PBGS awards for Yeomen and Pinafore!

Congratulations to all our NODA Eastern District 3 winners and nominees at Sunday's District Meeting in Toddington! We had quite the PBGS line up. 

 

Well done to our winners David Crew and Sue Wookey as Sergeant Meryl and Dame Carruthers who won Best Performance in a Musical for “The Yeomen of the Guard", Katharine Crew who won Most Innovative Director for her wartime “HMS Pinafore” and to Margaret Johnson who won Most Innovative Production Team Contribution as MD for “HMS Pinafore” with her wonderful interval Jazz music.

 

We also had runner up certificates in a very tight field for Emma Crew who was nominated as Best Actress for Phoebe in "The Yeomen of the Guard” and Manda Fraser & Katharine Crew for Best Costumes in “The Yeomen of the Guard”.

 

It’s a wonderful tribute to all the stellar performers and varied talents that PBGS has in its ranks. Congratulations all round and many thanks to our rep Nova Horley for recognising all the hard work performers do across the region.

Sorcerer booking now open!

Booking is now open for our fantastic and fantastical production of Gilbert and Sullivan's The Sorcerer!

You can buy your tickets online now by clicking on our booking link wherever you see it or by scanning the QR code.

"This two-act comic opera was the third collaboration between W.S. Gilbert and Arthur Sullivan. The plot satirically challenges the Victorian class system and creates the sort of topsy turvy storyline we now expect from their work.

Alexis, the son of Sir Marmaduke Poindexter, is captivated by the idea of love as a way to level all social ranks and distinctions. He invites sorcerer J. Wellington Wells to his wedding celebrations and asks her to give them a love potion for use on the villagers. This causes all those who drink it to fall in love with the first person they see, resulting in some comic mismatching. To overturn the spell, either the spell-purchaser or spell-caster must pay with their life. This aspect of the drama is brought to the fore in this production, which highlights the moral ambiguity of the characters who are perfectly happy to sacrifice an outsider to ensure they get their classic G&S happy-ever-after.

The opera was first shown in 1877 and then revived in 1884 and was so successful that Gilbert and Sullivan went on to write ‘HMS Pinafore’ and a string of other hits culminating in ‘The Mikado’ and ‘Yeomen of the Guard’."

PBGS Performance Nominations!

Our NODA East - District 3 representative, Nova Horley, has made her personal nominations for this year’s best local musical Am Dram performers and contributors, onstage and off, and there are a lot of PBGS nominations this year! Huge congratulations to:

Best Actress: Emma Crew as Phoebe in "The Yeomen of the Guard"

 

Best Performance in a Musical: David Crew & Sue Wookey as Sergeant Meryl & Dame Carruthers in "The Yeomen of the Guard"

 

Most Innovative Director: Katharine Crew for “HMS Pinafore”

 

Most Innovative Production Team Contribution: Margaret Johnson, MD for “HMS Pinafore”

 

Best Costumes: Manda Fraser & Katharine Crew "The Yeomen of the Guard"

Congratulations are also due to PBGS Member Bryony Reynolds who picked up performance and costume nominations in two productions with other groups, TADS and Parodos Theatre School.

It’s a wonderful tribute to all the stellar performers and varied talents that PBGS has in its ranks. Well done  all round and many thanks to Nova!

 

You will find the nomination post here with details of all this year’s nominees! 

 

Emma Crew as Phoebe

David Crew as Sergeant Meryll and Sue Wookey as Dame Carruthers

Katharine Crew, HMS Pinafore Director

 

Margaret Johnson, HMS Pinafore Musical Director

Manda Fraser, Yeomen Costumes

Sorcerer Launch Night!

The Launch Night for our next production will be on Tuesday 16th May at 8pm at Harlington Methodist Church Hall and we really hope you'll join us there to hear more about Gilbert & Sullivan's The Sorcerer! We will also be serving some light refreshments, very appropriate for a show that actually has a song listing everything that makes a perfect high tea.

We always welcome new members so please feel free to turn up and introduce yourself when you arrive. If you are not a singer but would still love to join in we'd be equally thrilled, you have no idea how much work happens before show week and behind the scenes off-stage to make a successful production!

We look forward to seeing you all and sprinkling some Sorcerer magic.

Harlington Methodist Church

 

Thank you to everyone!

What a week! We were a sell out so a big thanks to all our audiences - your clear enjoyment and enthusiasm for our 1940s Pinafore has meant so much to us. The response to this show has been amazing and we really appreciate your support! It takes a lot of hard work and a lot of people, on stage and behind the scenes, to put on a Show like this. There are far too many of you to name (it would be a very long list) but you know who you all are. You have made this Show such a success! Bouquets to you all and here's to the next one!

It's Show Week!

 

What an opening - many thanks to our enthusiastic first night audience, many of whom gave us a standing ovation! We'll be talking about this Show for a long time to come so don't miss out on our amazing production of this classic tale of forbidden love and long-kept secrets which we have transported to the bravery and glamour of the 1940s.

 

There are still a small number of seats for tonight and Friday, and more available for our Saturday Matinee and evening performance.

 

Book your tickets from the Queen Mother Theatre here.

 

 

 

Meet lovelorn sailor Ralph Rackstraw with 1940s singing sensation the Porter Sisters, Sir Joseph Porter's famous relatives! Tickets are now selling very fast for our fabulous production of HMS Pinafore, so if you want to be sure of a seat then it's time to book at the Queen Mother Theatre Box Office. Here is a little taster of the show and the Porter Sisters version of A British Tar!

Some more rehearsal photos!

Pinafore rehearsals are really coming along as you can see from these photos! We are hugely enjoying this WW2 set production where every member of the chorus is a real character on board the training ship HMS Pinafore. We have sailors and WRENs, the ship's cook, engineers, the ship's nurse, deck scrubbers, a war artist and many more for you to spot, all going about their duties!

With the usual Gilbertian twists and turns (and a few of our own) and Sullivan's fabulous stirring music this is going to be a special production. Buy your tickets from the Queen Mother Theatre Box Office here.

"Gilbert & Sullivan’s classic tale of forbidden love and long-kept secrets is transported to the bravery and glamour of the 1940s, with sailors and WRENS aboard WWII training ship HMS Pinafore.
Naval trainee Ralph Rackstraw is in love with his captain’s daughter Josephine. But she is being pursued by First Lord of the Admiralty Sir Joseph Porter who has accompanied his relatives, singing sensations ‘The Porter Sisters', onboard to boost the troops’ morale. Meanwhile the Captain comes to realise what it is to love across class boundaries as he finds himself attracted to local spiv Buttercup.
Will true love prevail? Will jealous Deb Deadeye tear the couples apart? And is the ship’s cat really to blame for the racket during the blackout?"

Just Desserts Quiz Night!

A terrific Quiz to exercise your brain and delicious desserts to go with it. Sounds like the perfect night out! 

Pick your team and fill out our booking form here. Or you can fill it out as 1 person and we will add you to a team.

Tea and coffee is provided, but you are welcome to bring other drinks along with you.

You will find more about Harlington Village Hall LU5 6LS here.

Let the fun begin!
 .

Box Office now open for HMS Pinafore

Our Box Office is open and you can now buy your tickets for our wonderful 1940s production of Gilbert and Sullivan's HMS Pinafore wherever you see this button:

With Sailors and Wrens aboard the 1941 Naval Training Ship HMS Pinafore, the scene is set for the usual Gilbertian topsy turvy plot twists and much more besides. All our chorus are characters in this very funny production and, of course, there is Sullivan's wonderful music. We set sail on the 12th of April, with a matinee on the Saturday, and we look forward to seeing you aboard! As a taster here are some photos from our recent rehearsals:

 

 

 

Pinafore has launched!

Our next show is Gilbert and Sullivan's HMS Pinafore, sailing the ocean blue 12th-15th April 2023! Our production is set on a training ship during WW2 and includes Wrens and a few surprises! So plenty for women to sing as well as men.

We are always looking for new members so if you want to join us on board you will be very welcome. Come along to our rehearsals on Tuesday nights and introduce yourself! We rehearse from 7.45pm-10pm at Streatley Village Hall, Sharpenhoe Road, LU3 3PS, a few miles north of Luton. It is just off the A6 and very easy to get to. We would love you to join us onstage or helping backstage. You will find full contact details and a map here.

Thank you!

A BIG, heartfelt thank you to our 'Yeomen of the Guard' audiences this week. It was wonderful to be back in a theatre, to receive so much support and to hear all your laughter, applause and wonderful comments! We've enjoyed every minute of presenting this show to you. A huge amount of behind the scenes work has gone into this production, not least by our Producer Alison Gibbs and our Musical Director Jane Stott. But there are many, many others. You know who you all are and we are deeply grateful. The proof of all that effort really was in an especially fine pudding! Well done to all.

Our next show will be Gilbert and Sullivan's 'HMS Pinafore' in the Spring. Watch this space for more details which will be coming soon!

It's Show Week!

 

We open on Wednesday (yay!) and we just can't wait to present our 'Yeomen of the Guard' to you. Don't miss out on Gilbert & Sullivan's masterpiece, full of comedy and pathos, wonderful music, scenes that will pull at your heartstrings and all the hard work of our amazing cast.

Click here for tickets or anywhere you see the booking button! 

PBGS Yeomen Photoshoot

We have lots of lovely photos to show you from our photo shoot at St Mary's Pirton on Saturday. Luckily a bit of rain held off just long enough for us enact some scenes from our coming production of The Yeomen of the Guard, and to show off some of the wonderful costumes we have sourced for the show!

Yeomen runs from the 12th -15th October with a Saturday Matinee and you can order your tickets online from the Queen Mother Theatre by clicking anywhere you see this button:

Booking for Yeomen now open!

The Box Office is now open for our production of The Yeomen of the Guard!  

Set in the Tower of London. Colonel Fairfax, a gentleman, soldier and scientist is wrongly accused of sorcery, imprisoned in the Tower and sentenced to be beheaded within the hour.

To avoid leaving his estate to his accuser he secretly marries strolling gypsy, Elsie Maynard.

Jester Jack Point is also in love with Elsie but agrees to the marriage knowing that Fairfax will soon be executed. However, Fairfax escapes, throwing the Tower into confusion and setting in motion a number of intriguing plot twists ending in tragedy for one of the players.

The Yeomen of the Guard is deeper and darker than the usual comic Gilbert & Sullivan operas and is perhaps the most emotionally engaging with many considering the score to be Sullivan’s finest.

Click here for tickets or anywhere you see the booking button! 

We are recruiting!

PBGS is looking for Yeomen, townspeople and dancers to join our autumn production of Yeomen of the Guard. 

All ages from 18-90 (and beyond!) are welcome, as are all voice ranges. We rehearse at Harlington Methodist Hall, Bedfordshire on a Tuesday evening, and some Sunday afternoons, with the production taking place at the Queen Mother Theatre, Hitchin, Herts on 12-15 October 2022. Want to get back on stage or fancy trying trying G&S? Contact Paula Fraser on paulafras@aol.com

Important rehearsal announcement

From Tuesday 10th May, all rehearsals through May, June and July will be at Harlington Methodist Church Hall, Sundon Road, Harlington LU5 6LR. Tuesdays 7.45pm and Sundays 2.30pm.

 

Rehearsals will be back at our usual venue at Streatley Village Hall in August!

 

Yeomen Launch Night!

We have a Song to Sing O! Yes - April 5th is the launch night for our next Production of Gilbert and Sullivan's The Yeomen of the Guard. Everyone welcome to come and hear all about the show, sing some music and get a handle of those audition pieces! Launch night is at Streatley Village Hall LU3 3PS. Auditions will take place on the 3rd and 8th May and you will find all the information and documents you need here in Dropbox.

Looking forward to seeing you all!

Thank you to all our lovely audiences for supporting us at our Gala Showcase in Pirton! It was great to be finally back onstage revisiting some of the highlights of our 50 years of performing for you.

Part of our 50th Anniversary plans was to present Gilbert and Sullivan's master work, The Yeomen of the Guard. Well, we've finally got there for our 51st year! It's now planned for October 2022 back in our usual home of the Queen Mother Theatre, Hitchin. Watch this space for full booking details! We have a great team with Alison Gibbs as our producer (our 'fairytale' Trial by Jury, Mikado, Iolanthe along with several more superb productions) and Jane Stott as our MD (The Merry Widow, A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum). We are looking forward to all working together again on one of G&S's most operatic works. With all the usual comedy, misunderstandings and wonderful music, Yeomen is also a deeper work with real characters, broken hearts and betrayals. Is there a happy ending? Well, you'll have to join us and see!