Sister Act - Darlington Operatic Society

There's usually a story to tell when we go out for the evening, and, last night was no exception. We set off in plenty of time to go and see Sister Act, however, thanks to some road closures that we didn't know about in Aiskew blocking access to the A1, we had an enforced detour. It would have been nice  to see a road closed warning (Bedale) and a detour sign, but no - there weren't any. Then the A1 had roadworks. Then low and behold when we got to Darlington...roadworks again! We were five minutes late for the start of the performance, but managed to creep in without causing a disturbance. The show definitely made up for the awful journey. 

Photo copyright Darlington Operatic Society

Well, the Sisters were certainly having a great time last night at Darlington Civic Theatre, and so were the audience. What a spectacular performance of Sister Act by Darlington Operatic Society. If Whoopi Goldberg had been there she would have been well impressed with Deloris (I think last night was played by Rhiannon Williams) she is apparently sharing the role (alternate performances) with her sister Claire Willmer. The dancing, the singing, the music and the acting, absolutely brilliant. Every one of the cast exceptional. You felt as if you were on the stage with them.

Photo copyright Darlington Operatic Society

And, I've heard through the grapevine (their Facebook page) that the society has received over fifty applications for their next set of New Member auditions. I'm not surprised, if I could sing I'd be auditioning :-)

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Plus, a huge thank you to our good friend Kathy Boyer of KB Equine Therapy for animal sitting :-)

Ding Dong - Masham Players Amateur Dramatic Society

The time has arrived for our first performance of Ding Dong. WOW . . . are we excited!

Murder Mystery, Magical Gardens and Music...

Sunday was Sat Nav's (Gloria's) birthday, and this year she'd decided on something completely different - a Murder Mystery night.
Parts were allocated well beforehand and there was no cheating by us reading the clues/script before the night. Honest!
All party guests really entered into the spirit of the game and thanks to Kathy's Catering (Kathy have you ever come across Davinia's Catering at all? Sat Nav thinks that you and your assistant Judy should set up in the catering business) we ate extremely well.
The scene was set for Casablanca 1942 and it was a hard murder to solve. Only one guest got it right, or was it 2 - can't remember exactly too much champagne!

On Monday we spent an interesting afternoon in a magical garden where we had to solve clues, and riddles and try to avoid the water hazards lol!!! There was a labyrinth of tunnels, chambers, follies and surprises. The temple of the underworld, the eye of the needle, a huge pyramid made of translucent glass, paths and passages that lead nowhere, and extraordinary statues.
I opened a door and a skeleton nearly jumped out ...and I thought there is obviously a staff shortage here if they have to rely on the skeleton staff!
Talking trees, a little boy statue that peed on you, dragons and dungeons. Harry Potter and his friends would love this place.
We were in Forbidden Corner www.theforbiddencorner.co.uk with some of our friends - a great place to go. But we needed a place to meet up beforehand, and what better place than the Brymor Ice Cream Parlour www.brymordairy.co.uk. Ice cream par excellence!
We had to be agile on our feet here, not because the ice cream was cold, but because the wasps wanted some as well.


Last night (Tuesday) we headed up to Darlington Civic Theatre www.darlingtonarts.co.uk to the opening night of Dancing Queen billed as All Singing, All dancing, Biggest 70s Party Ever!
We met up with my sister, my niece and my sister's friend. The show started with Abba hits, and then moved on to The Bee Gees, Village People and more. It had an exciting cast of twenty singers and dancers. It was a full scale dance party, with dazzling costumes, outrageous choreography (how on earth the dancers managed to do some of those leg positions I'll never know) and amazing musical arrangements. We were all encouraged to sing along and dance in the aisles, and yes...I did sing - very loudly lol !!!

The Last Night of the Proms

Last night Sat Nav and I went to Darlington Civic Theatre www.darlingtonarts.co.uk to see The British Philharmonic Orchestra perform The Last Night of the Proms. Conducted by Alistair Lilley (now... I have something very important - and impressive - to share with you.... I am proud to tell you that my great-uncle used to conduct this very Orchestra - see, I knew you'd be impressed!) and lead by Alison White.
They were absolutely brilliant. Jeni Bern and Andrew Forbes Lane were the Soloists, and Mark Langley the Presenter. So with this line up you can guess that we were in for a special treat.

The theatre was full to the brim, but alas unlike some, we had forgotten to take our flags with us!
This meant that we couldn't join in :-(
But the clever theatre staff were prepared and during the interval Sat Nav discovered that suitable flags were on sale at the sweetie kiosk. Naturally she rushed off to buy a couple so we could join in and wave to our hearts content. Which we did, and Sat Nav usually very conservative waved her flag with the best of them!

Now, let me tell you about the fabulous music....well, where to start?.... we enjoyed selections from The Sound of Music, Phantom of the Opera, Mary Poppins, and Grease - with the soloists dressed in 70's gear for Grease.
Sat Nav was in raptures with the medley from My Fair Lady - her absolute favourite film.

We were soothed with gentle tones, totally relaxed, but then they played the Dr Who theme with terrific verve and what came next was a bit of a shock.
We were sitting at the end of the front row of the dress circle next to the right hand box, (yes, you do need to know this) when I was deafened by a scary familiar voice booming out from said box...it was a dalek... and it was shouting as plain as day 'exterminate!!!....exterminate!!!'
I couldn't believe it, - what a ploy and what a shock. The entire audience re-acted....It was brilliant.
Recovered, I told myself - don't be silly there can't possibly be daleks in here - can there? lol!!!

We enjoyed the company of two lovely ladies throughout the concert, Mave and her friend Marjorie from Northallerton. Mave is something of a celebrity - although retired she taught theatrical makeup and her students have gone on to great things. Thanks Mave for giving me your programme :-)

And thanks to the British Philharmonic for giving us such a treat...I know that I've said this before, but I'm going to say this again, IF YOU GET THE CHANCE - GO AND SEE THEM!
Whoops! Nearly forgot...Sat Nav and I are now officailly Promenarders ;-)