Viva Mexico 

Tickets will be going on sale shortly. Members are asked to note that the Tuesday evening will be the only night that concessions will be available this year. Also, due to licensing laws, there will be NO alcohol available during the Tuesday night peformance. Apologies to those who use the bar as the only way to survive the night!
Details of the 'get in' to follow shortly but pencil 30th March in your diaries for the first push at the store. Watch this space.
 
 

September Concert

Mike Canning is delighted to have been appointed by the Committee to be Chorus Master for the next September concerts. With the theme of 'Night and Day', Gillian Mackenzie and Hilary Ward are to be congratulated on the superb selection of chorus music that is being made available to you. Their research is sure to make the season a most enjoyable one. It's not too early for anyone interested in offering a solo, duet or group number to start getting your thinking caps on. Needless to say, the only essential for the piece to be considered is the word Night or Day in the title. If you have any suggestions, please speak to Mike. Dates to be confirmed.

Introducing...
There are many people involved in the society, and at present we have a small committee group, so if anyone would like to be co-opted on for the remainder of the year, please contact Alan Baker and we can invite you along to a meeting.
 
Many committee members remain 'unknown' (I say most!!) so we thought it would be good to use the newsletter as a way of introducing you to our members. And what better than to start with our President, Carol Stoyle.
 
Carol's first show was in 1976 so she tots up a fantastic 36 years with the society. During this time Carol has spent most of her time serving on the committee in one shape or form, including in the capacity of Chair and Vice Chair and she is very honoured to be our current President. Since 1976 Carol has been in most of the musical productions and concerts and 11 of the plays. She has directed two plays, which she thoroughly enjoyed. Having a creative flare, Carol has been involved in programme design and is known for her décor for concerts and front of house. According to Carol she only joined to paint scenery…..not sure what went wrong there! In fact, Carol enjoys painting in her spare time. Being made an Honorary Life Member in 2005 was a great highlight for Carol and on stage she found Oklahoma very exciting.
 
When asked of a time she had wished the floor to open up, it was during Kiss Me Kate when Carol and her daughter Hannah, were the only two dancers that made it on stage following a quick costume change so they ended up having to do the piece as a duet!  Although her worst time for her was when we were singing The Angel Gabriel unaccompanied (a very bad idea) at a big concert in Exeter & the sops & altos were so strung out in a row that we couldn't hear each other. The MD should have stopped it but we plodded on & we knew that it was dreadful. A member of the audience said after that they thought it was a modern piece! And Carol's favourite musical…. The Hired Man (especially as her daughter had a part in it) on the grounds that she would love to do it or see it again. Also the second time that we did Fiddler On The Roof was very poignant because of the terrible situation in Kosovo at the time. It was the first show that we did in the round which made it very different & exciting. Doing JCS in 2010 was also such a thrill having seen Paul Nicholas in the original. So, just a few there. I asked if she had any hidden talents, but Carol feels that they have all been drawn out of her over the years….I'm sure that's not true.

Happy Birthday

It doesn't seem 5 minutes ago that we celebrated our 40^th anniversary but 2015 sees CODS reach 50. Last time we marked the occasion with a dance and a sit down meal, inviting back all past members. The committee is looking for ways to celebrate in 2015, so if you have any ideas see Heather or Carol, or contact the committee.