There are times when a person just needs to learn to say “No”.
Outdoor with Rosie Mitchell
This has never been my strongest suit. I am “dropping the ball”, having taken on rather too much lately, in all areas of life.
Following the delightful experience of being in A Night at the Opera at Reps, I’m chasing my tail trying to get to grips with so many responsibilities, tasks, voluntary involvements, work backlog, and so forth.
A very full life is not a bad thing, per se! Its just that fatigue eventually bites and one begins to forget things and get in a flap and muddle — and that is what I’m doing.
Singing and acting in A Night at the Opera was both a wonderful and an exhausting experience.
I always wondered how those theatrical folk who are in several shows a year, and in some cases, if not acting or singing in them, directing them, cope with the workload, sleep deprivation and with holding down their “day job”. Now I know.
They are just superhuman!
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I thought I had stamina — but it could be that in the theatrical types, I have met my match!
Because there is so much more work in a show than the audience can possibly appreciate and I am filled with respect for the tireless volunteers at Reps who throw themselves heart and soul into a production.
A Night at the Opera proved to be a great success
My brother Dave and I were lucky enough to be allowed to join this show very late in the day, after many other commitments precluded us from rehearsing sooner with the Marden Singers and we had much to learn in a short time.
The rehearsal schedule was gruelling as the show drew close and a full day’s work followed every night by four hours of rehearsal and weekend rehearsals too, is no walk in the park, though it is also a lot of fun, and produces quite a buzz!
A Night at the Opera proved to be a great success, and a very fine celebration of 50 years of the Marden Singers founded by Margot Dennis in 1963 and still going strong today.
The house was close to full for the whole run, and the cast and crew, over 50 strong, had a tremendous time putting it all together.
At risk of leaving someone out, I have to express my admiration for Musical Director Margot, obviously, Kevin Hanssen who wrote a wonderful script to hold the many excerpts from operas together and explain it all to the audience, which added so much value to the show, and directed us with such patience and humour, Clare Griffiths for the fabulous sets, Chiaki Murata, our visitor from Japan who worked her fingers to the bone for four solid hours every night through all those rehearsals and performances, Mike Southall for the great lighting, Linda Hyde, the stage manager, whose job is huge, where does she get the energy?
I have even more respect now, for the unsung behind scenes heroes of the stage. I always knew they worked hard, but seeing just how hard, was humbling — what a professional and dedicated group of people.
I hope that we get to repeat the concept of A Night at the Opera in future at Reps, as the audiences received this show very well indeed. It offered something very different — we don’t often get the chance to enjoy opera in this country — and it was packaged and executed really well — “even though I say so myself”! RHINO AWARENESS DAY AT RAINTREE TODAY
Today is Rhino Awareness Day at Raintree, so if you fancy a lovely day out for a great environmental cause, head there, turn left into Umwinsidale road off the Enterprise road. The road sign is currently down, but it is easily identifiable by all the other signs displayed at the turnoff, including one for Raintree itself. Raintree, a very beautiful in-the-bush venue, is a fair way down this road, on the right, well-signposted, and tickets are US$7 at the gate. The event runs from 10 am to 4:30 pm and has much to offer families, with games, horse rides and a supervised crèche laid on for children, lots of food and drink, including good wine and full bar, to purchase at very reasonable prices — no picnics or cooler boxes allowed as this is a fundraiser! Lovely music is provided by Hellenic Academy’s talented young musicians plus an adult string quartet, there are dancers, talks on rhino conservation by Aware Trust and original “Rhino Girl” Charlie Hewat, a raffle with great prizes, and a silent auction of works by Debbie Hart Andy Lowe. The future survival of the rhino species has never been so precarious as now, with over 1 000 killed annually by poachers in Africa.
