Vintage

Nicoletta Hartin (aka "Sporty Chick") has just created a new facebook area for the Haods May Day Fun Run. This is an area that anyone interested in the fun run can meet other equally interested HAODS members, obtain  information, offer advice or assistance and other stuff. You don't need to be a HAODS member to join the Facebook group, anyone can join. There are countless groups on facebook and now there are four specifically created  for HAODS members. Come along and have a look around.

While we are on the subject of the HAODS May day fun run - the dedicated fun run page on this site is starting to flesh out. We have an updated sign-up form and pertinent event information which all competitors need to read and be aware of. We will keep the page updated with new information as and when it arrives. You can view the fun page here, click on the pic.

After being thwarted last year when we were unable to get the licence, we have now secured Little Shop of Horrors for our Autumn 2011 slot! This is a small musical, as is traditional for the November show - small cast it may be, but it has BIG characters, not least Audrey II - the insatiable man eating plant! Seymour Kreibourn, a florist's assistant, has his life turned around when he comes across an unusual plant after an eclipse of the sun.  Naming the plant "Audrey II" after the salesgirl who is his love, Seymour tries to grow the plant, to no avail . . . until he discovers its true diet: blood.  As the plant thrives, bringing Seymour fame and fortune, the two strike a Faustian pact: Audrey II agrees to attract publicity if Seymour continues feeding it.  Seymour, his boss Mushnik, Audrey and her abusive dentist boyfriend are swept into the plant's evil machinations as its true motives become clear.  Based on Roger Corman's film, Little Shop Of Horrors took off-Broadway by storm with its offbeat humour and the show-stealing Audrey II, whose rhythm and blues numbers never fail to bring down the house.  There is a cast of 5 men and 4 women, all excellent characters. Check out some of the songs on You Tube. Catch the following link: Downtown to Skid Row 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jwEJi3NsZtA   

Click Read more to see the videos here

 HAODS are delighted to announce their 2011 Show Programme  I am delighted to announce that the Committee has chosen the show programme for 2011.       It was important for the Society that our Spring show should cater for all age groups as our membership is hugely diverse with ages ranging from 16 - 85plus - especially as there have been several shows recently which precluded a lot of our more mature actors!  Well, I am delighted to say that our Spring show will be Sondheim's Broadway hit musical Follies  this is truly a "Society" show, with a  big cast of 12 men, (don't panic... they are not all required to be under 20! - just one or two!) 16 women, 6 showgirls and a chorus of all comers, which call for character ages from 16 - 90!! Follies has a string of nominations and awards to its name, including best musical, best score and best lyrics and has been nominated as the 9^th most popular musical.  It is a nostalgic look at the past glories of the crumbling Weisman theatre. Before it is knocked down to make way for a car park, old man Weisman gathers together all the show girls who have played there. This final reunion of the cast of the Follies conjures up a mix of glittering showgirls and eerie ghosts of a forgotten era in this stunning musical extravaganza. Two married couples, made bitter through age, finally find happiness by abandoning their dreams of youth in the dying theatre.  Famous numbers include Broadway Baby, I'm Still Here, and Losing My Mind Take a look at the following links to hear some of the songs... I am already singing "Broadway Baby" Broadway Baby

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rJ1FgSflHSg&feature=fvw Beautiful Girls     http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TtPqQO7yuVU

Click Read more to see the videos here

The HAODS website has a new way to submit your news and articles, by email! , you can now submit content whenever you want, all you need to do is send an email to This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it and your post will automatically appear in a new page called the Chairman's BLOG page. You can send an article or a comment from your own email client or even via a MMS message from your mobile phone. For the moment all submitted messages will be unmoderated. As long as we get good posts (non SPAM) then it will remain so! If you want your views published just send an email now to :

This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it

It will only accept text for the moment as images from most digital cameras are just too big for the site to accept. If you have a small image like the one above - feel free to send that too and we'll squeeze it on!

What does this mean to you? Well, it means that you have two places to look for news, here on this NEWS page and you can see the Blog entries here on the Chairman's Blog Page . 

We have just added a new tool to the HAODS site that will hopefully be useful to all members with a computer. The tool can email all registered users whenever a new item of interest is added to the site. We are currently just testing it so one or two of the registered members may receive a few test emails from henleyoperatic.co.uk. Please be patient with us for the moment until we get the tool working just right! The idea is that whenever someone posts brand new news to the site an email is sent out to you letting you know it is there. Each email will have a link taking you directly to the article. 

We are hoping that the articles that used to be written for the old Stage Whispers may soon be written on the website. We can then create a Stage Whispers automatically from the site itself... and everyone with a computer will receive it  as an email. We can then print it out for those lacking or not wanting a PC.  Eventually you should be able to opt in or out of receiving emails. Please let us know what you think of this idea by clicking here and giving us your feedback .

Phil promises not to bottle it in latest production

Article from http://www.henleystandard.co.uk/news/news.php?id=679163

MUSICIANS beware — Phil Couch is about to perform again! The actor and singer takes to the stage in Henley Amateur Operatic and Dramatic Society’s latest show, the Rock n’ Roll space fantasy musical, Return Of The Forbidden Planet, starting this Sunday.

Phil set nerves jangling in the orchestra pit in his last show for the society when he accidentally let a glass bottle fall from his head onto a piano.

“Who was that person that dropped the bottle off his head straight into the orchestra pit and smashed it on the keyboard?” he says, ruefully. “Well it was me. It nearly hit the musical director on the head but  did shatter across the keyboard covering it with glass.  “Nobody was injured during the performance of Fiddler on the Roof, apart from me. When the MD came back stage in the interval, I shyly hid away from him in the corner — you might say I bottled it.”

Article from http://www.henleystandard.co.uk/news/news.php?id=632536

MOST people are happy to spend an evening discussing cars, house prices, curtains and the ordinary things which go to make up day-to-day life.

Only a few seek to talk of art, music, theatre, literature and politics — and Mike Leigh wasn’t interested in them when he wrote Abigail’s Party in 1977.

Falcongrange Productions recognised that in their stimulating interpretation of the play which is set in home counties suburbia.

This was energetic and pacey with some excellent character portrayals — although Yvie Magee’s Beverley came close to a pantomime dame sometimes.

The Green Room, HAODS’s rehearsal and social space next to the Kenton Theatre, may not be the easiest of venues in which to put on a show but the young Falcongrange didn’t let that get in their way.

Yvie Magee set the pace in the opening scene as she shimmied around her living room, setting out the peanuts and cheese and pineapple snacks, and drinking wine.

HAODS hope for show’s UK premiere

Original article at :http://www.henleystandard.co.uk/news/news.php?id=614429

 HAODS hope for show’s UK premiere
AN exciting opportunity is in store for Henley Amateur Operatic and Dramatic Society.

A team of professional producers were so impressed with HAODS’ production of Titanic The Musical last year that they are offering them the opportunity to present the UK premier of a musical, performed professionally to great acclaim in Hong Kong and Singapore. It is the story of the life of Sir Stamford Raffles after whom the world famous hotel was named.

Raffles is the haunting and romantic story of the visionary Sir Stamford Raffles who founded Singapore in 1819 without permission from the East India Company and was financially broken by the company for his pains. But his stoic resolve, and love of his wife, win through and he wins a moral victory to allow a bitter-sweet ending. It is of local interest as the couple actually spent their honeymoon in Henley. He is today regarded as a visionary and indeed many will know, and probably have stayed at, the iconic Raffles Hotel which bears his name to this day.

HAODS are spaced out in latest offering

Article from http://www.henleystandard.co.uk/news/news.php?id=683660

HAODS’ Return To The Forbidden Planet, playing at The Kenton Theatre until Saturday, is great fun — two hours of pure escapism to a galaxy far, far away.

This rock ‘n’ roll musical takes Shakespeare’s The Tempest as its starting point and fuses it with the Fifties kitsch sci-fi flick, Forbidden Planet (itself loosely based on The Tempest), in a camp comedic caper as we accompany the crew of US Starship Albatross to the planet D’Illyria and encounter marooned scientist Dr Prospero, his beautiful daughter Miranda and faithful Robot, Ariel.

The HAODS webmaster recently received an email from Sheelagh Wilson whose father lived in Henley and who was a founder member of our society.  Sheelagh submitted the originals of the Mikado photographs which can be found on our gallery page here , Sheelagh corrected the date of the photos, they are in fact from the very first Mikado show in 1922. Sheelagh's note reads:

"The note which my late father, Frederick King, left with the Mikado photos is as follows:

'The Mikado - First of any performance in the local cinema.  Presented by the new Henley-on-Thames Operatic Society in about February 1922. The five shows were crowded to the full and scores of people had to be turned away, if they had no tickets, on the Saturday night. In the following years, the Society staged The Pirates of Penzance and The Yeomen of the Guard.'

The 3 additional photographs (shown here) which I would be happy to lend if you think they might be appropriate for inclusion on your website are:

With energetic numbers from the very start and songs that you all know, it can't disappoint!! DDOS have an extremely talented cast (who both perform in the show and in the band), ingenious set designers and crew behind the scenes, as well as the excellent leadership of both Director/Choreographer and Musical Director.

DDOS say that group bookings more than welcome, bring all the family along! The Box Office number is 01306 881717 and tickets are on sale (and selling fast...) NOW! DDOS look forward to seeing you there! For more information visit either their website or the Facebook page - includes cast photos from a promotional performance and a few from rehearsals.

http://www.ddos.org.uk/greenshow.php?id_show=36
http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=137790721588

For all those who have helped out in the past - we need you again this year !!

Please get in touch and I hope to see you on January 14th. www.henleyfringe.org

The coffee season will soon be on us once again –walking under the wonderful new canopy customers really feel now that they are coming to a grand old theatre. Proceeds from these coffee mornings go to the Theatre funds, of course. Thank you to all you volunteers who are giving up your Saturday Morning to help out. Use the new machine, coffee is just £1 per cup, but the cake is free! Why not make it an invitation Coffee morning? If you are doing it, why not contact some of those old friends you have not seen for a while to come and enjoy a chinwag and help to raise funds for the theatre at the same time? Remember, try and swap with someone yourself if you cannot make a particular morning, before you contact me but I would like to know of the change. Good Luck Everyone! I will be publishing the list on the website if you lose your copy, so please, if you do swop, just tap in with the alternation on the interactive page and Dean, our dynamic webmaster will change it for us. Hugs all and a very, merry Christmas!

Julie Huntington   (Click read more for the full rota)

If you are interested in joining this group then just visit facebook and join up and add yourself to a group.

The Photo we have here was dropped onto my lap without any text but as I understand it, a group of the 'gals' went out on the razzle to celebrate the installment of Julie Huntington into the role of HAODS new chairman/woman . Here they are outside what is clearly a Brakspears pub. What could they have been doing there, something theatrical?

Julie says "Ladies of HAODS celebrate with the new Chairman at Luscombe's at the Golden Ball in Assendon", Webmaster notes the Golden Ball was also known, in my day as the "gilded gonad" or the "lacquered knacker".

The Kenton Theatre, Sunday November 15th

HAODS' Return to the Forbidden Planet, playing at The Kenton Theatre until Saturday November 21^st, is great fun - two hours of pure escapism to a galaxy far, far away.

This rock 'n' roll musical takes Shakespeare's The Tempest as its starting point and fuses it with the 1950's kitsch sci-fi flick, Forbidden Planet (itself loosely based on The Tempest), in a camp comedic caper as we accompany the crew of US Starship Albatross to the planet D'Illyria and encounter marooned scientist Dr Prospero, his beautiful daughter Miranda and faithful Robot, Ariel.

A Word from our Chairman - Julie Huntington

"Friends, Romans, countrymen, lend me your ears! " (Marcus Antonius: Julius Caesar Act 3, scene 2.)

I always find it fascinating just how many Shakespearean quotes have crept into our everyday life, influencing our speech. Quite often, we have no idea that it is Shakespeare - it just sounds good. Oh to be so clever as to influence a language and continue to do so for over 400 years! William Shakespeare quotes such as "To be, or not to be" and "O Romeo, Romeo! wherefore art thou Romeo?" form some of his most celebrated, most quoted lines. Other famous Shakespearean quotes such as "I 'll not budge an inch", "We have seen better days" , "A dish fit for the gods" and the expression "it's all Greek to me". How many of you knew THAT was one of Will's?

Hopefully most HAODS members will know that the society has a website (!)  but the majority of HAODS members will have no inkling that HAODS is also online in the web space known as Facebook. I'll make a guess that a majority of members will not even have a clue as to what Facebook is... To put it simply Facebook is a place where people keep in touch with friends. It is designed in such a way that it is a great way to meet and greet new chums and keep up on with what your existing friends are doing. Everyone has their own personal blog and an associated  profile. People join like-minded groups and they share information about things dear to each of their hearts. There are countless groups on facebook but there are now three specifically created  for HAODS members.

Newspaper Article - The Henley Standard - W/E 30th October 2009

Imagine being at school and suddenly your teacher bursts into a rousing chorus of Great Balls of Fire!! Well, that is exactly what reception class pupils at Highfield School in Maidenhead were treated to when Claire Wallis landed a part in Henley Amateur Operatic Society's production of the cult musical, Return to the Forbidden Planet at the Kenton Theatre in November.

Claire, who not only teaches Reception Class but also runs the extended day drama group, is said to be over the moon to be playing the part of the Science Officer, Gloria in this quirky musical which throws together 1950's science fiction, fake Shakespeare and the muscle of early rock and roll.

Claire has been performing since she was eleven years old and was accepted at Redroofs Theatre School in Maidenhead, when she was fifteen but was unable to obtain funding to go. However she has never given up on her dream of performing and loves being involved with HAODS, having recently been elected to the committee.

Hello, my name is Nicoletta Hartin.

I am delighted be to be part of the Henley Drama Operatics Society. I have been involved in HAODS for one year now (where does time go when you are having fun?).

From the age of six years old until now I have always loved acting, dancing and singing (which is what I love doing in my spare time), and I am willing to carry that on to reach my future goal which is to become a famous actress.

Myself, I have been in the first season of the recent ST.TRINIANS film (played as an extra and had a line to say) As soon as I got to the audition the director asked me to play a 'chav', haha, so must say found it a challenge playing a role that I thought I would never have considered, living in Henley, but eventually got through it. Had great fun meeting all the stars such as Colin Firth, Russell Brand and even Steven Fry himself. Four months ago had another filming session but this time it was to do with commercials for dentistry, and on the 11/12th of October I even starred in a recent advert clip that is being held on 25 channels such as BBC 1, ITV 3 etc..., Must say thoroughly enjoyed playing as a POSH Tottie on the train scene.

Plans are hotting up for the newest musical in town! Earlier this month, the Raffles of Singapore publicity panel chaired by Julie Huntington met with Ama Guron of the Alzheimer's Society to put together a plan of action for the November 2010 project.    Ama is the events co-ordinator for the Alzheimer's Society and is promising a galaxy of stars for the Gala performance to be held on 13th November 2010, including John and David Suchet, Fiona Phillips and Kevin Whately, who stared in the original production in Singapore in 1979.  It will hopefully be a glittering occassion with dinner at Phyllis Court to get the guests in the mood.   The Sunday matinee will be hailed as the "Singapore Gala" when the Singapore Society will attend - hopefully in traditional dress.    Plans are afoot to cast the principles early, as there will be many opportunities throughout the year to publicise the show, which is essential because of the fact that this is very much an unknown musical.   There are several candidates for director, and the lucky person will be being announced very soon, Watch this space as this production is going to be very exciting  for HAODS!

WAVE OF DEATH Henley couples forced to flee for their lives Published on 31 December 2004 

http://www.henleystandard.co.uk/news/archive.php?id=1195174045   

TWO Henley couples had to run for their lives after the tsunami, which has devastated countries bordering the Indian Ocean, wrecked their beach bungalows. Barrie and Jennifer Scott and Jim and Val Stoner were about to have breakfast when the giant wave struck the Bangtao Lagoon Bungalows in Phuket, Thailand, where they were staying. the wave cascaded through the resort, which is located on Bang Tao beach, a maid saved their lives by stopping them from running towards an area that was later devastated. The Scotts climbed on to the roof of a hut to avoid the water and the Stoners saved themselves by climbing up a water tower. a text message to a friend, Mr. Scott, a training consultant, wrote: “Did not feel the earthquake but witnessed the tidal wave first hand. We’ve got no clothes, no passport and no tickets. We are very lucky. Many bungalows around us were destroyed.” The Red Cross said the death toll from the Boxing Day disaster could rise to more than 100,000 people in 12 countries. was caused by a huge earthquake, which measured 8.9 on the Richter scale, just off the coast of Sumatra in Indonesia. The Scotts, from St. Andrews Road, and the Stoners, were staying in a modern bungalow which had only been built recently. But many people staying in older huts, where the family have stayed previously, were killed.