The beautiful venue for our May musical - Cromer Pier Pavilion

Forthcoming Productions

 The Crucible By Arthur Miller  (Classic Drama)  Sheringham Little Theatre

Wednesday 21st to Saturday 24th October 2009

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         LATEST NEWS

Well what a fantastic week we've had with My Fair Lady at the Cromer Pier Pavilion Theatre.  Blessed with enthusiastic and appreciative audiences, it's proved to be a hugely successful week. Our opening gala night culminated in a £500 donation to Big C, our chosen charity for this year's show, which was generously boosted by donations from our audience as they left the theatre and a further collection at our final performance swelled the Big C coffers further.  A very positive response has been received from our audiences throughout the week with fantastic feedback from those who have been to see the show. Director Chrissie Robertson can feel justly proud of what has been achieved, and Choreographer Carole Weeds is to be congratulated for her fantastic choreography. Not forgetting our fabulous orchestra led by MD Geoff Davidson. Behind the scenes, our small but vital band of scenery makers and painters have done us proud with a fabulous set and a huge thank you to them, as without their talent and time, we wouldn't have a show. Then of course there's the lighting, costumes, programmes etc etc. It's a real team effort!

                                              By George! I think they've got it right. This classic show is bursting with big singalong songs, sizzling dialogue, a pair of strong leading characters and some stage-filling tableau scenes. It could be a daunting challenge for an "am dram" company but, as ever, Cromer and Sheringham Amateur Operatic and Dramatic rises to it with a sumptuous annual musical. The 'ubs, sorry, hubs, of the action are the Professor Henry Higgins, a haughty academic of the spoken word, and Eliza Doolittle, the cockney flower girl he plucks from the streets, where she "croons like a bilious pigeon" and whom he seeks to transform into a a well-spoken, Edwardian lady. Peter Howell last did the professor role 20 years ago, but cannot have done it better than this - a masterful performance milking every linguistic nuance, delivering songs with a rich voice, but also capturing the frailties behind a bluff, bullying facade. On the opening night, he even managed a moment of skateboarding as, in mid song, he jumped on a castor-footed chaise longue which moved - and did not miss a note. That 'ardly, hever, 'appens.Katie Woodhouse is also outstanding as she makes the Jade to Joanna Lumley journey, with a soaring singing voice but also the ability to let the feisty flower girl burst through the fine frocks when rain in Spain encounters a passing cockney cloud.Andrew Payne, as her dustman dad, brings the thumbs-in-lapels, knees-up energy and fun to the proceedings, particularly the Get Me To The Church routine.At times there are more than 40 people on the stage, but it is never a muddle thanks to the crisp choreography from Carole Weeds and slick direction by Chrissie Robertson. This stunning show is helped by some elegant costumes, strong supporting roles too numerous to mention, and a large orchestra under the direction of Geoff Davidson that does credit to the delicoius score.The audience may not have danced all night, but they were humming the songs all the way home.Luvverly. (Richard Batson - Eastern Daily Press/EDP24 website 25th May 2009)

Go to the gallery page for production photos.

Based upon George Bernard Shaw's Pygmalion and with lyrics by Alan Jay Lerner  and music by Frederick Loewe, the show's 1956 Broadway production was a smash hit. Opening on March 15,1956, in New York, and starring of course Rex Harrison, Julie Andrews and Stanley Holloway, it ran for 2717 performances, setting a new record for the longest run of any major theatre production in history. It was then followed by a hit London production, the film, and numerous revivals. It has been called "the perfect musical".

We last did the show back in 1989, so after twenty years it is certainly one we had to repeat. Of course both the score and script are as good as you will find in any musical and then of course there's that wonderful score. Our director Chrissie Robertson, made her debut as sole director of a musical. She has directed for us in the past for our pantomine a few years ago in Holt,  and for a couple of our Autumn productions including The Wizard of Oz.  More recently, she was Assistant Director to Jeremy Tustin for Annie in 2007. She has of course also been on stage in many of our productions including Barnum last year and we are delighted she has agreed to take on our big musical production for 2009.

This year, our chosen charity for the opening gala performance was the Big C Norfolk cancer charity. Earlier this year, the Cromer pavilion theatre lost one of its most familiar and much loved faces. Jenny Polydorou was Head Usherette for more than 30 years and sadly passed away in March. She will be sadly missed not only by us but by all the hundreds of regular Pavilion theatregoers who she had greeted with her fantastic smile over the years. Jenny herself had recovered from cancer and so it seems fitting to support our local Norfolk cancer charity as a tribute to her.

                                                           Click to find out more about Big C

Looking ahead to the Autumn, Hazel Taylor, makes a welcome retun to directing for us, when we present Arthur Miller's The Crucible, at the Sheringham Little Theatre. Hazel's most recent production for us, Of Mice and Men, received much critical acclaim and we look forward to presenting another thought provoking and powerful piece of drama.

And for 2010? Well, February brings J.B.Priestley's When We Are Married at the Little Theatre in Sheringham, and this time we welcome back June Cooper who will be directing. June has had a long association with the Society, having directed Calamity Jane for us back in 1993, Oklahoma in 1996 and The Pajama Game in 1997. We hope it's a popular choice with our Sheringham audiences.

And while we're making announcements, we are delighted that our chosen musical for 2010 is Singin' in the Rain. Adapted from the 1952 movie of the same name, starring of course Gene Kelly, Debbie Reynolds and Donald O'Connor, it includes such classics as Make 'Em Laugh, You Are My Lucky Star, Good Morning, and of course the title number made famous by Gene Kelly and more recently Morecambe and Wise! We hope the choice will be a popular one with our audiences and having never performed it before, 2010 is shaping to be another exciting and hopefully successful year. 

So plenty to keep us busy and to look forward to. We hope that our choices will prove popular with our audiences. They certainly provide a great deal of variety and hopefully continue to showcase the range and breadth of dramatic talent that North Norfolk has to offer.

Be sure to bookmark this page in your "favourites"  to keep up to date with all that the Society is up to. And thank you for your interest and support.

Saturday 24th to Saturday 31st May 2008

              Cromer Pier Pavilion Theatre               

Well, what a week we had! Nine performances played to excellent houses despite the typical Bank Holiday weather, although we enjoyed a wonderful sunny day for our final matinee and evening performances. But for those who braved the elements for that stroll along the pier to the theatre, we hope they found much to warm and cheer them once the band struck up! 

A huge thank you to all the technical team for the work they did to make sure the show looked as fantastic as it did. This really was a show like no other, a colourful circus spectacular, and was certainly a departure for us from the traditional musical, and whilst it proved a huge challenge both artistically and technically, the company and all those involved be it front of house or back stage, have had a ball! (a juggling one of course!) 

So thank you to our audiences, without whom of course we would have all felt rather silly; to all those who helped in any way to bring the show to life; to our wonderful orchestra, this year hidden behind the scenes under the musical direction of Geoff Davidson; of course to our Director Jeremy Tustin (we hope we did him proud!) and our 2 fantastic Assistant Directors - Nona Gray and Robin Taylor - who never gave up and overcame every obstacle thrown at them -with mostly good humour and great spirit.

We seldom like to single out cast members as every show is very much an ensemble piece, but special mention this year has to go to Nick Bird, our own Mr P.T.Barnum. Nick has worked tirelessly for six months for this demanding role and has displayed tremendous commitment and talent in making the part his own. Thank you Nick for doing such a great job for us and for being such a nice bloke!  

Lastly, we are thrilled that by the generosity of our audiences throughout the week, we have raised approximately £2000 for our chosen charity, Sheringham Woodfields School (for children with special needs) which will make a huge contribution to their efforts to buy a minibus. So a huge thankyou!!     

You can see what the local press have said about the show further down this page and photos from the production can now be viewed in our photo gallery.

What the Press said ........................Eastern Daily Press Monday 26^th May 2008