The Opera Dudes in Awre Gloucester

21st April 2012

Saturday night and we were in deepest darkest Gloucestershire. 

The village of Awre - pronounced Are and not, as we thought, Ore. We were met by Mark Awre from Awre. Yes, that's right - effectively Mr Village Himself. 

This was a very special place with a great deal of history. It lies on the  banks of Severn, is very remote and beautiful and is literally at the end of the road, a real step back in time. We were performing in the church, which can be difficult, but luckily this one had all mod cons, including toilet, kettle and heating.

This was a village full of characters and we met them all. There were even one or two from the Forest, but they seemed harmless enough!

Tea was lasagne which was served up in front of the altar - holy delicious! Once the show was under way the audience were very responsive. 

Neil serenaded several ladies - including one regular Opera Dude groupie who blushed deeply as well as a very glamorous lady from Newnham. Neil approached her saying 'I'll be gentle with you' to which she replied ‘That's a shame!!' They breed ‘em hardy down there!

Anyway, the audience pronounced themselves well pleased and so they should be; we taught them a new singing technique and I am sure they will be squeezing for weeks!!

After the show, we went back to Nick and May’s, where we were staying; lovely people and while there we learned the story of their emergent business, Severn Cider which grew out of an old family tradition. 

It’s a fascinating story, great people and wonderful cider - thoroughly recommend you try it.

www.severncider.com

Support Rural touring in your area............ Air in G

 

Opera Dudes in Cassington Oxfordshire

20th of April 2012

After a well-earned Easter break the Opera Dudes are back on the road and this marks our first visit to Oxfordshire, peddling good old-fashioned entertainment on behalf of Good Night Out Rural Touring.

First stop of the day is Radio Oxford, where we are due to appear on the afternoon show with Jo Thoenes. Armed with a delicious cup of BBC tea, we enter the studio and start to tell our life stories. She can’t quite believe that Neil was a builder but she seems genuinely interested. She also tells us her life story, which is equally fascinating. You can hear the interview via this link: http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p00qv9fq

 

Next stop is Cassington Village Hall. 

As this is leafy Oxfordshire, it is no surprise to find an immaculate Village Hall finished in gorgeous Cotswold stone. The Hall is impressive and comes complete with lighting rig, stage and complementary flapjacks!

This was a night of firsts: our first gig in Oxfordshire, our first female lighting designer and our first brush with death by chocolate! The lighting designer was the lovely Nicky - who also made the tea and put out all the chairs. Responsible for the chocolate was Carolyn, who organised the event. She also cooked us a delicious Lasagne with garlic bread and salad, followed by the most amazing chocolate mousse, which nearly finished us off.

One of the Locals

We had a good turn out in the hall - seventy plus of the good people of Cassington plus the odd one or two from Eynsham - well, not that odd - and the show went well, despite an early interruption from a sartorially challenged local!

We had a visit in the interval from a gentleman who trod the boards himself in his day – as had his parents -  and who wanted to share his stories with us. He had also traveled to,and lived in South Africa for several years a lovely guy, straight out of  "It ain't half hot Mum" a sitcom from the seventies, for those of you old enough to remember? 

Italliano Stalliano

 

The audience included lots of children who enjoyed the show, sang along and became fluent in Neapolitan. 

We ended up with a standing ovation, so not bad for first day back at the office!

Support Rural Touring....  Oxfordshire Good Night Out Rural Touring.

 

The Opera Dudes at the Heron Theatre Cumbria

Friday 30th March 2012

This was our last date before Easter! It has been a fairly gruelling schedule over the last two months; 18 gigs all over the country plus a recording and we are both ready for a break.

YES SOLD OUT!!

This last date was scheduled for the lovely Heron Theatre in Cumbria. However if Francis Maude and his cronies in the government had had their way, we may never have made it! 'Don't panic' they said, so what did everyone do - panicked! Neil, believing in the reason of mankind, reckoned there was nothing to worry about while Tim - no stranger to panic himself - was counselling an early top-up of the van. Good job we did, the queues deepened as the day went on.

Anyway, we took the Government's advice and finally got under way with a full tank as well as several plastic bags brimming with diesel, along with a sack-full of cut-price first-class stamps and some luke-warm Cornish pasties and headed for Cumbria.

 

Rabbit time!!

The Heron Theatre can be found just off the main road in a little village called Beetham. It is an old school house that has been extended and is dead sweet! With a lovely stage and 80 or so seats in the small auditorium, the place is run as a theatre club with regular professional acts and a dedicated audience. Fantastic set-up, run by people who are passionate about it, it is the kind of place we love.

What do you mean, I can't play it??

The get-in was via a hole in the wall and we were soon set up. We were greeted by the very helpful Stuart, who also improvised a frame with a cloth to sit in front of the piano to cover the wires - more of that later. 

After sampling the local fish and chips and seeing the audience settle in their cosy seats, the show was under way. The first half went very smoothly, the audience enjoying the usual mix of music and mayhem; there were some very enthusiastic would-be ballet dancers among the crowd!

We lika dee ladees!

To open the second half, the Dudes entered as the smooth Italian Mafiosi characters, resplendent in cool shades. However, Tim soon blew his cool by not realising that the cover that Stuart had erected was not as solid as it appeared and as he brushed by, he brought the whole edifice crashing down!

  The audience howled as the Dudes turned into Laurel and Hardy trying to prevent further collapse. Neil's construction skills finally won the day and the show was back on the road.

Further hilarity ensued later in the second half when the lighting desk failed and the Dudes were plunged into blackness. Hasty improvisation on both our part and by the poor lighting engineer, John, meant that disaster was averted. There's a lesson there, Francis Maude!!

The Opera Dudes in Longparish Hampshire

Saturday 24^th March 2012

Our second night in Hampshire this week and we were off to Longparish, a delightful village in the heart of rural Hampshire – all leafy lanes, thatched roofs and ladies with labradors and green willies - or is it thatched ladies, leafy labradors and lots of welly in the lanes, I can never remember?! We arrived to find out that we weren’t performing in the Village Hall but the Community Hall, attached to the Primary School. 

Very nice modern venue – bijou stage, but in moveable chunks, so we could make it work for us. Jelly, ice cream and fizzy pop for the audience, all provided by the delightful David, who wasn’t a leafy-laned, green-wellied, thatched southerner at all but is an East-Midlander like Neil and hails originally from Mansfield. Well, you can’t have everything!

The singing lesson went down a treat

We had a delicious meal – managed not to eat anyone else’s tea (see Blog for 23^rd March in Medstead) and all was going smoothly.

The good burghers of Longparish are a very cultured lot – some more lively that others, no mention of names in the corner – and indeed we had the whole local choir in the audience. No-one was owning up to it, but apparently they were all there! 

You love me really?

However, despite their obvious breeding and cultural awareness, they really seemed to enjoy the show, which is always a good thing. In fact we even had some posh feedback – ‘Absolutely top drawer. We must invite them back next year.’ Don’t worry – we’ll be back!!

Opera dudes in Action!!

The Opera Dudes in Medstead Hampshire

Friday 23rd March 2012

Cod Fathers of Croon

Back down south on behalf of Hog The Limelight to entertain the locals in Hampshire and a return to Medstead. Well almost. You see the last time we were booked by Medstead we actually performed in Four Marks, Medstead having suffered a serious fire. 

However this year, although we were booked by the same people as booked us for Four Marks last year, we were going to Medstead, but we were staying in Four Marks. I hope that’s clear?!!

Now for a singing lesson!!

We go to many places with strange names. We were recently in Longparish, which got its name because it is in a parish that is long. We’ve also recently been to a place called Swayfield, where the fields really do sway. So we were curious about the name of Four Marks, where we stayed. What ancient, interesting provenance did that name have? 

All became clear when we arrived at our accommodation – no names but this national chain provides lodges for people who travel – and we instantly realised that it scored four marks – out of a hundred!!!

mmmm that dinner was nice!!

Not so the Village Hall, a wonderful long venue with a stage large enough to hold about thirty people; shame we didn’t bring our chorus with us this time. Also getting ten out of ten was Mike, who runs this outfit like a crack Roman Centurion. Everything is thought of, the organisation is impeccable and he fills the hall with 130 local residents every time. 

What a star! Apologies, however, to the very friendly Chairman, whose tea we ate thinking it was all meant for us!! What a pair of porkers....

Show went really well; the good people of Medstead/ Four Marks were up for a good night and a good night we gave them.

A showcase evening for Theatre In TheVillages rural touring run by Aylesbury District Council.

Thursday 22nd March 2012

An unusual gig for us today - a round trip to Buckinghamshire for a showcase evening for Theatre In TheVillages rural touring run by Aylesbury District Council.

This was a rare pleasure for us as it meant meeting with and watching other acts who are on the same circuit. The thing about touring is that the one thing you never do is go and see touring acts; you're always on stage yourself, so it was a real pleasure to see who else is out there. And what a talented bunch they were! 

Madame Galina

The first person we met was Iestyn Edwards, otherwise known as Madame Galina, Prima Ballerina. Iestyn was clearly the only Welshman in the village that night - he is a real live wire and a proper hoot. His show - My Tutu's Gone AWOL - was hilarious; we've heard about him from other promoters but great to meet him. 

Michael Lunts

Then there was the ridiculously talented Michael Lunts - pianist, actor, singer and entertainer with his new show Coward at Sea. Three theatre companies - Multi Story Theatre, Mad Dogs & Englishmen Theatre Co and The Incredible Dr Guttmann -  all very different but amazing how they all managed to capture the audience's imagination so quickly and with limited means at their disposal. 

Cat Weatherill

We also met and watched the hypnotic storyteller Cat Weatherill who was very engaging. 

And top of the bill was Isla St Clare, who was delightful, sang and played beautifully and hasn't changed a bit since her Generation Game days!

Isla St Claire

So a great evening for us and also a chance to meet the promoters face to face over a Chicken Ticka and Rocket sandwich!

Plus we had the chance to strut our stuff just before Isla came on to the stage, well corner of the village hall!!