Clacton Arts & Literary Society

Programme Secretary’s report to AGM March 2011

Good evening madam president, ladies and gentlemen, goodness, this is my seventh report to you as programme secretary.  How the time flies.

I would like to thank all of you who have written or spoken to me to say that you have enjoyed the programme, I appreciate it very much.  I would also like to thank all the theatre staff, especially Kai, Simon and Jamie, who work so hard to make sure our evenings run smoothly,  they are very patient with me when I get in the way and interfere where I shouldn’t be.   And I would like to thank our President Jan Rodwell who is a great support to me and to the committee for their support also. 

I strive to fulfil the aims of the Society; whilst at the same time trying to make sure we will all enjoy our Monday evenings by providing a varied programme. 
During the season my first task on a Tuesday morning is to write to the artists, thanking them for coming.  A lot of them write, email or telephone back to say how much they enjoyed the warmth of you, the audience and the hospitality received from the Clacton Arts and Lits committee, this is something they rarely get from other theatres.  Without fail they all want to come back to give us another performance.  I know a lot of them tell us from the stage how lucky we are to have this Society and how unique it is.  I think this is something we are all aware of and we all need to continue to support the Society in as many ways as we can to ensure its future.
 I have really enjoyed planning and arranging the programme during my time as programme secretary. 
The ladies are always delighted with their flowers and on their behalf I would like to thank the members who contribute to the flower fund and to especially thank Sonia who organises the fund and the flowers on the night. 
Sometimes little things happen in the days leading up to the performance and sometimes little things happen on the day of the performance which has me rushing around to notify everyone of the change.  I found out with three days notice that a singer had been changed, when this happens I have to notify the person who does the reports to the newspaper, the biographies and photos have to be changed for the board in the foyer, Jan or Joy have to be given the new information for the introduction, Corinne has to have the information for the programme.  I’m often given the programme and it’s changed without notice on the night which can throw me if it’s the last piece before I have to present the flowers and I’m still sitting in my seat waiting for it and they suddenly say this is the last piece and I nearly fall over myself getting out and running round the back to the stage.  I think this is the most nerve racking part of my job, I stand behind the curtains and dither when to go on.  I’m never sure if they are going to do an en core or if they are going to do two.  I always ask but they often say they will wing it depending on your reaction to them which doesn’t help me one bit.  When we are ready to start the performance I have had to get someone out of the bar, in from the road having a smoke, wait whilst they are in the loo, or they can have seemed to have vanished from the face of the earth and I’m left wondering if I will have to do a song and dance routine to fill in the time, fortunately for you this hasn’t had to happen yet.

We opened the season with English Serenata and Love Letters, I don’t think you would have realised but the letters were written by the parents of the leader of the orchestra.  She found them in the loft and thought they would make a wonderful story, which they certainly did.

This was followed by a very interesting talk from Geoff Somers about his trip across the Australian desert, two of his camels had babies on the journey.  My Darling Clemmie followed with Rohan McCullough.  What a wonderful play.  I thought she was mesmerising.  We then had the two pianos with David Nettle and Richard Markham, The pianos were supposed to arrive at midday, midday came and went and no pianos, David and Richard arrived about three, still no pianos, fortunately the pianos arrived soon after this and everything was ok. We then had John McCarthy.  John was such a gentle, unassuming man, I asked him how it affected him giving these talks and he said the only thing that affected him now was when he saw the video of his brother and father waiting to meet him off the plane as they had both died since that reunion.  John sent me a lovely Christmas card wishing the Society continued success.  John was followed by Tony Jacobs and Jim Barry who gave us a lovely evening of music and banter.  We then had Ann Widdecombe, a very ‘definite’ lady.  She was convinced we were a book society and nothing I could say would change her mind, indeed I had to run behind her to tell her anything at all which was then re enacted when I had to run after her to present her with the flowers.  But never mind, she gave us another very good evening.  We ended the first half of the season with Cantabile.  Their singing was superb and we enjoyed joining with them for a couple of carols.

We started the second half of our season with Julian Lloyd Webber.  What a wonderful evening that was.  In case any of you were wondering Julian didn’t tell me he was bringing his wife with him and he certainly didn’t tell me she would be playing the en core with him.  I found this out in general conversation with him at 6.20pm on the evening which left me with the dilemma of the flowers for her, or should I say no flowers for her.  Just at that time Corinne came in and I explained the situation to her and out she went again to the local supermarket and bought a bunch of flowers for me, I was so grateful to her.  Another crisis averted.
 
Gerald Dickens followed and gave us another superb performance, he was followed by Valerie Leon, Valerie was a lovely person behind the scenes.
Some of you told me you weren’t so keen on this presentation but you can’t say we don’t have variety and quite a few people came up to me to say how much they had enjoyed it, so it just goes to show how different all our tastes are.  After Valerie we had Anthony Stuart Lloyd and Sharon Richards.  Anthony was larger than life and so was his performance, I don’t think anyone could not have found something to enjoy in his evening.  I particularly enjoyed the kiss on the stage, he took me by surprise and I felt my cheeks redden but that’s Anthony for you, always the unexpected.  We then had John Pilkington, what a story teller and adventurer, it was a fascinating evening.  We then had David playing the harp, Michael playing the violin and Jane singing.  They had only played to serious classical audiences and changed their programme and their style for us by chatting in between pieces, and you could see they became more comfortable as the performance went on and they thoroughly enjoyed the evening.  They each wrote to me praising the Society and the technical staff.  We then had Nick Baker, what a lovely person he was to look after, my bubble was burst when he asked me to mother him and make sure he left at a reasonable time as he had to travel back to Devon that night.  Oh well, that’s life.  He was so enthusiastic and loved doing the show and I think that came over well and truly in his talk.  I should think he is wonderful with the school children.  All too soon it was the end of the season and we finished with Sue Greenways orchestra and the Glen Miller era. With Tony Jacobs and Eleanor Keenan, what an orchestra, they looked so good on the stage with the red and white stands and in their dinner jackets and evening dress.  They were truly professional and it was a wonderful finish for our season.  I think we have all really appreciated the standard and skill of the musicians and speakers this year.

Well, we finished yet another season and some of us had to do our Trustee’s duties ready for the AGM and I have also been busily booking for next season.  I haven’t got so many ready for you this time as I am waiting for a decision from ‘a celebrity’. 
I have given all the available dates to choose from so I can’t continue booking until a decision is made. This is always a problem with celebrities as they are very reluctant to book so far in advance as they wouldn’t want to let us down but neither would they want to miss an opportunity if something came up in films or television.  Anyway this is what I have so far and I hope it’s enough to encourage you to join the Society again next season.  We will be opening our season on the 17th October with Harlem Hot Feet, The Jiving Lindy Hoppers will be accompanied by the Harry Strutters Hot Rhythm Orchestra.  This is an exciting, action-packed jazz and dance show that celebrates the song and dance of the 1920’s and 30’s. 

The following week on 24th October we have Jill Morrell who will give us an interesting look at the other side of the story that unfolded during the incarceration of John McCarthy.  On 31st October we have Fiona Pitcher.  Fiona has lead teams and presenters up to 100 strong in the African bush, across Continents and right round the UK.  She has won BAFTA and EMMY awards and is best known for creating Springwatch, Autumnwatch, Big Cat Week and supplying the One Show.  Fiona will show clips and outtakes with moving images during her talk.
On 14th November we have Captain William Wells.  William is a Master mariner, former Ship’s Captain, licensed Harbour Pilot and published author.  William will entertain us with the often funny stories and adventures of being a Ship’s Pilot.  On 28th November we have David Edwards, David will be talking about ‘Botswana and the Okavango Delta’.  Botswana is a stable, democratic country that has avoided the tragedies and upheavals of its neighbours. The struggle for survival in the harsh Kalahari is contrasted with the lushness of the Okavango Delta. 
On 5th December we will finish the first half of the season with A Christmas Night at the Opera with the London Festival Opera Company. 
This will be performed in Victorian costume with 6 singers and a pianist.  There will also be carols for us to sing.  This will be a lovely lead up to Christmas and the end of the first half of our season.

We open the second half of the season on 16th January with Hatstand Opera, they will be performing ‘Opera is Murder’, an amusing and light hearted look at tragedy in opera.  On the 23rd January we have Stephen Venables.  In 1988 Stephen became the first Briton and just one of a handful of people in the world to climb Everest without supplementary oxygen.  Stephen tells the story of Sir Ernest Shackleton’s famous Antarctic expedition across South Georgia, one of the last great epics of exploration.  The notice that went in the Times in 1913 read ‘Men wanted for hazardous journey. Low wages, bitter cold, long hours of complete darkness, safe return doubtful, honour and recognition in event of success’.   Gosh, that would make you want to go wouldn’t it! 

By overwhelming popular request I’m finishing the season with those three Scottish Tenors, Caledon.  I think they will certainly end our season on a high.

I would like to thank all of you for your suggestions and ideas for future seasons.  This is a great help to me.  I look into all the suggestions and sometimes a booking follows.  If one of your suggestions is not taken up it might be that, although a lot of television celebrities appear to have no trouble speaking in front of a camera on television, they are reading from a cue or from memory, and although they might do after dinner speaking, they are very reluctant to try and craft a full theatre performance.

I give performers and speakers all the information about the Society, including our web site, I meet them either off the train or I arrange parking and meet them at the theatre.  If they stay overnight I make the booking and collect their keys for them.
I arrange for food and drinks to be available and I arrange for them to speak to Simon for their technical requirements.  I also liaise with Sonia if they have books or CD’s to sell.  You can be assured that I do everything I can to make each Monday evening enjoyable for all of us and for the artists and speakers too.  I know not every evening may be to everyone’s taste that would be impossible. And it never ceases to surprise me how very much individual’s tastes differ.  I always warn the artistes that some of our members have taxis booked or buses to get, so if there is movement at about 9.30pm not to worry, we are not all rushing to get out!  And I advise our artists, nearly always unnecessarily, that we wish the programme to be free from comments of a sexual nature, politics, religion and swearing.  Some funny things happen behind the scenes as you can imagine, it keeps me on my toes.  Most of the artists are good natured and tolerant of our Societies ways but some can be, how shall I put it? I think the word I’m looking for is challenging!
I hope the variety in the programme I have outlined so far will encourage you all to re-join the Society again for the coming season.  
So that Ladies and Gentlemen is the conclusion of my report for this year, thank you. Cindy Hardy