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 It is not often that an offer comes along that you cannot refuse, but
just like buses, two have turned up together for Henley Operatic and
Dramatic Society.
The first opportunity arose Just last week, when part of the
production team for HAODS autumn show, Raffles of Singapore, which has
been designated as a "special project" by the Society, accepted an
invitation to meet Lord David Holmes at his charming London studio in
Primrose Hill. Lord David, who modestly requested to be called simply
David, has a wealth of experience in the Far East and with Singapore in
particular. His most memorable work in England was for McCallan Whisky,
designing the poster campaign which appeared on seventy foot hoardings
all over the country.
In Singapore, he has worked closely with Raffles
Hotel, appearing in many books and publications about the hotel,
affectionately termed as a "resident". He currently has a set of
postcards depicting many different aspects of Singapore and other
aspects of his work, on sale at this world famous hostelry.
However, the musical is not about the hotel, but about the British
statesman and visionary, Sir Thomas Stamford Bingley Raffles (6 July
1781 - 5 July 1826) best known in the Far East for his founding of the
city of Singapore. Often described as the "Father of Singapore", he was
heavily involved in the conquest of the Indonesian island of Java from
Dutch and French military forces during the Napoleonic Wars and
contributed immensely to the expansion of the British Empire.
The famous
hotel takes its name from him. Raffles of Singapore will indeed be a
very special project for the Society as it is quite unknown in this
country. The show was originally commissioned and produced by Sally
Tunnicliffe; a producer then based in Singapore and was performed in the
Victoria Theatre, Singapore in 1979 for two weeks to packed houses,
followed by a further week in Hong Kong. The director, musical director
and actors were all West End professionals, one of which was our own
Kevin Whately, now of Morse and Lewis fame. The orchestration is by
Richard M Brown, who for many years was MD for the Royal Shakespeare
Company at the Barbican. All that prevented it from transferring to the
West End was the sudden down-turn in the economy which caused West End
theatres to go dark.
The performing rights for the UK Premiere have been taken by HAODS and
the show will be produced at The Kenton Theatre, Henley-on-Thames, 14-20
November 2010, with a gala performance, accompanied by dinner at Phyllis
Court on Saturday 13th November, in aid of the Alzheimer's Society. The
delightfully eccentric Lord David was so enthused by the project that he
not only offered to paint a picture for sale to boost the funds for the
show, but also to design the poster image to promote the show. Offer
number one!
Offer number two came just one day later when Henley Music Festival
Director Stewart Collins offered to display the original of the poster
and other Singaporean paintings by Lord David in the galleries at the
Henley Festival. The original and other paintings will be for sale at
the Festival.
There will be more about this exciting production in the press as the
gestation period progresses. Already with sponsors the like of The
Singapore Tourism Board and Singapore Airlines already in the
background, HAODS are still looking for sponsorship for all aspects of
the show. If you are able to help, have any interesting stories about
Singapore, or are interested in learning more about the show, then
please contact Julie Huntington, Chair of HAODS
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