by some Vindaloo strength Italian culinary delight, they would have been disappointed. Nevertheless a wonderful selection of Italian dishes were served up at Nicolinos Restaurant in Emsworth and I certainly didn't hear any complaints.

Giorgio, the Maitre-de, greeted us with a "bouna sera" plus other Italian pleasantries although truth be told, he is actually Greek. Giorgio insisted that ladies sat one side of the table and gentlemen on the other although to balance the numbers, Toni Haynes become an honorary man for the evening. Giorgio explained that it was an Italian custom but in reality he probably just wanted a better opportunity to eye up the ladies.

Pictured above are Kerrie Wenham and Vera Shaw (Friend of CAOS) enjoying the fun at Nicolinos Italian Restaurant, Emsworth.

Despite the restaurant being packed, service was good although if there was one critism, despite repeated requests, two jugs of water between 20 didn't last very long.

All in all it was a good night out and thank's once again must go to John Warner for organising another excellent event.

 

 

CURRY CLUB GOES CHINESE

On Saturday 2nd February 17 of us met up at the Beijing Palace Chinese Restaurant, Nutbourne for a variation on previous Indian flavoured Curry. Well organised again by John Warner, the food was excellent and, despite the restaurant being packed out, the service was quick unlike the two wait we suffered at the Spice Village in September.

The "Curry Club" has now established itself as a firm favourite among society members although the next session planned for Saturday 12th April will take on an Italian flavour as we head back to Emsworth and Nicolinos Italian restaurant. As a frequent patron of Nicolinos I can certainly vouch for the friendly welcome and the high quality of Italian cuisine that we can expect. Don't miss it !!

Rob Clark

 

 

CAOS SKITTLES EVENING

Friday 9th November was the night of the CAOS Skittles session at the Barleymow at Walderton. Twenty of us took part in what was a thoroughly enjoyable evening.

Well organised by John Warner, it turned out to be a closely contested match between the Ladies and the Men with two sets being played either side of dinner.

John had not only organised prizes for the highest scorers on each team, but also a wooden spoon each for those individuals bringing up the rear.

The Ladies individual winner turned out to be Margo Dodd with a score of 28 out of a possible 36 and she took home a box of chocolates. Meanwhile Rob Clark headed up the Men's score board, also with 28 points, winning himself a bottle of wine. Margo went on to win the "sudden-death" competition picking up £20 for her efforts which she promptly spent on buying coffees all round.

For the Ladies the clear winner of the wooden spoon was Helene Davis but for Gentlemen things were not so clear cut. Gordon Peacock and Paul Green were both very much in contention until Paul discovered that bowling facing the wrong way did wonders for his score allowing him to pull away from the bottom of the score board at the last moment !

And to the team scores. After trailing all evening, the Ladies surged ahead to just pip the Men at the post. However, this result cannot be confirmed as it is the subject of a Stewards' Enquiry after evidence of some ball tampering by members of the Ladies Team was reported.

 

Rob Clark

 

 

CAOS AND CURRY

Saturday 29th September saw 14 members of CAOS assemble at the Spice Village Indian Restaurant in Emsworth for a helping of CAOS and CURRY. Organised by John Warner, this was in fact our second visit to this particular restaurant.

We duly took our seats and placed our orders and with very little delay, a batch of popadoms arrived along with various chutneys and other relishes. Moreover, drink orders were swiftly dealt with so there was no risk of us getting thirsty.

After about an hours and with the popadoms rapidly becoming a distant memory we were all getting really hungry. Suddenly, hot plates started arriving at the table along with a few dishes of food. We waited in eager anticipation for the remaining dishes to arrive but instead and to our dismay the waiters came and took the food away !! One apologised profusely and explained that it had been served to the wrong table.

Given the circumstances, it would not have been unreasonable to expect the restaurant to provide some entertainment of some sort while we waited but none was forthcoming. So a number of us started singing hoping that this might expedite proceedings. However this seemed to have no effect whatever and we weren't even asked to leave !! In desperation we even considered popping over the road to the Chinese take away and asking if they could deliver.

Finally, after 2 hours, the food arrived and this time they didn't take it away. While I think that everyone would agree that the food was excellent, was it really worth waiting 2 hours for ?

One thing that everyone also seemed to be in agreement over is next the next curry night will be the Beijing Palace !!

Despite the disappointment of the long wait, our thanks must go to John Warner for organising the evening. It was certainly no fault of his that we nearly expired from starvation !!

 

   
 

CAOS donates £1,800 to St Wilfrid's Hospice

 Following the sell-out concert held during last years Chichester Festivities, CAOS has made a donation to St Wilfrid's Hospice in memory of Vivienne Clark (formerly Aitken) who lost her battle against cancer in December 2006. Viv, who spent her final days in St Wilfrid's was an very active member of the society for almost 30 years.

The concert, which was held on what would have been Viv's 61st birthday, used the framework of the show "From the Pirate to the Phantom" that the society performed in May of this year. This was based upon an original idea by Ray Treagust. However the programme was modified to take account of Viv’s wish to include songs that she had described as "Music we had fun with". This included a selection of Gilbert and Sullivan, excerpts from the Merry Widow, Les Miserables, My Fair Lady and finishing with a medley of Andrew Lloyd-Webber songs with the Phantom of the Opera as the grand finale. Some opera classics such as "Nessum Dorma" and "La ci darem la mano" were also added to the original programme.

The CAOS Musical Productions singers were also joined by Marie Therese Vassallo, a Maltese Mezzo-Soprano, who flew from Malta at her own expense to pay her own special tribute to Vivienne, her close friend of many years

Picture above are Jan Clark and Nick Cook receiving the cheque on behalf of the Hospice along with Elizabeth Peacock (CAOS Chairman), Rob Clark and Jill Kewell (CAOS Secretary).