2018 has seen a wide range of activities keeping the theatre very busy!
We are very pleased with the response to the first two productions of the year. The spectacular Chicago had 12 sell-out shows full of murder, mayhem, beloved songs and dancing. Our second show, The Mystery of Irma Vep - A Penny Dreadful, was a dazzling production for very different reasons. The two-man cast worked so hard, moving between characters with (seemingly) ease. The backstage crew worked tirelessly to help make those quick changes as seamless as possible. Our thanks and admiration go to the directors, Debbie Keyt (Chicago) and David Collins (The Mystery of Irma Vep).
The second half of 2018 seemed just as busy as the first half with two more wonderful productions. Echoes was a thought-provoking story of old age, reflections on life and perhaps what could have been. It also had an interesting take on what happens in the afterlife. Thank you to Barbara Crawford for her wonderful direction.
Snoopy - The Musical, our end of year show, was a magnificent musical bringing to life the iconic Peanuts comic strip. Perfect simplicity was the name of the game for the costumes, set and choreography and like always simple done well is absolutely brilliant. The music was outstanding and Danny Forward's direction could well be that of an award-winning production.
On top of our four productions, we hosted a variety of charity fundraising nights and events - Fur the Love of Broadway, in support of two animal charities, a Relay for Life Trivia Night and the Biggest (and Latest) Morning Tea concert, both in support of Cancer Council Victoria. The theatre was also used for fundraisers for some of our friends at other theatre companies, including MLOC. We also hosted a MOTTS revisited show. Some of you might remember the cabaret shows put on by Mentone Old Time Theatre crew from a number of years ago. The night was hosted by Michael Young and gave a number of old stagers the chance to get back up on stage. This night was a huge success with a great time had by all. Our final event for the year was Betty's Babies, an improv troupe who graced our stage for one funny night of high paced comedy. Hopefully, they will come back next year!
We have also been busy improving the theatre to make our space more comfortable for audiences and casts. We have replaced air conditioning units, lights in the hall and green room, and have begun replacing lights in our dressing room. More recently we completed a ‘test and tag’ regime to ensure that all our electronic products (of which we have many) are working effectively - and safely! This is all on top of the humdrum activities we regularly perform to keep the theatre operating smoothly.
In March a Subcommittee was formed to build our 2019 performance season. We received a record-breaking number of applications from 22 directors for our 2019 season. Thank you to everyone who submitted an application - we were truly overwhelmed by this incredible level of interest. It certainly made narrowing down our season to four shows a real challenge! But narrow it down we did, and we are thrilled to be presenting four engaging and diverse productions to the stage in 2019.
I would like to thank the Beaumaris Theatre Inc Committee for all the hard work they do to ensure our theatre continues to produce high-quality work. A big thank you to all our volunteers who helped build sets, care for our patrons through our Front of House teams or look after costumes and props from show to show. I would also like to thank all the creative teams, actors and technical crews who spend countless hours working on the productions the grace our stage. A special thank you to Duncan Thompson Extensions for assisting with a wide range of activities this year.
We are now looking forward to another busy and productive year in 2019 at Beaumaris Theatre - I hope to see you there!
Trevor Osburn, Beaumaris Theatre Inc. President