CURTAIN UP - LATEST NEWS

On Monday 27th March, a delegation of nuns from GAOS brought a touch of heaven to the British Resident’s Association! 

Several members from the Sister Act production performed at a welcome for the British Ambassador to the Swiss Confederation, His Excellency James Squire. The performers included Chelsea Middleton, Musical Director for Sister Act, April Dalton, Aurélie Laporte, Gisela Schmidt-Martin, and Miranda Wilson with Keith Hayward accompanying the group on the piano. 

Ambassador Squire was visiting Geneva from Bern to kick off his visit to all 26 cantons during his posting to Switzerland. The event was held at the British Ambassador’s residence in Cologny, and was organized by Pam Walsh, GAOS member and Chairman of the British Resident’s Association. Members from both GAOS and GEDS were invited to attend the afternoon tea, as well as a few headmasters of schools, members of the RAF, the BSCC, the Oxford and Cambridge Association and various private companies. 

The group sang four songs from their then upcoming fantastic musical, Sister Act. At the conclusion of their musical revue, the Ambassador remarked, “Are you sure it’s amateur?” He joined the rest of the attendees in voicing admiration and appreciation for the performance. 

PINOCCHIO

A pantomime with no strings attached

by Tom Whalley

We can not tell you a lie, so, in order to have a "whale" of a time:

Your first opportunity to learn more about the next panto will be on Saturday 13th of May 2023 as the Production Team of our 2023-2024 Pantomime will give you a read-through of this hilarious show in order for you to get to know the plot and characters - HQ at 19h30.

The show will take place between the 19th and the 28th of January 2024 in the Théâtre de Marens, Nyon. Rehearsals will start mid-September. From the 19th of December there will be a break for Christmas (17 days) but the cast will have to undertake to be back in Geneva for rehearsals on Saturday 6th and Sunday 7th of January to get the show back up to scratch.

Auditions will take place on:

Thursday 8th June - Adults, roles and chorus

Saturday 10th June - Adults, roles and chorus

Sunday 11th June a.m. - Children

Sunday 11th June p.m. - Adults, roles, chorus and call-backs

The Audition Pack will be available at the beginning of May.

The Library in English is holding its spring book sale from Friday 28th to Sunday 30th April 2023, with a preview for library members on Thursday 27th April.

They have also asked us to convey this message:

Become a member and enjoy over 12,000 books, including current bestsellers.

Cleaning, moving out, bring unwanted books to the library during opening hours - The Library in English depends on donations of used books for its book sales. Children’s books and DVDs are particularly welcome.

In the past few weeks, the Committee has been seeking clarification on the Performance Rights needed for our smaller events (e.g. Musical Evenings, Fringe Shows and Review Shows). This has involved direct discussions and consultation with a licensing company after concerns were raised. These discussions have been cordial, all concerns addressed and the matter is now resolved.

Moving forward, we offer the following guidance to those wishing to stage these events:

- as a general rule, any song from a musical under 100 years old, can only be performed in concert with no story, staging, costumes or dance;

- no more than 3 songs from any one musical or by any one composer can be performed in the same programme;

- the above rules apply at any public performance, regardless of the venue, whether or not it is for charity, has a ticket price or is for members only;

- events where we obtain Grand Performance Rights (e.g. Pantomimes and Main Shows) are unaffected. 

The above will be added to our Production Guidelines that are currently under review.

Music is in the air! The GAOS Choral Group is joining forces in the Foundation Choir's Farewell Concert on Sunday 30 April at 18h30 in the Emmanuel Church in downtown Geneva near the lakefront (see flyer).  The programme will feature Joseph Haydn's Nelson Mass, also called the Missa in Angustiis, or Mass for Troubled Times. This work has been called Haydn's greatest single composition, and it is really inspiring music with lots of good choral bits as well as solo work.  Several other shorter pieces complete the programme. Bill Heckel will be conducting the Foundation Choir for the last time, and the GAOS Choral Group is pleased to participate in this farewell concert, as many Foundation Choir members are also in our Choral Group.

Please come along and support this event -- you will enjoy it!  Admission is free, with a retiring collection and a modest apéro afterwards.

Registration is still open for High School Musical auditions, with spaces still available on Thursday 27th April, Friday 28th April, and two slots (09h30-11h00 and 13h30-15h) on Saturday 29th April. The age limit has been increased to 19 years old.  

The curtain has closed on a very successful run: five sold-out shows, all of which received standing ovations. Massive congratulations are due to everyone involved, starting with the amazing three-director team of Bindu, Gen and Karen, and the musical directors Chelsea and Keith. A look at the programme shows the real strength of this production: A cast of 25 on stage, and around 60 others involved in the multitude of off-stage tasks. (Some people undertook several tasks!)

"When does the show go on tour?" some audience members asked the very busy bar staff. "West-end quality" was often mentioned.

There was wide-spread praise for the talented cast and the energetic and youthful choreography. Frequent comments were made about the amazing set which changed seamlessly, with high-quality precise projections of seemingly 3-dimentional scenes, thanks to Philippe’s artistry and Derek's technical wizardry, and a nimble stage crew. How many real doors were there? Sound quality was much appreciated, starting of course with the great band which kept the audience clapping to the beat throughout.

The magical costume transformations received "wows". In a sudden flash Eddie went from cop to disco king and back to cop again. And, the speed at which Deloris went from club singer to nun and back again must have set a world record!

Yet another GAOS show to be proud of.

Future-proofing GAOS means making sure we have enough experience people who can run lighting, sound, costumes, set construction, and stage management, as well as directors and musical directors. The Committee is hoping to hold a Lighting workshop within the next 12 months, run by an expert currently working in London's West End. Watch this space for details. 

Jo Beveridge is the Stage Manager for Sister Act. If you are interested in Stage Management and would like to shadow her, please get in touch at: 078 685 89 77.

Finally (for now), if you or anyone you know would be interested in any technical or production team roles, please let us know, so we can help you learn new skills.

Registration is open to audition for our upcoming youth show, High School Musical. Auditions will be held on Thursday 27th, Friday 28th and Saturday 29th April, with call backs, if necessary, on Sunday 30th April. Performances will be 25th-27th August 2023, at the Théâtre de Marens. Cast must be aged between 12 and 18 at the start of the rehearsal period (17th June 2023). Please spread the word and encourage budding stars of the stage to come audition.

As announced in a previous Curtain Update (23rd February), the 2023 panto will actually be performed in January 2024. We are pleased to announce that the script selected is Pinocchio, directed by Liz Williams. Liz would like to take a young would-be director under her wing as Assistant Director. This will be a great opportunity to learn from one of GAOS's most experienced Directors, so if you are interested, please get in touch.