Merry Christmas... and our Gondoliers Box Office is now open!

A very Merry Christmas to all of you from all of us at PBGS. And a heartfelt thanks for all the support we've received this year from our audiences, our committee, our patrons, The Queen Mother Theatre and all members on stage and behind the scenes. It takes a lot of people to make a successful show!

The QMT Box Office is already open for our 2018 Hitchin production of The Gondoliers which we are performing at the Queen Mother Theatre on 21st - 24th March (including a Saturday Matinee). We will also performing the show the International Gilbert and Sullivan Festival in Harrogate on Thursday 9th August at Harrogate Theatre. The QMT tickets are already selling! You can book via the QMT at any time by pressing on the Buy Tickets Online Button which you will find at the top right of every page of our website.

We are looking forward to seeing you all in Venice and Barataria in the New Year. Rehearsals are well underway as you can see from these photos from Sunday's dance rehearsal:

Photos: Stephen Hoath

Gondoliers needed!

PBGS urgently need more tenors and basses for our next production of 'The Gondoliers' which we are performing at the Queen Mother Theatre in Hitchin from 21st - 24th March 2018 and again at the International G&S Festival in Harrogate on the 9th August 2018. If you can do both or either we would love to hear from you! No Gondola steering skills required....

Please email us on info@pbgs.org or come along after Christmas to one of our rehearsals and introduce yourself. You will find details here on our Contact Us page.

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Gondoliers cast

Thank you to everyone who came and auditioned for our production of 'The Gondoliers', the standard was so high we made it very difficult for the Auditioning Panel who could have cast the show successfully several time over! Many congratulations to our new cast which is:

Duke of Plaza Toro - Nigel Harvey
Duchess of Plaza Toro - Bryony Reynolds
Luiz - Ian Boughton
Casilda - Liz Bottone
Don Alhambra Del Bolero - Peter Davis
Marco Palmiero – still to be cast
Giueseppe Palmiero - Stephen Hoath
Gianetta – Hitchin: Claire Moore
Gianetta – Harrogate: Paula Fraser
Tessa - Emma Crew
Antonio - Richard Dean
Francesco - Joe Emler
Giorgio - Jon Newham
Annibale – Hitchin: Barny Shergold
Annibale – Harrogate: Rob Jones
Fiametta - Bex Badham
Vittoria – Nicole Santelmann  
Giulia - Katharine Crew
Inez - Catherine Harvey

It's going to be a great show!

Time to book your PBGS Christmas Meal!

'Tis nearly the season to be jolly again (where did the year go?). The PBGS Christmas Meal is almost upon us and this year it will be at The Chequers at Westoning on Tuesday December 19th at 8.00pm. Total cost will be £26 per person for three courses with a deposit of £10 per person payable  as soon as possible. Take a look at the Christmas Menu (link below for full version) and send your choices and deposits pronto to Jon Newham, who is coordinating the festivities, at jonathan.newham@virgin.net!

Chequers Christmas Menu 

Gondoliers Auditions

Time to get down to casting our next show! Gondoliers auditions are on Sunday 5th November from 3pm at Streatley Village Hall. For those who can't make that date, there will be an opportunity to have your audition videoed after our rehearsal on Tuesday 31st October. This will be viewed by the auditioning panel on the Sunday along with the other auditions.

You will find all the audition information you need here.

Audition forms need to be handed in to Paula no later than 10pm on Tuesday 31st October and auditionees need to be members or pay an audition fee in advance.

We are performing The Gondoliers at the Queen Mother Theatre in Hitchin on 21st - 24th March and again at the International Gilbert and Sullivan Festival in Harrogate on Thursday 9th August at Harrogate Theatre. We will be opening the Festival! Please specify if you can do either or both as we are auditioning for Hitchin and Harrogate at the same time.

Time to launch our gondola...

Thank you to our audiences and our next show!

A big thank to all of you who came and supported our production of  A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum - your laughter made all the hard work and madcap running around worthwhile. We've had a wonderful week presenting it to you with as much fun-off stage as on. It was indeed 'something for everyone'.

Our next production will be Gilbert and Sullivan's glorious The Gondoliers, 21-24 March 2018, so we will be staying in Italy but moving to Venice where the streets, 'due to an unusually wet season', appear to be flooded. And in August we will be taking our Gondoliers production to the International Gilbert and Sullivan Festival in Harrogate. More on that exciting news to come!

We launch Gondoliers on Tuesday 17th October when Director Graham Breeze and Musical Director Sue Trost will be telling us all about the production and taking us through the music. The sing-through is always huge fun. If you would like to join us for Gondoliers, both on stage and off, new members are always made welcome. Just come along and introduce yourself. You will find contact and rehearsal details here.

Photos: XMO4

A funny thing happened... we open next week!

Not long now! We can't wait to present this show to you - hilarious farce, mistaken identities, conniving slaves, dancing courtesans, love, lust and wonderful Sondheim music. It really has 'something for everyone, a comedy tonight'! Our cast have worked very hard and are hoping all our PBGS regulars will support us. And tell all your friends because this will be a great night out.

Sondheim’s uproarious tribute to ancient Roman theatre and classic vaudeville follows crafty slave Pseudolus as he seeks to win his freedom by helping his hapless master woo the virgin courtesan next door who has, unfortunately, been promised to another suitor.

Hysteria ensues with a nagging wife, a war-drunk soldier and stolen twins! Filled with mistaken identities, clever wordplay, and slamming doors, Broadway’s favourite musical farce stands the test of time, combining fast-paced, irreverent humour with witty, upbeat music to deliver “something for everyone, a comedy tonight!”

Forum will be on at The Queen Mother Theatre in Hitchin from 4th - 7th October. Tickets are still available, especially for Saturday night. Click the 'Buy' button below to be sure of your seat.

Forum Rehearsal photos

Bryony Reynolds as Pseudolous

Some great photos of our Sunday rehearsal taken by member Stephen Hoath. We are having huge fun working on 'A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum' and are really looking forward to presenting it to you in October. It's full of wonderful Sondheim tunes and has a madcap plot which has had us in stitches. It has 'Nothing that's formal, nothing that's normal, something for everyone, a comedy tonight!' Sums it up really! Pseudolous, a Roman slave, tries to gain her freedom through a series of ever more convoluted fibs. 'Pantaloons and tunics, courtesans and eunuchs, funerals and chases, baritones and basses...' you name it, we've got it. Forum will be on at The Queen Mother Theatre in Hitchin from 4th - 7th October. Click the 'Buy' button below to be sure of your seat.

Joe Emler as Hero and Elle-Louise Berrie as Philia

Barny Shergold as Miles Gloriosus

Bryony Reynolds as Pseudolous, Elle-Louise Berrie as Philia, Jon Newham as Erronius, Barny Shergold as Miles Gloriosus and Peter Sayers as Senex

With Director Mandy Sayers and MD Jane Stott

Forum Photoshoot!

A few of us got together for some Roman shenanigans in fabulous Wrest Park last weekend, trying to capture the madcap spirit of A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum without frightening the visitors!

We romped around the Roman Columns of the Bowling Green House (very grand), said hello to a few urns and outdid Benny Hill chasing each other around assorted statues. We even persuaded a few visitors to come to the show! If you were wondering why there was a Roman Soldier ambling alongside the Long Water, now you know.

A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum is a fast paced farce that promises to have audiences rolling on the floor. Taken straight from the roots of comedy, Forum combines the ancient comedies of Plautus with a vaudevillian delivery. The Slave Pseudolos schemes to win the heart of the beautiful virgin, Philia, for his young master, Hero. In exchange, Hero will grant Pseudolos his freedom once and for all. However, things are never as easy as they seem. Chaos ensues with hair-brained schemes, cases of mistaken identity, slamming doors and convoluted plot twists. One of the funniest musicals ever written, Forum promises '"something for everyone: a comedy tonight!"

 On at the Queen Mother Theatre, Hitchin from the 4th - 7th October, including a Saturday Matinee.

Book your tickets now direct from The Queen Mother Theatre, Hitchin by clicking wherever you see our BUY button.

 

Forum Box Office now open!

The Box Office is now open for our fabulous production of A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum. 

Forum is a madcap, hilarious romp by Stephen Sondheim and is pure Roman farce, made into a successful film in 1966 staring Zero Mostel as the Roman slave Pseodolos - "the lyingest, cheatingest, sloppiest slave in all of Rome".

Sondheim’s uproarious tribute to ancient Roman theatre and classic vaudeville follows crafty slave Pseudolus as he seeks to win his freedom by helping his hapless master woo the virgin courtesan next door who has, unfortunately, been promised to another suitor.

Hysteria ensues with a nagging wife, a war-drunk soldier and stolen twins! Filled with mistaken identities, clever wordplay, and slamming doors, Broadway’s favourite musical farce stands the test of time, combining fast-paced, irreverent humour with witty, upbeat music to deliver “something for everyone, a comedy tonight!”

Book your tickets now direct from The Queen Mother Theatre, Hitchin by clicking wherever you see our BUY button.

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PBGS Noda Nominations!

PBGS is delighted to announce that members have been nominated in the Noda East – District 3 awards in four categories for our recent production of The Pirates of Penzance and also for a performance in The Merry Widow:

Best Director - Richard Fraser (Pirates)

Best Musical Director - Graham Thompson (Pirates)

Best Male in a Musical - David Crew as the Major General (Pirates) and Baron Zeta (Widow)

Most Interesting Grouping - Bryony Growden, Emma Crew and Katharine Crew as Edith, Kate and Isabel (Pirates).

Many thanks to our rep, Nova Horley, and congratulations on the nominations to Richard, Graham, David, Bryony, Emma and Katharine, you did us proud!

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Comedy Tonight

Our rehearsals for our next show A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum are well underway. Here we are setting the opening number 'Comedy Tonight'. 'Nothing that's formal, nothing that's normal, something for everyone, a comedy tonight!' Sums it up really! Forum is madcap from beginning to end as the slave, Pseudolous, tries to gain his (her?!) freedom through a series of ever more convoluted fibs. 'Pantaloons and tunics, courteseans and eunuchs, funerals and chases, baritones and basses...' you name it, we've got it. Foum will be on at The Queen Mother Theatre in Hitchin from 4th - 7th October. Booking opens in a few weeks so watch this space!

Richard Fraser as Marcus Lycus with a bevy of beauties

Bryony Reynolds as Pseudolous

Photos: Stephen Hoath

In memory of Maisie Smith

We are sad to announce that long term Honorary Life Member Maisie Smith has passed away. Maisie was one of our founder members and performed with PBGS for over 20 years from our earliest shows in the 1970s to the late 1990s, along with her husband Peter, our first Stage Manager, and daughter Ruth. As well as performing on stage, Maisie helped with costumes and was always ready with a needle to save us from a frock disaster! Her gentle humour and kindness were much missed when she finally retired from the Society. The photo above shows Maisie regally medieval in our 1984 Production of 'Princess Ida'.

We send our condolences to her daughter Ruth and the family. Maisie's funeral is on Friday 16th June at 2pm at St Marks Church, Hitchin.

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Important Rehearsal Notice

The principal read-through rehearsal on Sunday 28th has been cancelled because of the Bank Holiday, but everyone is called for Tuesday 30th May when we set the opening number, Comedy tonight!

We now have a cast for our next production, Sondheim's 'A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum':

Domina – Sue Wookey
Erronius – Jon Newham
Hero – Joe Emler
Hysterium – Graham Breeze
Marcus Lycus – Richard Fraser
Miles Gloriosus – Barny Shergold
Philia – Elle-Louise Berrie
Pseudolous – Bryony Reynolds
Senex – Peter Sayers

Congratulations to all of you who have been cast as principals in what is sure to be a fantastic show!

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'A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum' Launch night

So it's goodbye to all things Piratical and Essex because our next show has arrived! We will be launching our production of A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum on Tuesday 18th April at 7.45, Streatley Village Hall. If you've ever thought of joining PBGS this would be a great time to come along and meet us and have a sing! New members are always welcome - both onstage or offstage (there are loads of ways to participate and support the Society).

• Meet the MD
• Get an introduction to the story and characters
• Sing through the music
• Find out about auditions
• Discuss Society membership

 A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum is a madcap, hilarious romp by Stephen Sondheim (who we last visited in our 2014 production of Into the Woods). But Forum is pure farce, made into a successful film in 1966 staring Zero Mostel as the Roman slave Pseodolos - "the lyingest, cheatingest, sloppiest slave in all of Rome".

'Pseudolos schemes to win the heart of the beautiful virgin, Phelia, for his young master, Hero. In exchange, Hero will grant Pseudolos his freedom once and for all. However, things are never as easy as they seem. Chaos ensues with hairbrained schemes, cases of mistaken indentity, slamming doors and convoluted plot twists. One of the funniest musicals ever written, Forum promises '"something for everyone: a comedy tonight!"'

So come along and join in the fun, and if you are new, we will make you welcome and introduce you to everyone.

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A BIG thank you to our audiences!

A BIG thank you to our lovely audiences - we've had a huge amount of fun presenting 'Pirates' to you and your enjoyment and feedback has made this a wonderful week. Here is a great review from The Luton News. There is a G&S quote for every occasion and 'too much happiness' (Gondoliers) fits the bill. We are very sorry to say goodbye to Penzance but are excited to be heading for Rome for Sondheim's madly hilarious A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum. 

'Forum' will run from 4th - 7th October at our usual venue, the Queen Mother Theatre, Hitchin and we are looking forward to presenting to you one of the funniest musicals ever written with farcical chaos, mistaken identities, plot twists and turns, and "something for everyone: a comedy tonight!"

Photo:  XMO4 Production Photography. Poster: Sue Wookey