Our Lady's Light Opera, Motherwell Page 6.

The Society was founded as the “Light Opera Section” of the (long-defunct) Our Lady's High School Former Pupils Association. At that time the school was "all-boys" and certain ladies, "wives, daughters, sisters and (sic) established girl-friends of former pupils" were allowed to join as Associate Members, allowing mixed casting. Soon, members were recruited from outside the "Our Lady's" community and for many years the Society has been open to everyone with the desire and ability to contribute to musical theatre, on stage or behind the scenes. The Sixties (notes by Raymond Lunny) The Society's first production was Gilbert and Sullivan's "The Mikado", performed in May 1962 (ticket 4/-!) in St. Patrick's Parochial Hall in Shieldmuir (Craigneuk), Wishaw. Principal parts were played. by James O'Neil (Nanki- Poo), Alan Wright (The Mikado), Kathleen Milton (Yum-Yum), Margaret McCarthy (Katisha), Frank McMahon (Pooh-Bah) and Tommy McNally (Ko-ko). The show was an outstanding success and was followed by other G&S productions until 1966, when The Society moved to Motherwell Town Hall to present The Mikado once again and The Desert Song in the same year.

The Seventies (notes by Raymond Lunny) The next milestone in the Society's history was the move to Motherwell Concert Hall in 1970. The production of the Vagabond King (March 1970) was due to be put on in the previous November, but the Concert Hall complex was behind schedule and was not completed until springtime. Our show was the first to be presented in the Concert Hall and, like the Hall itself, was surrounded with problems. Scenery was not received when expected and had to he painted by ourselves the weekend before the show! Costumes were being sewn up during the first night and the buses went on strike the same day! Nevertheless the show was highly successful and attended by over 4500 patrons. In November of the same year we performed our first presentation of Iolanthe, produced by two former D’Oyly Carte principals, Beryl Dixon and Fred Sinden. Many have regarded this as the Society's finest production. In 1972 we attended our first Waterford Festival of Light Opera with The Gondoliers and came in third place. Many neutrals felt that an even higher position was deserved. We did not have to wait too long, however, for greater success and won the overall first prize in 1975 with our production of The Gypsy Baron, a show which was an outstanding success at home as well a few weeks later. In addition to stage performances the Society has taken part in the TV show, Opportunity Knocks and did a solo presentation of Songs of Praise, both in 1974

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 - 1993, 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 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 scale of 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. The press reviews for this production were "rave", a view shared by most of our audiences, although 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.

In 2010, with the closure of the Civic complex for renovation, another charity concert tour ("Sing! Sing! Sing!") was our Spring offering, performed in Airdrie Town Hall, South Dalziel Studios and The Village Theatre, East Kilbride. We learned a great deal about venues and sales prospects in different locations, the latter two providing profit for ourselves and our charity partners, the Airdrie event being poorly attended and loss-making. We entered the Glasgow Music Festival (coming a creditable second in our section) performing at the magnificent Glasgow Royal Concert Hall. The November show was "Red Hot & Cole" (our first produced by Peter Nevans) performed in the new South Dalziel Studio One, which, while presenting some logistical problems, nevertheless was an interesting experience for the Society. The many parts were all cast in-house. Having decided to concentrate on our second Glasgow Music Festival entry for the Spring - coming second again - we started rehearsals for our planned November show - “Show Boat”. Disaster! For the second time in our history, we were deprived of our venue, Motherwell Theatre’s renovations being over a year late in being completed. The production was moved to February 2012 but the delay provided too many difficulties to overcome, including a number of cast members having to drop out because of commitments made prior to the shift of date. With heavy heart and huge losses in prospect, the production had to be abandoned. At the time of writing, a new revue is in rehearsal for May 2012. JOIN THE CAST?