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Tags: lost it

Gary Wilmot took some time out from his national tour of "Half A Sixpence" to speak to Theatre Guild members about our forthcoming production of Copacabana.  Gary created the role of Stephen / Tony in the original London cast of the Barry Manilow musical back in June 1994 so it was particularly fortunate that cast members Jim Munro, Louise Munro and John Woods (together with former Guild Choreographer Karen Feeney) met up with Mr Wilmot just as we were starting rehearsals!

Gary was interested in some of the details of our show and was keen to wish us well for our production in September.  Gary is pictured below with Louise, Karen and John.

Tags: copacabana, gary wilmot, jim munro, john woods, karen feeney, louise munro

Here is the NODA report on BLWiT.  You'll notice that I don't call it a 'review'.  As ever it is more of a cast list.  Sadly it fails in even that respect as there is no mention for one of the principals - Catherine Mackenzie (Doatsy Mae).  Anyway, it would be remiss if I did not publish this for our members:

"Well, YeeHaw! Howdy Folks! This musical with a potentially dubious plot was great fun to watch. Karen Herbison (Mona) and John Woods (Earl Dodd) as the "romantics" in the show were, if anybody, the "straight" actors amongst the strange individuals written into the cast. Not that any were particularly so, just doing "as written". Robert Kirkham (Melvin P.) and David Sturgeon (Governor) were suitably OTT and "the girls" - Sharon Cartwright, Linn van der Zanden, Norma Fingland, Adele Simpson, Suzanne Lowe ... the list can go on, dressed (or undressed) the stage suitably.  Cameron Lowe (Narrator and Chip), Les Hooper (Senator), David McCurrach (C.J.) and Nicola Coffield (Jewel) were amongst the others in this strong cast, too many to mention here. Jonathan's choreography kept people fit, and, at the end, audiences must have been happy with this feel-good show...

Tags: 2008, blwit, crit, noda, report, review

We are delighted to announce that our 2008 Charity Partner is Yorkhill Children's Foundation. The charity was set up in 2001 with the aim of providing the 'extra' services and equipment needed throughout Yorkhill, which would not otherwise be available.

Theatre Guild will make a significant contribution to YCF as 10% of proceeds from the opening night of 'Copacabana' will be donated to the charity. We hope to announce further events throughout the course of the year and ask our members to support this worthy cause by participating and spreading the word!

Visit the YCF web site for further details at
                
www.yorkhillchildrensfoundation.org.

Tags: 2008 charity, charity, ycf, yorkhill

Every picture tells a story (as my dad always says):

This one has a story that is so good it is hard to put into words.  The expression on the faces in the photo tell you just how much fun this night was.  Thanks to Gill Gilmour for digging out the photo!

It was the After Show Party of BLWiT.  A few beers had been quaffed and the party was in full swing.  The DJ had already commented on how 'mental' we were on this occassion ... and then he played Take That's "Never Forget" ...!  Bobby Allan was outside the restaurant on the stairs enjoying a smoke.  He heard the music clearly through the giant glass window and began to sing and dance along in an 'entertaining' fashion.  During the chorus his performance became quite outlandish and he caught the attention of the people nearest the window (including yours truly).

Soon the entire room (almost 100 people) were watching Bobby and singing along with him and encouraging his performance which reached an awsome crescendo at the final chorus when he took a bow to rapturous applause!

The photo shows the view from outside the restaurant giving an idea of...

Tags: blwit, bobby allan, never forget

I just HAD to post this photo up on the Blog!  If there is one picture that typifies a Theatre Guild Night Out - this is it!

26 of us went to The Normandy Hotel in Renfrew for a theme night of Dirty Dancing entertainment.  Many stayed over in the hotel afterwards and sought hangover cures at Braehead Xscape the following day!  The trip was expertly organised by Karen Brown.  I must also thank Karen Brock for this classic photo!

This was the end of the Dirty Dancing entertainment section.  The performers were singing "(I've had) the time of my life" on stage and the dance floor was crammed with 400 revellers for the last song of the evening.  Suddenly, the performers challenged the audience to lift their partners as high as they could ... but the Guild were ORGANISED!!  Some cleared a space for the operation, some did the lifting, some gasped and pointed to attact attention ... and Karen Brock took this BRILLIANT photo!

 Like I said ... classic.

Tags: david mccurrach, dirty dancing, event, night out

How's about this for dedication!?  New member Lindsay McCourt will be appearing in a PACE Production of "Cats" tonight!  You may be aware that Lins is our niece and that CATS is Suzy's favourite show!

But tonight is the first show of the 2007/08 Concert Season - where the Concert Crew (a dedicated team of 17 Theatre Guild members) entertain church and charity groups in exchange for bookings of 20 or more for our main production in September.

 So where will Suzy and I be when Lins is singing MacAvity?  In Shawlands on stage for the Concert Crew, that's where!

Tags: cats, lindsay mccourt, lins

Victoria Ridyard was awarded her 10 Year NODA Badge on Saturday 22 September.  Vicki has been with Theatre Guild throughout those years as well as a short period with The Lyric Club.  She joined the Guild in 1995 for "Oklahoma!" and took a short sabbatical to travel the world after appearing in "Guys and Dolls" the following year.

Les Hooper presented the award in the presence of the cast of The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas at the RSAMD.  The award was sponsored by Theatre Guild Glasgow.

Congratulations, Vicki!

Tags: noda, ridyard, vicki, victoria

I promised I'd share some pictures of the fruits of my labours over the Summer break.  Together with Suzy and my brother-in-law, Ted, I've been working on putting down a deck and building that 'wine wall' that we've talked about!

It was quite a success.  I haven't quite finished the wine wall yet but I'm nearly there!

We went from this:

to this:

in 2 weeks.  I'm pretty chuffed!

Tags: deck, holidays, wine wall