August
Sarah's Report 2006
Well,
here we are after three and a half years with 20 members and growing from
strength to strength. As the saying goes, “Success breeds success!” The
consequences of this is that we have been inundated with requests for us to
perform, some of which we have had to decline, as a happy balance must be found
between showing off what we can do, learning new pieces and still ENJOY it at
the same time!!
I know I can say that everyone in the group really looks forward to
Friday afternoons with great gusto and enthusiasm!
We
resumed our rehearsals early on in September 2005 after our summer break looking
forward to brushing up known pieces and learning new music for the following
gigs with some new members !
Nov:
Sneyd Green WI; Dec: Portland Lodge Christmas Dinner at The Masonic Hall in
Stoke; Jan: Blythe Bridge Probus Ladies lunch at The Upper House, Barlaston,;
Mar: The Threapwood etc Area Guides AGM at Wilfred House, Uttoxeter and
The Cheadle U3A Bring and Share Supper along with the Country Dancing and
Harmonica Groups; May: The Cheadle
U3A AGM and NARPA (The National Association for Retired Police Officers)
AGM at Stafford Police Headquarters.
To
give a balanced and interesting programme to last approx 40 to 60mins
we have diversified a bit from the Barbershop style and also persuaded
some members in the group to help with what we call “our party pieces” which
include instrumental spots, sketches, monologues and even the whole of
Cinderella!
All
of this has certainly kept us busy throughout the winter and spring months. I
have already had a number of enquiries and taken three bookings for gigs in the
autumn. At the end of August we are having a warm up at my house in the garden
and then it all starts again on Friday Sept 8th 2006 and it looks as if it’s
going to be another busy twelve months folks!
We are always searching for and encouraging new members to join so please if you think it sounds the thing for you give me ring and come and give it a try at Blythe Bridge Methodist Hall, Friday afternoons 1-3pm.
Yours in harmony
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August Sarah's Report 2005 - Wow! Barbershop rocks to boogie beat. (extracted from U3A In Touch)
THERE
have been several reports about the lack of
Well,
as you have probably guessed, one group invited back to perform, after a rousing
reception last year, was Cheadle U3A's very own "Not Strictly
Barbershop" with two 15-minute slots which included some party pieces! Wow,
what a night! The hall, suitably decked out with flags and bunting, was full to
bursting, extra chairs were brought in at the last minute as ticket sales
soared.
The
audience picked up on the opportunity to dress up for the occasion and there was
a prize for the best fancy dress. The second half of the evening picked up pace
with an American medley of wartime songs featuring a local ladies trio,
"Bel Canto", including The Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy.
In
the finale, flags appeared amongst the audience (where had they hidden
them the rest of the evening I'd like to know!) everyone joined in with songs
such as We'll Meet Again, A Nightingale Sang in Berkeley Square and Run Rabbit
Run. It all ended like a mini-Last Night of the Proms singing Rule Britannia and
It
was a great night out. Well done to all those who took part.
August Sarah's Report 2004 - Busy Times
This
Autumn session has been extremely busy. We had two "gigs" in October-
one at Cheadle Cricket Club for Cheadle W.I. Group, the other at the Sixth Form
Centre for the prospective parents evening at Cheadle High School to show the
Community involvement at the school. Cheadle U3A uses a room for many of its
sessions.
Then we had two more Christmas bookings in December for which we had to start
learning new music. This was totally different type of music as barbershop
versions of Christmassy music are few and far between. So we turned to close
harmony versions instead.
The first "gig" was a lunchtime after dinner entertainment for the Cheadle Probus Group at The Manor Restaurant in Cheadle. The second was an evening after dinner cabaret with the Churnet Valley Male Voice Choir at The Masonic Hall Stoke.