The Opera Dudes Russian Around the UK

Mid May - The Dude's "NEW" Show, Russian around the UK!

Mid May – the sun is shining and the Dudes have a brand new tour and a (nearly) brand new show. Russian Around The UK found us rushing around the East Midlands. First stop was Long Whatton. 

This was our third visit to this lovely community and we were made to feel very welcome with lots of friendly faces and even a friendly stage - yes, friendly in the sense that every time you stepped on it, it waved at you! This was no ordinary stage - not passive and immobile like most common or garden stages. No, this very animated construction responded to our every move and even creaked with pleasure at our antics. 

Although it could be described as an 'old stage', the committee had made some very significant improvements; in the past the stage had been held together by orange string. This year, after a very generous donation, the whole stage was adorned and indeed secured with some very glamorous blue string!

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As usual the Long Whatton audience was as lovely as it was receptive and took everything the Dudes could throw at them with pleasure: they were even very happy to be sworn into Russian secret service. Big thanks go to Vivienne, Graham, Murray and the dogs for making us feel so welcome and feeding us - well, the dog didn't actually feed us but he did seem pleased to see us!

It was also a special night for us as we were appearing alongside our new CD - For Your Ears Only - and the audience snapped them up like little flat hot cakes. We sold 16 on Thursday night which was amazing - thank you Long Whatton!

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Friday night saw another return visit - this time to Aslockton. 

The last time we played here it was in the church; this time it was the very splendid brand new Thomas Cranmer Centre, fundraised for by the highly resourceful Sue, who also cooked the tea, laid out the tables and dished up the Hula Hoops - more of those later. 

The Centre is a beautiful creation and makes a lovely venue. Mind you, it does also serve as a bit of a warning to would-be performers as the eponymous Thomas ended up getting a right royal roasting!

Aslockton was the second night of the tour and things were going more smoothly for the Dudes; with new repertoire and new material things can be a bit hairy, but the show was starting to shape up nicely. The audience were warm and receptive; quite a posh lot in Aslockton and they showed their exclusivity in their attitude towards the nibbles. 

 
The crisps were fine, the pretzels - 'mmm delicious darling, I don't mind if I do' - but the large bowl of Hula Hoops bang in front of us were going nowhere. Mr and Mrs Aslockton were definitely not going to be seen guzzling those little blighters!


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Last stop of this first leg of the new tour was Long Sutton in Lincolnshire, close to Kings Lynn, near the borders of Nottinghamshire and Cambridgeshire and, most disconcerting of all, on the edge of Fenland!

We were in the old Corn Exchange, which is appropriate given some of our humour. Met and greeted by the delightful Kay and Mike, we were soon set up and sampling the delights of Kay's cooking. 

The audience were small but almost perfectly formed, which was a relief as we were in the fens, and they enjoyed the variety of music as well as tales of Rossini, Schumacher and Renee and Renato! 

You can say what you like, you certainly get variety in an Opera Dude show. You even get variety amongst the audience - I mean, we even had someone in from Essex on Saturday night! The Royal Box, to Tim's right, was occupied by Long Sutton's finest who, despite having a wonderful spread, never did eat the scotch eggs in front of them.

The Opera Dudes New CD is now out and ready for sale!! 

Follow this link for more details.   

Buy it now

1. Come Fly With Me - Cahn/ Van Heusen
2. Because You’re Mine - Brodszky/ Cahn
3. Sway - Ruiz/ Gimbel
4. Recondita Armonia - Puccini (Tosca)
5. Volare - Modugno/ Paris
6. Prelude in C# Minor - Rachmaninov
7. Impossible Dream Medley - Leigh/ Darion
8. O Sole Mio - Di Capua
9. The Lady Is A Tramp - Rodgers/ Hart plus Allen/ Lole
10. E Lucevan Le Stelle - Puccini (Tosca)
11. Come Prima - Taccani/ di Paola
12. Buona Sera - Sigman/ DeRose
13. On The Street Where You Live - Lerner/ Loewe
14. Time To Say Goodbye - Sartori/ Quarantotto
15. Funiculi Funicula - Denza/ Turco