Our Lady's Musical Society, Motherwell

November 2012

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HISTORY

The Eighties (notes by Dan Hughes) The “eighties” is probably best portrayed as the “immediate post-Waterford era” in the history of the Society, Jack Tait’s 1979 production of “Die Fledermaus” being our last competitive entry in the famous Irish Festival. Jack stayed with the Society the following year to produce “The Desert Song”. Although full of many fine performances, this show is well remembered for the appearance of Moses, a real live donkey, on stage. (No funny comments, please!!) The following year, Alan Jones began a long association with the Society as producer with a beautiful traditional presentation of “The Mikado”. This was followed with an adventurous journey into the best known of the Offenbach operettas, “Orpheus In The Underworld” which featured a highly perilous journey for three principals in a flying balloon! In June 1982, the Society was part of the Choir of 1000 Voices which greeted the Pope on his visit to Glasgow. Franz Lehar’s “The Count of Luxembourg” and Rudolf Friml’s “Rose Marie” took the Society on to new ground by introducing our audiences to shows not usually included in musical societies’ repertoire. There following two years of revivals of well-loved favourites, “The Merry Widow” and “Iolanthe” which put the Society in good heart as they looked forward to their Silver Jubilee Year, 1987. The choice of show for this commemorative year was greeted with gasps when it was announced - “The Arcadians”. This was regarded as a rather tired old “pot-boiler” from the dim and distant past. But, thanks to a brilliant, original production by Alan Jones, the show turned out to be a great success and proved to be just right for the occasion. The following year the Society unearthed a relatively unknown show by Oscar Strauss, “A Waltz Dream” which turned out to be an amusing, melodic tit-bit. It was certainly different from out usual presentations. The decade drew to a close with a revival of Gilbert and Sullivan’s well loved “The Gondoliers” performed in 1989. But earlier in the year, a very significant departure was made from our usual repertoire. Two long standing friends of the Society, Betty Pearson and Irene McMillan were asked to compile, produce and direct a Revue. What transpired was not the usual collection of songs, sketches, etc. but an extravaganza of music and movement. A format, style and standard of production/performance was set then, which has survived in various guises till the present time. The one constant throughout the decade was the dedication, inspiration and all-round musical direction of Hugh McAlinden. Associated with the Society since its inception, Hugh’s service has rightly been honoured by his elevation to be one of the Honorary Presidents of the Society.

The Nineties (notes by Laurie Thompson) In the early '90s, the Society was not yet committed to mounting two major productions a year. Any Spring shows were still generally low-budget shows designed to counter the ever-increasing costs of the November productions - though the revues, compiled and directed by Betty Pearson and Irene McMillan were large-scale, demanding and extremely popular with audiences, some set in a cabaret-style layout with the audience seated at tables. From 1990 - 93, a diet of two such revues, Offenbach, Strauss, and G&S was served, to be followed, in Spring 1994, by a show which changed the outlook of the Society - a "Betty and Irene" revue called "Something Old, Something New". The "Old" was an Old-time Music Hall, but the first half was an hour-long version of "Hello Dolly" with all main musical numbers and enough dialogue to tell the story. The performance was acclaimed by our supporters. We had discovered the Broadway musical. Following a lively "La Vie Parisienne" in November 1994, we performed our first full-length Broadway show, "My Fair Lady" produced by Dougal Stirrat in Spring 1995, with Eddie Pearson as Higgins and Janis Cunningham in the title role. Audiences declared it the best show we had ever done, although the Society was not ready to abandon operetta. The next few years saw a pattern of revue-in- the-spring and light opera in November. In 1998, we returned to the American musical with a fixed-set, dramatic version of "Oklahoma" produced by Gillian Archibald, filling the width of the Motherwell Concert Hall. The large cast were all involved in the ballet! In November we performed our last operetta for many years, "Orpheus in the Underworld". The show was our first produced by Peter Mcfarlane. MD David Henderson and AMD Gerry McCrorie were assisted by a young David Fisher (of whom more later). As a production, it was a resounding success, greeted with gales of laughter in all the right places, but ticket sales simply could not support the production costs involved in putting on such a high-standard show. Much soul-searching followed. In Spring 1999, we were restored to financial comfort by a splendid "Betty and Irene" revue called "Music Kaleidoscope" in which we were joined by our old friend Duncan Cameron doing inspired "stand- up". That November saw the beginning of a series of American musicals with "South Pacific", produced by Peter Macfarlane with David Fisher now installed as MD. Margaret Hay choreographed. "It was like a breath of fresh air blowing through the society" said one long-term supporter and occasional critic. It set the scene for the next few years

Into 2000, with a large-scale production of "Fiddler on the Roof", and the arrival of choreographer Joanne Rooney - again using the full width of the Concert Hall. A powerful Tevye (Mark McLean) inspired the rest of the cast and Joanne worked miracles of miracles with the choreography. For some in the audience it was even better than "South Pacific". Could we keep up the standard - and the pace? "Anything Goes" was the first show of its genre we had attempted, with big routines, tap dance, and a comedy style new to us. It worked and readied us for our then most challenging show, most demanding in rehearsal time. "The Melody Lingers On" has apparently proved almost too much for some companies, like us, underestimating what was needed to do this splendid tribute to Irving Berlin full justice. November 2001 saw "Guys and Dolls" in which newer members shone and the company's confidence with the genre consolidated. This was followed in May, 2002 by our 40th anniversary show, "Singing Is Our Forte", a spectacularly-presented revue. Then, the near-impossible, "Chess", with just a few months rehearsal. Press reviews were "rave", a view shared by most of our audiences, but not all. For the performers it was an unforgettable experience, both for the satisfaction of actually putting on a well-received performance and the relief of surviving the most punishing rehearsal schedule of our lives. In Spring, 2003, an intimate revue in the circular auditorium of Motherwell's GLO Centre. A cast of 36 sounded like double the number, thanks to the superb acoustics. With a maximum of seven rows deep, the audience had never been closer - with nowhere for us to hide. In November, 2003, we returned to Light Opera with a refreshing new production of "Die Fledermaus". In May,2004, Janis Cunningham was a magnificent Dolly Levi in "Hello, Dolly!". The joyously musical and funny "Kiss Me Kate" followed in November and, in May, 2005, we transformed the Concert Hall into a sumptuous "Café Chantant". For November, the American fantasy on Scotland, "Brigadoon" was performed with a number of experimental features, in the Concert Hall. Our last show directed by Peter Macfarlane and choreographed by Joanne Rooney was a revue created by the Production Team called "Strictly Rodgers and Hammerstein”. David Fisher was still with us for "Calamity Jane" in November, joined by David Carmichael as producer and our own Catherine Paterson as choreographer. Calam was a rumbustious Alyson Taylor with the evergreen Jonathan Procter as Wild Bill. "Carousel" followed in Spring, 2007. A splendid November "My Fair Lady" featured Esther O'Hara in the title role with Jonathan as Higgins. In 2008 we performed an all-new "Café Chantant" and the very-funny "Me and My Girl". "WestEnd2Broadway" was a staged concert touring Motherwell Concert Hall (promoted in association with them) Eastwood Park Theatre and the East Kilbride Arts Centre, the latter two in aid of charities. "Oklahoma" followed, produced by Tom Gemmell.

PREVIOUS PRODUCTIONS 1962 : The Mikado 1963 : The Gondoliers ; The Pirates of Penzance 1964 : HMS Pinafore ; Trial By Jury 1966 : The Mikado ; The Desert Song 1968 : The Merry Widow ; Pink Champagne 1970 : The Vagabond King ; Iolanthe 1971 : The Student Prince 1972 : The Gondoliers 1973 : The Merry Widow 1974 : The Yeomen of the Guard 1975 : The Gipsy Baron 1976 : Merrie England 1977 : Frederica 1978 : Olde Tyme Music Hall ; The Grand Duchess 1979 : Die Fledermaus 1980 : The Desert Song 1981 : The Mikado 1982 : Orpheus in the Underworld 1983 : The Count of Luxembourg 1984 : Concert & Trial By Jury ; Rose Marie 1985 : The Merry Widow 1986 : Iolanthe 1987 : Silver Jubilee Concert ; The Arcadians 1988 : A Waltz Dream 1989 : Revue ; The Gondoliers 1990 : Revue ; La Belle Helène 1991 : Die Fledermaus 1992 : The Pirates of Penzance 1993 : Smile With Style ; The Gipsy Baron 1994 : Something Old, Something New; La Vie Parisienne 1995 : My Fair Lady ; The Merry Widow 1996 : Moments of Magic ; The Desert Song 1997 : Viva Mexico! 1998 : Oklahoma! ; Orpheus in the Underworld 1999 : Musical Kaleidoscope ; South Pacific 2000 : Fiddler on the Roof ; Anything Goes! 2001 : The Melody Lingers On ; Guys and Dolls 2002 : Singing Is Our Forte ; Chess 2003 : This One's For You : Die Fledermaus 2004 : Hello, Dolly! ; Kiss Me Kate 2005 : Café Chantant ; Brigadoon 2006 : Strictly Rodgers & Hammerstein ; Calamity Jane 2007 : Carousel ; My Fair Lady 2008 : Café Chantant 2008 ; Me and My Girl 2009 : WestEnd2Broadway ; Oklahoma 2010 : Sing! Sing! Sing! ; Red Hot & Cole 2011: No production 2012: Musical Gold, past, present, future ; A Christmas Carol 2013: Guys and Dolls 2014: Anything Goes 2015: White Christmas 2016: Calamity Jane 2017: Fiddler on the Roof 2018: Oliver! 2019: Kiss Me Kate

A Little Light History

This section attempts to cover the 60-odd years since the Society was founded. Inevitably, it relies on the recollections of members past and present. If you think we’ve got it wrong, let us know, but we don’t want to get involved in antagonism and so won’t guarantee to “correct” the story to everyone’s satisfaction! To get some detail of each of the decades covered, click the heading. You may have to adjust the settings for your browser to enable this feature. Best of luck! There is a Gallery page (being re-compiled from scratch) with pictures from past events. Here are two of our earlier logos: