Newsletter Dec2010

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From the chair…

Well, Patience is behind us and Kiss me Kate is on the horizon. Godfrey Olson, at the civic night, pointed out
that it is a very apt title for next year, with the royal wedding being in the news. Perhaps it will help us sell
more tickets than we did for Patience. We certainly need to address this thorny problem.
On a happier note, Christmas is nearly upon us, although, despite the snow, I don’t yet feel very Christmassy.
I haven’t done any Christmas shopping or written any cards (although by the time this goes out I hope to have
done some).
I thought that Christina F’s idea of having our own Christmas post box was great. I forgot about my promise to
provide the box until the last minute which was why I could be found doing a ‘Blue Peter’ act sticking red
paper and drawing festive holly on a box between talking to parents on Parents’ Evening (just before the
rehearsal). It was also a lovely touch to have wine and nibbles for our last rehearsal before Christmas.
Thanks very much on behalf of the rest of us to the organisers.
A week before we had our snow down here I flew up to the North East to my oldest son and daughter-in-law’s
house with my youngest son to pick up a car (it’s a long story!). Now they really did have snow. We dug said
car out from a foot (30cm to the younger members) of snow, and then dug it out of a further 4 inches (about
9cm) the next day.
I include some photos of the fun!

Driving on the A1 just south of Morpeth was an
experience not to be forgotten!

Hopefully we have had our snow this year so that
the auditions for Kiss me Kate won’t be delayed as
they were last year for My Fair Lady.
The turnout at the first rehearsal was very
encouraging; it was good to see so many people
returning and also so many new faces.
It promises to be an exciting show. John has some
wonderful ideas and I am looking forward to seeing
them in action.

Best wishes to you all this Christmas.
Jan
CHRISTMAS NEWS FROM ABSENT FRIENDS
Simon says…
I wanted to say how much I enjoyed being involved in Eastleigh's recent production
of Patience, it was fantastic to be back at The Point with old friends. I thought it was
an excellent production, strong principals, great singing from the chorus and a fine
orchestra and costumes. It is my belief and I agree very much with Janet Green on
this, that Eastleigh should be very proud of its achievements. You should all be
more positive about the fact you can produce high quality productions. This would
then I'm sure be reflected in the box office sales. You must have more faith in your
product because in these harder times it is the only way to put bums on seats and
keep Adrian from having a heart attack. It really was one of the finest productions of
Patience I have ever seen, so thank you for letting me be involved and for the bottle
of wine.
Merry Christmas All! Simon Pontin x

Christmas Greetings from
Somerset!
Lovely to catch up with your events either by
newsletter or facebook. We're still theatricalling (I
think I've made up a new word!) down here. Well
- Phoebe, Ben and I are - Kev continues to be an
am-dram widow. (We've got a dog now to keep
him company!) This year's big show with Wells
Little Theatre was The King and I, in which I got to
play "I" and the children got to have fake tans and
bow to their mother. (Think I should have kept
this up!) We've also done a sketch/revue type
Dear All thing in September. In August I took part in the 10
I have been terribly busy since MFL directing Wizard of Oz yearly Axbridge Pageant, as the narrator. We had
at school. When we decided to do this show SOMEone, not glorious sunshine over the bank holiday as we
me, applied for the rights, not for the MUNY stage version played to over 1800 people in total! An amazing
which we did all those years ago, but for the RSC version. experience and completely different to being in a
This one has 'If I were king of the forest', flying monkeys, theatre.
the actual Twister and loads of other hard to stage Wishing all you luvvies all the best!
cinematic techy bits. It proved to be a huge challenge and Kate ..... and Kev and Phoebe and Ben.
at the time of writing the pudding has not been proven as
we open next week (first in Dec).
I'm very much looking forward to Kiss Me Kate and seeing Emma writes….
all my old muckers again, especially after thoroughly I had Lucy in July 2009 to add to Harry who was
enjoying Patience and fleetingly greeting you all. born in 2007.... Gorgeous little family and loving
Love and stuff every second of it. Am dram wise, I did panto last
Keith Wiggans year and was Prince Charming in Cinderella,
followed by Katisha in The Mikado. I've then had a
nice little break and now hoping to do Blithe Spirits
or Gypsy with Romsey in the spring.
I've attached a couple of photos of fun in the snow
and family timeI Hope you like them!

Happy Christmas all! Emma
Portlock
Spain calling…
Hi Everyone!
Well, we have no news whatsoever!
We are still trying to sell up in order to return to the UK and be proper
grandparents to baby Thomas. We've reduced the price of the house to
40,000 less than we paid for it seven years ago, and have had not one
interested party.
Gill's very frustrated and I've told her we might just get back in time to see
Thomas as he's going into university.
Our activities remain the same as last year: I am busy with church work,
and Gill helps three afternoons every week in the local primary school,
letting the children hear a 'proper' English accent.
Last week my brother Peter was over from Colchester: we visited a few
ancient monuments [no comment, please Barbara] but it was overcast and
not taking-photos-weather.
The weather here is weird - severe flooding down in the South of Spain,
while we enjoyed 15º last NIGHT!! and today it just touched 20º. That's
about 10º higher than normal, while you guys are about 10º lower than
normal.
We wish everyone a very happy Christmas, and a good 2011.

Stephen [ex Rabbi & Lord Boxington] & Gill [Nicholls]

Pete Woodcock
…from a land 'Down Under’…
G'day!
Well, Richard and I are still living in Australia and loving every minute of it!! After working for two years in Gosford
and Wyong, we moved to Newcastle (NSW) in January, where I have been working both in Maitland Hospital and
in the big tertiary hospital in Newcastle. Its been a great year, and I have made some more wonderful
friends....but its been hard work too!! We are both now looking forward to Christmas in the sunshine...A BBQ on
the balcony will be in order I think!!
In the New Year, we will be moving to Townsville in Far North Queensland, where I have been offered a registrar
position in Obstetrics and Gynaecology......Its a fantastic opportunity, and we will be there for two years before
moving to Brisbane for the next two years!! Never a dull moment for us, always on the move!!
Anyway, we now have our permanent residency, and with the new job now, I guess that means we are staying
for a bit longer!! So much for the six months I said we'd be here for three years ago?! We are hoping to pop back
to the UK at some point next year for a visit though, so maybe I'll be able to catch up with you all then if I time it
right for a rehearsal or show!!
I hope that you all are well, and haven't been hit too hard by all the snow!! We wish you a very merry Christmas
from Down Under - and all the best for 2011!!

Emma May

A Royal Fairy note….
This is a little note to say Hi to EOMS members and wish you all a very happy festive season. For the first time
ever John and I will be away in Gran Canaria for Christmas provided of course no one goes on strike and the
weather allows take off!!!
I note you are doing Kiss me Kate next year, I remember doing it and the audience getting a bit confused with the
play within a play, that’s the people of that Northern area called Leicestershire who maybe had numbed brains
from the cold!! Seriously a great musical…..good luck with it. We are enjoying being ensconced in rural
Gloucestershire. The scenery is superb but I do miss being quite near the coast a little.
Weston Super Mare is coming on though. Great new pier. I belong to two choirs and doing the usual Christmas
concerts and I did the Mikado with DODS Dursley ops. It was a modern version and I enjoyed prancing around as
a silly schoolgirl with me bunches. I miss the walks etc haven't got round to joining an official walking group here
but we do a bit especially if there's a pub at the end.

Keep entertaining,
Love Pat Lambert Taylor
From Adrian & Christina… …From ‘Mrs Potts’….
Finally got round to it... Hello all, hope this
In this season of good cheer, warm fires and fine food the last finds everyone well and in full festive cheer!
thing that people want is a cold blast of reality from the We have had a busy year with the Sainsbury
treasurer. Nevertheless, as far as the EOMS finances are Singers with 'Beauty and the Beast' at the
concerned, the seasonal message this year is not one of Hexagon in May where I played Mrs Potts and
tidings of great joy. Over the last year we have made Chris played Gaston and then 'Strictly
considerable losses of over £1500 on each of our two shows Musicals' at the Kenton Theatre in Henley in
even though both shows were recognised as being of a very October and the Concert Hall in Reading in
high standard. At this stage this does not mean that our November. Lawrence became well and truly
finances are comparable with those of Bob Cratchit but it is of hooked to 'Beauty and the Beast'
some concern. (obssessively so in fact!) and we are all
The financial success of a show is almost independent of the looking forward to seeing the Junior
audience’s or the cast’s judgement of the standard of the show. production in January. We're even going to
It is not until show week that the audience, and often the cast bring Arthur this time! Amidst the snow in
and the director, realise that the show is very good and this is January we welcomed a new cousin for
far too late to turn round ticket sales. What matters is the Lawrence and Arthur when my sister gave
inherent popularity of the show, the members’ willingness to birth to baby Hannah. She was then joined in
sell tickets and the publicity prior to the show being performed. October when Chris's brother and wife had
There are a very limited number of shows that guarantee good baby Gabriella. A girl on both sides so I feel
audiences and we perform these as regularly as we can. We well and truely off the hook now! I returned to
have to find a way to get more people to come and see all the my own classroom when we went back to
shows that we perform. school in September having been a floating
Patience ticket sales were especially disappointing. We sold teacher pretty much since having the boys.
less than 450 tickets in total. This was less than a third of the Chris is now based in mainly in Reading
tickets that Winchester Operatic society sold for their G & S (hoorah!) rather than Hampton which has
production a week earlier. Considerably more tickets were sold made a slight improvement to his working
for My Fair Lady this year but this show also cost considerably hours. The year draws to a close for us with
more. In general our shows cost less than other societies in the usual snotty noses, sore throats and
the same area because we have become very good at ridiculous amounts of carol singing... oh and
reducing expenditure in the key areas of scenery, wardrobe auditions on Monday 20th for Oklahoma; our
and the orchestra. Unfortunately we also attract less ticket next production which will see the Sainsbury
sales than other societies. Reducing expenditure further is not Singers back at the Hexagon.
possible unless we change venues. To remain at the Point and We look forward to seeing you all in January...
to continue to perform shows like Kiss Me Kate, we need to Merry Christmas and a happy new year to you
radically improve our ticket sales. Indeed we need to improve all
ticket sales to remain a viable society. We could, of course, Emma, Chris, Lawrence and Arthur Reeves
put subscriptions up although asking a society of 30 members xxxx
to make up for a loss of £3000 a year by increasing
subscriptions is not likely to be popular.
In summary we need a much greater involvement by members
in publicising and marketing our shows.
Chris Freemantle, our business manager, would like to hear
from you if you can help. She explains the objectives below:

‘We need a bigger team of people willing to use a little of their
time to be part of the publicity team. It was unfortunate that for
the last show the usual team of 4 was reduced to two. Pat had
a hip operation and Graham Barnes went to Australia with his
dear old mum to see relatives. This put a considerable strain
on the remaining two. Ideally we need a team of six people with
small individual tasks to do for each show. Sponsorship to the
0110110101100101011100100111001001111
tune of £500 for a radio advert would be a big plus and if
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anyone knows of a willing sponsor do please let us know. TV
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coverage and articles for local papers are also winners in the
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publicity stakes. More patrons would be good too! Anybody can
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be a Patron so maybe a Christmas present for a relative who
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regularly comes is an idea?
There are 10 types of people in the world –
Any ideas, large or small are welcome and where humanly
those who can read binary, and those who
possible will be taken up and used’.
can’t!
LYN’S CHRISTMAS LARDER

Jamie Oliver’s turkey and sweet leek pie
• 2 rashers smoked streaky bacon, roughly chopped
• ½ bunch of fresh thyme, leaves picked
• olive oil
• a large knob of butter
• 2kg leeks, washed, trimmed; white end chopped into chunks, green end finely sliced
• sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 800g cooked white turkey meat, torn into big chunks (brown too if you want)
• 2 heaped tablespoons plain flour, plus extra for dusting
• 2 pints turkey, chicken or vegetable stock
• 2 tablespoons of crème fraîche
• 1 x 500g packet puff pastry
• 12 jarred or vac-packed chestnuts, roasted and peeled
• 2 sprigs fresh sage, leaves picked
• 1 egg, preferably free-range or organic, beaten

Preheat your oven to 190°C/375°F/gas 5. Put your bacon in a large pan on a medium heat and add your thyme
leaves. Add a lug of olive oil and the butter and let it all fry off a few minutes. Add all of your prepped leeks and
fry them off for about 3 minutes so they are well-coated in the butter. Add a pinch of salt and pepper then pop the
lid on top, turn the heat down to medium and let them cook away gently for 30 minutes, stirring every 5 to 10
minutes to make sure they don’t catch. There’s going to be enough moisture in the leeks to keep them happy in
the pan so they should be soft and melt in your mouth once they’re done.

When your leeks are ready, add the turkey meat to them and stir. If you’ve got a bit of stuffing mixed in there you
can put that in too. Add the flour, mix it in well then pour in your stock and stir again. Add the crème fraîche then
turn the heat up and bring everything back up to the boil. Have a taste and add a bit more salt and pepper if it
needs it then turn the heat off. Pour the mixture through a sieve over another large empty pan and let the
wonderful gravy from the mixture drip into the pan while you roll out your pastry.

Get a deep baking dish roughly 22 x 30cm. Dust a clean surface and a rolling pin with a bit of flour and roll your
pastry out so it’s about double the size of your dish. Crumble the chestnuts over one half of the pastry then tear a
few of the sage leaves over the chestnuts. Fold the other half of pastry on top then roll it out carefully and evenly
so you have a rectangle big enough to cover your baking tray. Don’t worry if a few bits stick out here and there.

Spoon that thick leek mixture from your sieve into the pie dish and spread it out evenly. Lay your pastry on top,
tuck the ends under then gently score the pastry diagonally with your knife. Add a pinch of salt to your beaten
egg then paint this egg wash over the top of your pastry. Pop your pie in the oven for about 35 to 40 minutes or
until the pastry is puffed up and golden brown. When the pie is ready, re-heat the lovely gravy and serve with
your pie, along with some peas tossed in butter, lemon, salt and pepper and everyone’s happy!

Don’t forget
‘Footlights’
next
production!
Christmas is the time for sitting around the fire and telling
ghost stories; this one comes from Ireland, and is
true (so I am assured!)

This happened a while ago in Belfast , and even though it sounds like an Alfred Hitchcock
story, it's true.

John Bradford, a 20 yr old Queen's University student, was on the side of the road hitch-hiking on a very
dark night and in the midst of a storm. No cars were travelling that night. The storm was so strong he
could hardly see a few feet ahead of him.

Suddenly, he saw a car slowly coming towards him and stop. John, desperate for shelter and without
thinking about it, got into the car and closed the door.... only to realize there was nobody behind the
wheel and the engine wasn't on!!

The car started moving slowly. John looked at the road ahead and saw a curve approaching. Scared, he
started to pray, begging for his life. Then, just before the car hit the curve, a hand appeared through the
window and turned the wheel. John, paralyzed with terror, watched as the hand repeatedly came through
the window, but it never touched or harmed him.

Shortly thereafter John saw the lights of a pub appear down the road. So, gathering strength, he jumped
out of the car and ran to the pub. Wet and out of breath, he rushed inside and started telling everybody
about the horrible experience he had just had.

A silence enveloped the pub when everybody realized he was crying and....wasn't drunk.

Suddenly the door opened and two other people walked in from the stormy night. They, like John, were
also soaked and out of breath. Looking around, and seeing John Bradford sobbing at the bar, one said to
the other.....

'Look Paddy...there's that eejit that got in the car while we were trying to push it.'

What? Has only one person in EOMS been to Noda Summer School?
Just one?!
If you haven’t been to Noda Summer School you haven’t had the doubtful pleasure of the members of the
makeup class sitting opposite you at lunch, with their bloody scars and syphilitic noses, or the stage fighting class
having an ‘impromptu’ fight at the bar. You haven’t lived the ups, the downs, the tears of laughter till it hurts, to
your inner hurt coming out as tears (as part of method acting).
Have you always been the understudy and never the star? Then go to Noda.
I’ve done many classes from Singing (meeting Chris) to acting skills (so how many ways are there of saying “My
god I’m pregnant” – and how do you know which meaning to use). How do you get over those nerves of singing
in public – even a group of ten can seem daunting if you’ve never done it before.
So you think you are fit enough to sing and dance? – pah. When the dance class had stripped down to their
leotards and were sweating buckets, the choreographer’s still had her leg warmers on.
The tutors are top professionals and you will come away changed. Perhaps learning how to stage manage, ‘do
sound or lighting’; make-up the phantom; have the courage to stand up and sing a solo in public; to realising that
you do have depth and acting is not just walking onstage and blocking the rest of the cast. (oh yes it is – sorry-
that’s the panto class). It is one week of heaven!
Book early as it is usually full by the end of the year! See
http://www.noda.org.uk/whats-on/NODA-Events/Events-National/Events_National_Summer_School/Summer-
School-2011.htm

Colin Paice
Happy Christmas all! And as usual, thanks to everyone who contributed.
Email: barbara609@btinternet.com Tel: 02380 446259