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Old News | |
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Articles that previously appeared on the front page (most recent at the top) | |
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07/05/06
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THE GRAND DUKE
31 January - 4 February 2006, Nuffield Theatre, Southampton Details of this show have been added to our Shows page. We will be taking Grand Duke to the Buxton International Gilbert & Sullivan Festival on 3rd August 2006. 07/05/06 CURTAIN CALL AWARDS 2005 We have been nominated for the following Daily Echo Curtain Call Awards this year:
Congratulations to all nominees. The winners will be announced at the awards event on Friday 27th January 2006. 24/01/2006 UPDATE: We won the Best Opera award for Iolanthe DIE FLEDERMAUS 
28 June - 2 July 2005,
Nuffield Theatre, Southampton See our Shows page for details of our recent show. 08/07/05 IOLANTHE 
24 - 29 January 2005,
Nuffield Theatre, Southampton Box Office: 023 8067 1771 See our Shows page for details of our recent show. 04/02/05 CURTAIN CALL AWARDS 2004 We have been nominated for the following Daily Echo Curtain Call Awards this year:
Congratulations to all nominees. The winners will be announced at the awards event on Friday 14th January 2005. 27/12/2004 Update: SOS won two Curtain Call Awards - Mike Pavitt for Best Performance in an Opera and Joseph Wright as Best Actor in a Youth Production. THE PIRATES OF PENZANCE 
6 August 2004,
International Gilbert & Sullivan Festival, Buxton We recently took this show to the International G&S Festival in Buxton. Visit our Shows page for more information on this show, first performed in January 2004 at the Nuffield Theatre, Southampton. 15/08/2004 Update: We won the "Best Animated Chorus" award and came 5th overall in the competition. GUYS AND DOLLS 
22 - 26 June 2004,
Nuffield Theatre, Southampton Details of our recent show have now been added to our Shows page. For the rules of Craps, and other interesting show-based facts take a look at the Show Notes. 26/06/04 THE PIRATES OF PENZANCE
27 - 31 January 2004, Nuffield Theatre, Southampton Details of our recent sell-out show have now been added to our Shows page. We look forward to taking the show to the International Gilbert & Sullivan Festival in Buxton this summer. 04/02/04 THE HOTTEST TICKETS IN TOWN?
Tickets for ‘The Pirates of Penzance’ (27th – 31st January at the Nuffield Theatre) are disappearing faster than you can say ‘Yo-ho-ho and a bottle of rum’, according to Southampton Operatic Society, which is urging theatre-goers to book their seats now or risk being disappointed.
‘Seats for Wednesday through to Saturday have sold extremely well, with only a very few seats remaining,’ said the society’s Chairman, Adam Case. ‘We would advise those people who have not yet bought their tickets to opt, if possible, for the Tuesday evening or Saturday matinee performances, which have a greater selection of seats still available.’ The show’s success at the Box Office is no surprise to SOS. ‘Pirates is packed with well-known songs such as ‘I am the very model of a modern Major-General’, ‘Poor Wand’ring One’, ‘With Cat-like tread’ and ‘A policeman’s lot is not a happy one’ – to name but a few,’ said Adam. ‘Add to this a swashbuckling tale full of the usual comic Gilbertian twists, turns and topsey-turveydom and you have a rollicking night’s entertainment for all the family.’ Tickets priced from £6 are available from the Nuffield Theatre Box Office on 023 8067 1771. Book now while stocks last! 24/01/04 PIRATES TAKE THE MARLANDS BY STORM
Pirates invaded The Marlands on Saturday but far from being bent on rape and pillage, they seemed content to serenade the passing shoppers with extracts from Gilbert & Sullivan. They were joined by a ‘bevy of beautiful maidens’ and a few rather cowardly members of the Cornish constabulary, all of whom turned out to be cast members of Southampton Operatic Society’s forthcoming production, ‘The Pirates of Penzance’, which runs from 27th – 31st January at the Nuffield Theatre, Southampton. The show, which is sponsored by the Marlands, is perhaps the best-loved of all the G&S operettas and is packed with well-known songs such as ‘I am the very model of a modern Major-General’, ‘A policeman’s lot’, ‘Poor Wand’ring One’ and the rousing chorus, ‘With cat-like tread’.
‘The road show was a great success,’ said Barbara Rayner, the society’s press officer. ‘The children in particular loved it – they were absolutely entranced by the pirates – but everyone seemed to thoroughly enjoy it. Some people even stopped to sing along, which is a measure of how well-known all the songs are. Certainly, tickets have been selling extremely well and we would urge people to buy their tickets as soon as possible as some performances have nearly sold out already.’ Tickets for ‘The Pirates of Penzance’ priced £8.50 - £12, can be purchased from the Nuffield Theatre Box Office on 023 8067 1771. Concessions are available for selected performances. 17/01/2004 CURTAIN CALL AWARDS We have been nominated for the following Southern Evening Echo Curtain Call Awards this year:
Congratulations to all nominees. The winners will be announced at the awards event on Friday 30th January 2004. 08/01/2004 AWARDS UPDATE: SOS won the award for Best Opera with Princess Ida.AWARDS FOR IDA Following on from our successful run of Princess Ida in Southampton we took the show to the 10th International Gilbert and Sullivan Festival in Buxton, Derbyshire. We are pleased to report that the show won two awards (Best Supporting Actor - David Rayner; Best Animated Chorus) and received a further four nominations (Best Supporting Actress - Jo Short; Best Actor - Simon Pontin; Best Actress - Alison Vincent; Best Concerted Item - The Woman of the Wisest Wit) Come and see our animated chorus in action in Pirates of Penzance, at the Nuffield Theatre in January 2004, or (hopefully) back in Buxton next summer! 18/08/03 PRINCESS IDA 
24 - 28 June 2003, 7.30pm, Nuffield Theatre, Southampton Box Office: 023 8067 1771 Tickets: £6 - £12 (concessions available on selected performances) Originally written as a gentle satire on women’s education, the show has all the hallmarks of a classic Gilbert & Sullivan operetta: a witty libretto and enchanting score with numbers ranging from ingenious patter songs through to poignant ballads and rousing chorus numbers. The story focuses on Princess Ida, a headstrong young woman who turns her back on her royal obligations - including a childhood betrothal to Prince Hilarion - in order to set up a women’s university at Castle Adamant. Here she teaches her female students that men occupy the lower rungs of Darwin’s evolutionary ladder, being in all things inferior to women, and encourages them to put all thoughts of the ‘monkey shaved’ from their minds. Highly amused by her feminist antics but in no way deterred by them, Prince Hilarion and his friends set off to win the Princess back and so begins an entertaining battle, both literal and metaphorical, for the somewhat fickle hearts and minds of the women of Adamant. The show has been sympathetically updated to the 1950s bringing a fresh new perspective to this classic tale and generating a sense of nostalgia for the era of bikers, hair gel and rock and roll! Singers take shoppers back to the 1950s 
Shoppers at the Marlands on Saturday could have been forgiven for thinking they had entered a time warp as members of Southampton Operatic Society serenaded them with excerpts from Gilbert & Sullivan and other toe-tapping show-stoppers, whilst dressed in the 1950’s costumes for their forthcoming production of Gilbert & Sullivan’s ‘Princess Ida’ (24th-28th June at the Nuffield Theatre). The show, which is sponsored by the Marlands, is traditionally set in the Middle Ages, but has been updated by SOS to the era of Brylcreem, bikers and rock ‘n roll. The ladies have exchanged wimples for shirt-waisted dresses and circular skirts, whilst the men have jettisoned heavy suits of armour and tunics and tights in favour of denims and leathers. ‘The story is a true battle of the sexes,’ said Adam Case. ‘On the one hand you have Princess Ida, a headstrong young woman who rather than honouring a childhood betrothal to Prince Hilarion, has deserted the royal household to set up an all-female university at Castle Adamant; on the other you have Prince Hilarion and his friends who are determined to win her back in spite of her protestations that men are inferior beings with which women can well do without. As with other Gilbert & Sullivan operettas, the audience can not only look forward to an evening that is totally free of any hint of political correctness - after all the whole show pokes fun at the idea of women’s education - but some fine music, including rousing chorus numbers, delightful ballads and witty patter songs.’ Tickets for Princess Ida, priced £6 - £12, can be purchased from the Nuffield Theatre Box Office on 023 8067 1771. 08/06/2003 Chawton House gets in on the act 
Chawton House Library and Study Centre played host to some rather unorthodox scholars when it welcomed none other than Princess Ida, the Principal of Castle Adamant, and some of her female students to its historic park and gardens. The fictitious undergraduates were in fact all members of Southampton Operatic Society, who were visiting Chawton House for a photo-shoot to promote their forthcoming production of Gilbert & Sullivan’s Princess Ida (24th – 28th June at the Nuffield Theatre, Southampton).
The show, which Gilbert wrote as a satire on women’s education, has been sympathetically updated to the 1950s with traditional warriors being replaced by rival biker gangs and ladies’ wimples being exchanged for circular skirts and pedal-pushers. The plot turns on the fate of Princess Ida, a headstrong young woman who rejects her royal obligations – including a childhood betrothal to the Prince Hilarion – in favour of setting up a women’s university at Castle Adamant. Here the women are taught that men are in all things inferior to women and quite simply a hindrance they can well do without! Undeterred by Ida’s feminist antics, Prince Hilarion and two of his brylcreemed friends decide to win her back, believing this will take little more than a few verses of poetry and a bunch of flowers. So begins a comic battle of the sexes for the somewhat fickle hearts and minds of the women of Adamant and ultimately the hand of Princess Ida. 
‘It seemed particularly appropriate to adopt Chawton House as a back drop for Princess Ida,’ said Barbara Rayner, Press Officer for SOS. ‘Like Castle Adamant, which was actually based on Royal Holloway College - one of the first women’s colleges to be established - Chawton House is a ground-breaking institution. As the first centre dedicated to the study of Early English Women’s Writing, Chawton House not only opens up new learning opportunities, but is a celebration of the contribution that women have made to our cultural heritage – a contribution that for centuries men like Gilbert chose to overlook! With that in mind, there is a rather delicious irony in staging our photo-shoot there and also in knowing that Gilbert’s satire is in fact being performed by a cast which includes more than its fair share of real-life female graduates – you could say we’re getting our own back!’ 
Theatre lovers can buy tickets for Princess Ida from the Nuffield Theatre Box Office on 023 8067 1771 priced £6-£12. Meanwhile, garden enthusiasts have the opportunity to visit Chawton House’s park and gardens on 14th and 15th June when they will be open as part of Chawton’s Open Gardens weekend.
14/06/2003 | |
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The Marlands proves ‘There’s No Business like Show Business’
According to Irving Berlin, ‘There’s no business like show business’ – a maxim that the Marlands shopping centre has taken to heart by sponsoring Southampton Operatic Society’s forthcoming production, ‘Annie Get Your Gun’. ‘It is entirely appropriate that this production should be sponsored’ said Adam Case, the Society’s Chairman. ‘Annie Get Your Gun is not just a real-life love story about the professional rivalry between the world’s most famous Wild West shooting duo, Annie Oakley and Frank Butler, but also a celebration of show business itself, with all its excitement, surprises and hardships – not least of which is finding sufficient financial backing to get the show on the road! In the case of Buffalo Bill’s ‘Wild West Show’, to which Frank and Annie belong, financial aid comes from a most unlikely quarter, Chief Sitting Bull, who is so impressed with Annie’s shooting prowess that he adopts her into the Sioux tribe and sinks all his money into the show. These days paternally inclined philanthropists are hard to find which is why we are particularly glad to have the support of the Marlands!’ |
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This is not the first time that the Marlands has taken on the role of ‘angel’ to a local arts group ‘We are delighted to be able to continue our support for local theatre by sponsoring Southampton Operatic Society’s production of Annie Get Your Gun’ said Jerry Stampfer, the Centre Manager. ‘We are proud to be associated both with the society, which has won many accolades in the Southern Daily Echo’s Curtain Call Awards, and the show, which is perhaps one of the best loved Broadway musicals ever, thanks to a score packed with well-known numbers such as ‘Doin’ What Comes Naturally’, ‘You Can’t get a Man with a Gun’, ‘Anything You Can Do I can Do better’ and, of course, ‘There’s no Business like Show Business’. Some of these numbers were amongst those performed by the society at a special road show at the Centre to the obvious delight of our customers, and I am sure the show itself will be a great success.’ Annie Get Your Gun runs from Tuesday 28th January to Saturday 1st February at the Nuffield Theatre Southampton with performances at 7.30pm each evening and a Saturday matinee at 2.30pm. Tickets cost £12, £10 and £8.50 and are available from the Nuffield Theatre Box Office on 023 8067 1771. 13/01/2003 |
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Annie Gets Her Gun and Goes for Gold! If you want to groom two shooting novices to play the parts of Annie Oakley and Frank Butler - the Wild West’s most famous shooting duo - who better to ask for help than Olympic Double Trap Gold Medallist, Richard Faulds? Southampton Operatic Society’s next production, Annie Get Your Gun, requires its leading actors not only to undertake the usual stage skills of singing, acting and dancing but also to shoot convincingly too. ‘The show is based on the true story of Annie Oakley and Frank Butler - both shooting aces with Buffalo Bill’s Wild West show - whose love for each other is all but extinguished by their professional jealousy,’ explained Adam Case, the society’s Chairman. ‘There are two clay pigeon shooting contests which are central to the story and require both characters to undertake some ‘fancy shooting’ – shooting backwards over the shoulder, sighting the gun using only a mirror and such like. This sort of thing probably wouldn’t come easily to a regular clay pigeon shooter let alone someone who has never held a shotgun before, so we decided we needed to call in the experts – and they don’t come much more expert than Olympic Gold Medallist, Richard Faulds’. |
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Although initially surprised by the request, Richard was delighted to be able to help. ‘I’m more used to the clay range than the stage, but it’s been great to be involved with the show. There’s no doubt that a lot has changed since Frank and Annie’s day when shooting belonged not to the world of sport but of show business. Although like Frank and Annie I’ve travelled the world and taken part in and won many competitions at international level, I think that’s probably where all comparison ends. The likes of Buffalo Bill’s Wild West show which boasted 97 Indians, 18 buffalo, 181 horses, 10 elk, 4 donkeys, 5 Longhorn Texan steers, 2 deer and a Deadwood stagecoach simply don’t exist these days and even if they did I’m not sure it would really be my scene! I’ve been happy to pass on some pointers and tips on gun-handling that will help to make the clay pigeon shooting contests look more realistic, but when it comes to getting across the showmanship of Frank and Annie’s performances, I think that is probably best left to the actors!’ | |
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Annie Get Your Gun runs from Tuesday 28th January to Saturday 1st February at the Nuffield Theatre Southampton with performances at 7.30pm each evening and a Saturday matinee at 2.30pm. Tickets cost £12, £10 and £8.50 and are available from the Nuffield Theatre Box Office on 023 8067 1771 05/12/2002 |
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Early Booking Offer Members of the cast of Southampton Operatic Society’s forthcoming production of ‘Annie Get Your Gun’ (28th January – 3rd February at the Nuffield Theatre) have already started touting for business with a special early booking offer of £2 off all full-price seats for the Tuesday and Wednesday night performances provided they are booked before December 15th. An enduring Broadway classic, the show is based on the true story of an illiterate hillbilly turned champion sharpshooter, Annie Oakley. Annie’s shooting prowess earns her a place in Buffalo Bill’s Wild West Show as assistant to shooting ace, Frank Butler, with whom she promptly falls in love. Uneducated and lacking in the usual social graces, Annie attempts to dazzle him with her marksmanship only to discover that ‘You can’t get a man with a gun’ – especially if you can handle one better than he can. So begins an entertaining battle of the sexes in which neither one seems willing to lose face in order to win what they really want most: the other. “Annie Get Your Gun was the third longest running musical of the 1940s and was a huge hit for Ethel Merman who played the title role’ said Adam Case, Chairman of SOS. ‘Later it became a Hollywood hit too, with a successful film version starring Betty Hutton and Howard Keel. Irving Berlin’s score is packed with well-known numbers including ‘There’s no business like show business’, ‘They say that falling in love is wonderful’, ‘Doin’ what comes Naturally’ and ‘You can’t Get a Man with a Gun’ to name but a few. All in all, we can promise a toe-tapping production that is bursting with energy and humour.” Tickets for Annie Get Your Gun priced £8.50, £10 and £12 are available from the Nuffield Theatre Box Office on 023 8067 1771 with a £2 early booking reduction for the Tuesday and Wednesday night performances provided they are booked before December 15th. Performances are at 7.30pm each evening with an additional Saturday matinee performance at 2.30pm 26/11/2002 |
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THE MAGIC FLUTE 25 - 29 June 2002, Nuffield Theatre, Southampton The Magic Flute has now been added to our previous shows page. 02/07/2002 |
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YEOMEN OF THE GUARD 19 - 23 March 2002, Nuffield Theatre, Southampton The Yeomen of the Guard has now been added to our previous shows page. 26/03/2002 |
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CURTAIN CALL AWARDS 2002 Southampton Operatic Society received nominations for the following Southern Evening Echo 'Curtain Call Awards':
SOS members David Jupp, Albie Minns and Simon Pontin were also nominated for their work with other local societies. Alas, we didn't walk away with any awards this year, but well done to all who got nominated! Details of previous curtain call awards for SOS
17/02/02 | |
 PINAFORE 26-30 June 2001, Nuffield Theatre, Southampton Details of our recent show have now been added to our shows page. EXTRA SHOW PHOTOS ADDED - 12/10/01 We also took the show to the Eighth International G&S Festival at Buxton. 10/07/01 | |
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Mayflower Theatre, Southampton 1 - 5 May 2001 Tue - Sat 7.30pm, Sat 2.30pm Oliver details have now been added to our previous shows section. Check out our Oliver Special for photos from the show. 07/05/01 | |
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MORE AWARDS FOR SOS The award winning society now has a few more accolades to add to its collection following the Southern Evening Echo's 'Curtain Call Awards' ceremony (4th Feb 2001). Martin Paterson won Best Musical Director for Oh! What a Lovely War. Martin returns as Musical Director for the forthcoming Oliver!. David Rayner and Colin Pritchard, the inseparable gangsters from Kiss me Kate proved to be just that as they jointly won the Best Supporting Actor (Musicals) award. The duo will next be starring in Oliver!: David as Fagin and Colin as Bill Sykes. SOS were also nominated in the Best Actress (Angie Mackie as Kate in Kiss me, Kate) and Best Production (Oh! What a Lovely War!) categories. Well done also to Janet Green, who will be appearing as Josephine in our summer production of Pinafore, for scooping the Best Actress award as Mabel in Eastleigh Operatic Society's Pirates of Penzance. Details of last year's curtain call awards
06/02/01 | |
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OH! WHAT A LOVELY WAR
20th - 24th June 2000 We've now added this show to our shows pages. The Oh What a Lovely War page also now includes a link to photos from the dress rehearsal.
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From SOS to BBC!
We recently received an e-mail from Claire Rutter, a former member of SOS who is now a professional opera and concert singer. On 26th May, she and her husband, baritone Stephen Gadd, will be singing on BBC Radio 2's Friday night is Music Night which will be coming 'live' from Southampton Guildhall with the BBC Concert Orchestra, conducted by Carl Davis. Carl Davis wrote music for the recent G&S film Topsy Turvy and wanted to include some G&S (Pirates and Mikado among others) in the programme. The BBC had no idea that Claire is a local girl who began her career singing G&S at the Guildhall when they asked her to do the broadcast. However, Claire says it was nice to see familiar faces at her Southampton performance of Gilda in Verdi's Rigoletto" with Welsh National Opera, so she'll no doubt be prepared to spot some old friends in the audience again this time. Claire will be singing more G&S in her first BBC Prom at the Royal Albert Hall on 26th August. Phyllis in Iolanthe, with the BBC Concert Orchestra, conducted by Jane Glover. This will be broadcast on TV (probably at a later date). Claire is currently working at Opera North on a very lavish production of La Gioconda that will open at the end of April. Friday night is music night: 26th May 2000, Southampton Guildhall (Ticket Office: 023 8063 2601) Iolanthe ( BBC Proms): 26th August 2000, Royal Albert Hall Visit Claire Rutter & Stephen Gadd's web page 31/03/00 | |
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Now that the show's over, we ought to be able to find some time to get this web site sorted out (as well as rehearsing for the next show, of course)! Cast photos should be appearing soon, as we start to build up our archive of previous shows. Sorry for the delay. Keep watching this space! Kiss me, Kate was a great experience for a society which usually puts more emphasis on the 'operatic'. Our regular audience was no doubt surprised to see the entire cast tap dancing! |
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| Martin, our MD had put together the most amazing jazz band (consisting mainly of members of Southampton University Jazz Orchestra), who were not only wonderful accompanists but completely dazzled us during the dance numbers. The Echo review praised the energy and verve of the chorus and the strong performances from the principals. The comedy gangster duo seemed to go down especially well! If you have any comments on the show, please let us know. It would be useful if you could tell us what night you came on and how you found out about the show. 08/03/00 | |
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SOS Win Award
Congratulations to David Rayner, who won the Best Director award (Musicals category) for our production of 'Patience' at the Southern Evening Echo's 'Curtain Call' awards on 4th February. David will be back on stage for our next show, advising you to 'brush up your Shakespeare', as one half of the hilarious gangsters. 'Patience' was also nominated for a number of other awards in the musicals category: 'Best Supporting(?!) Actress' (Janet Green as Patience!), 'Best Actor' (Philip De Grouchy - as Bunthorne), 'Best Supporting Actor' (Colin Sly - as Grosvenor) and 'Best Costumes' . Liz Mason was also nominated for 'best supporting actress' as Michaela in our production of 'Carmen'. A mention should also go to Colin Pritchard (the other half of the 2 gangsters!) and 'Kiss me Kate' director Philippa Taylor, who were nominated for their work with other societies (RAODS and The Maskers respectively) Well done everyone! 14/02/00 | |
Grand Duke
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