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!

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