Clacton & North East Essex Arts & Literary Society programme from October to December 2010

18th October English Serenata
‘Love Letters’ The year: 1940. The place: The West Midlands. The music: songs, swing and chamber music from that period. The words: a collection of love-letters, which reflect the humour, courage and warmth of family life sixty years ago and the brave and often hilarious exploits of two young people caught in a wartime romance.

25th October Geoff Somers gives an illustrated talk entitled
‘A Camel Odyssey’ An outstanding and illustrated talk, centred in Australia. With three camels from the wild, Geoff travelled on foot, 1,400 miles (2,000kms) from Perth across the deserts to Ulura (Ayers Rock), the ‘Red Centre’ of the continent and in 2006 across the Simpson Desert. He is one of the World’s most accomplished travellers.

1st November Rohan McCullough in
‘My Darling Clemmie’
A play by Hugh Whitemore
‘My Darling Clemmie’ is the remarkable, moving and highly entertaining story of the woman who married one of the truly great figures of the 20th century: Sir Winston Churchill.

8th November Nettle & Markham
‘Two Pianos’ David Nettle & Richard Markham rank amongst the world’s foremost piano duos. For thirty years their vitality, enthusiasm, musical integrity and remarkable ensemble have been delighting audiences throughout the musical world and they are considered one of the most entertaining and musically satisfying partnerships performing today.

15th November John McCarthy
‘1,943 days of Squalid Captivity’ Living with the constant threat of execution was an unbearable strain on the likeable young television journalist on the first rungs of broadcasting management who was captured by Lebanese extremists on his journey home to the airport. He knew Beirut was a hotbed of tension and danger. But the last thing on his mind as his battered taxi navigated back streets to the airport, was kidnap and capture.

22nd November Tony Jacobs & Jim Barry
‘Two Gentlemen & a Piano’ Tony and Jim attempt to get to grips with the music and lyrics of some of the greatest composers and lyricists of Twentieth Century popular music. Their interpretation of the classic songs of George and Ira Gershwin, Rodgers and Hart, Cole Porter, Irving Berlin, Jonny Mercer, Flanders and Swan and many others will make you want to explore this extraordinarily rich seam of music.

29th November Ann Widdecombe
‘In Conversation with Iain Dale’ The former Member of Parliament Ann Widdecombe, reveals what life is really like as an MP, a judge, an author and former contestant in ITV’s Celebrity Fit Club and why she let Louis Theroux film her.

6th December Cantabile
‘Christmas with Cantabile’ The sound of Cantabile is synonymous with Christmas. Cantabile have established an unrivalled reputation throughout Europe and beyond for harmony singing of the highest quality combined with a unique and very British sense of humour.

Clacton & North East Essex Arts & Literary Society programme from January to March 2011

17th January Julian Lloyd Webber with pianist Pam Chowhan
‘Travels with my Cello’
To celebrate his 60th birthday in 2011 Julian takes us on a unique musical journey through his extraordinary career in words, live performance and video. Not to be missed!

24th January Gerald Dickens in
‘The Life & Adventures
of ‘Charles Dickens’
& ‘Nicholas Nickleby’ During the first half Gerald will talk about Charles Dickens, his life and how he came to write Nicholas Nickleby and in the second half he will perform his one man show based on the book.
Charles Dickens’s third novel gets the Gerald Treatment! Following Nicholas on his travels from Devon to London, to Yorkshire to London, to Hampshire to London and back to Dorset.

31st January Valerie Leon
‘Up Front’ An intimate, illustrated and illuminating glimpse into the life and times of a Seventies icon… Valerie Leon has been part of three British cults; Bond, Carry On and Hammer Horror. She also has a collection of hit TV shows and with the help of some wonderful vintage film footage, Valerie takes us through her life in film, both on and off the screen! From Bond to Bondage…What A Carry On.

7th February Anthony Stuart Lloyd &
pianist Sharon Richards
‘High Wide and Handsome’ Featuring a host of ’songs from the shows’ popular opera and heart warming Welsh songs.
The welcome return of this distinguished Welsh baritone who has had numerous roles with the Welsh National Opera.

14th February John Pilkington
‘A Stroll through the Axis of Evil’ Lebanon, Syria, Iraq and Iran are in the news for all the wrong reasons. John unravelled a picture quite different from the news stories. He found families and whole communities working together to survive the harsh climate and political strife. John Pilkington is “one of Britain’s greatest tellers of travellers’ tales”.

21st February David Watkins
Michael Bochmann
Jane Leslie Mackenzie
‘An Evening of Musical Delights’
Celebrated harpist David Watkins and violinist Michael Bochmann collaborate with soprano Jane Leslie Mackenzie in a varied musical concert.

28th February Adrian Cale
‘Animals Don’t Say Cheese!’
This illustrated talk takes you an informative wildlife journey and shows that bringing wildlife to your TV screens can be fantastic, fraught and sometimes funny. Sprinkled liberally with interesting facts and anecdotes about the animals he films, the people and cultures he meets and the filmmaking process itself, Adrian reveals the amusing, dangerous and wonderfully exciting world he lives in.

7th March The Glen Miller Story
in words and music with The Sue Greenway Orchestra Sue Greenway’s seventeen piece orchestra tells the fascinating story of Glenn Miller and puts his music in the context of the Swing Era by celebrating some of the other contemporary classic bands such as Artie Shaw, Tommy Dorsey and Benny Goodman.

THE PROGRAMME, AS ALWAYS, IS SUBJECT TO CHANGE IN CIRCUMSTANCES OUTSIDE THE SOCIETY?S CONTROL