CURTAIN UP - LATEST NEWS

After many years doing all the GAOS events, Karin would like to step back. We think it will take a team of at least 5 people to replace her! Jo Beveridge is looking to put together a GAOS events team. There are three people so far: Jo, Miranda Barker, and Helen Dixon. If you would like to get involved and join the team, please contact Jo.

Message from Vaishi, who is Head of Hair and Makeup for Kinky Boots:

Hello everyone,

Wishing you all a very Happy New Year.

I'm writing to see if anyone would be interested in joining the Hair and Makeup team for Kinky Boots. We are currently looking to build a dedicated and enthusiastic team and would love to hear from you - or from anyone you may know who might be interested.

Positions available:
Makeup: minimum 2 people.
Hair & wigs: 2-3 people who enjoy working with wigs and hairstyling.

Kinky Boots is an incredibly fun and vibrant show, and this is a fantastic opportunity to step into a new genre - drag makeup - while learning, experimenting, and having fun with lots of glitter, glam, and bold creativity.

This production will involve a completely new way of conducting the hair and makeup department, so we are looking for team members who can join us from the beginning and grow with the process. For this reason, I'm aiming to finalize the team by the end of January, as there will be substantial preparation and learning involved.

If you're interested, curious, or know someone who would love to be part of this exciting experience, please feel free to get in touch with me (+91 98113 32753).

Looking forward to building an amazing team of passionate volunteers.

The request last year for an old VHS cassette player resulted in several of you generously donating some machines, which was much appreciated. Unfortunately, all of them packed up fairly quickly, with the most recent machine spectacularly blowing out smoke, probably due to a significant dust buildup. The other machines were all either reluctant to actually accept cassettes or had other problems.

So, as before, if you do happen to have a VHS machine you've been thinking about letting go, please contact Brian Thomas, who hopes to make good use of it as a vital part of the GAOS archive project.

Majbritt Byskov-Bridges has arranged a GAOS discount for her next Philippe Cohen show, Le Cabaret de mes Parents, which takes us through the history of Cabaret music and the many divas of the past. A comic musical. See details here.

Majbritt is La Diva Lady Vava in this show, and has kindly arranged a GAOS discount: 3 tickets for the price of 2 for certain shows. These are the dates to which the discount applies: Saturday 7th and Sunday 8th February at 17h, and Tuesday 10th February at 20h.

To take advantage of the discount, either write directly to info@theatre-confiture.ch or Twint Majbritt (0797602898) stating "3 pour 2, date, name".

This offers expires on the 1st of February.

The GAOS Committee is delighted to announce that Casper Giraldo has been selected as our GAOS Youth Representative.

Casper joined GAOS last year as an advanced dancer in Jesus Christ Superstar and he has quickly become a treasured member of the society. Casper played Chadwick in Elf and will perform as an Angel in Kinky Boots. He has also contributed his talents behind the scenes with social media, props, set painting, and as stage crew.

We look forward to benefitting from Casper's ideas, insights, and input to decisions. If our young GAOS members have issues they would like Casper to bring to the Committee, they can contact him at youthrep@gaos.ch.

Another year comes to an end, and we can be proud of both the winter show and the carol concert.

Elf the Musical closed a sold-out nine-performance run, overcoming accidents, crazy traffic, and illness to delight audiences young and old. For the first time in years, if not in GAOS's history, understudies had to step up, and by all accounts they all did an excellent job. We even had to fly in Keith from the UK to stand in for Lorna at the dress rehearsal!

Audiences specially appreciated the professionalism of the cast and musicians, the quality of the costumes and projections, and the slickness of the scene changes. Huge congratulations to everyone involved.

For their part, the Choral Group performed their annual Carol Concert in Founex in front of a 200-strong audience, conducted by Chelsea Middleton, and accompanied by Ana Pires on the piano. For some of the pieces, we also enjoyed Arthur Mitchell's flute and Sunil Chacko's percussion.

The program included both all-time favourites and an international selection, with songs in English, French, German, isiZulu and Spanish. There were also readings by Leontyne Mbele-Mbong, Duncan Lally and Mary Stuttard.

The retiring collection, which this year will go to Amnesty International, came to CHF 1,405.35, plus EUR 225. Thank you all for your generosity.

GAOS is looking for talented young performers to play the following roles in an upcoming production of Kinky Boots:

- Young Charlie Price: We are looking for a young actor/actress from 8 to 12 years-old who can play a boy and resemble our adult Charlie - light complexion, fair/blonde hair tones.

- Young Lola/Simon: We are looking for a young actor/actress from 8 to 12 years-old who can play a boy and plausibly match the appearance of our adult Lola - medium to deep complexion, dark hair.

To see if you might be a fit, please send an audition video by January 13th, at midday, to kinkyboots@gaos.ch.

You can find all details and audition materials here.

"Voici Noël"... Well, almost! As we enter the Holiday Season, the GAOS Choral Group invites all GAOS members and their friends to the annual

GAOS CHRISTMAS CAROL EVENING
(& CHRISTMAS MARKET)
WEDNESDAY 17TH DECEMBER AT 20H
SALLE DES SPECTACLES DE FOUNEX
(Route de Châtaigneriaz 3, 1297 Founex)

Along with the old-time favourites in which we are hoping for audience participation, the programme this year includes a selection of international carols to offer a glimpse of Christmas around the world. Could be you'll recognize some of them!

We are excited to announce that, following the success of last year's Christmas Market, a few stalls will once again be presented  by GAOS members and friends. Get a sneak peak at our exhibitors here!

Remember to bring those Christmas treats to share (the Choral Group needs help here!) and your holiday spirits. Hot wine kindly offered by the GAOS Committee.

Join us to raise our voices together to welcome in the Holiday Season!

Save the date for the first show of 2026 - the GAOS Fringe presents London Calling!

Dates and times:
Friday 30th January at 19h30
Saturday 31st January at 19h30
Sunday 1st February at 14h

A registration link to book your places and pre-order food will be available soon. Watch this space!

It was a delight to see many new faces as well as long-time members at the 2025 AGM on 2nd November. Treasurer David Ball was pleased to announce that GAOS is in a strong financial position, thanks to the success of the three previous shows, Twenty, Aladdin, and Jesus Christ Superstar. The Committee was also proud to honour and present the 2025 GAOS award to a dedicated group of hidden heroes without whom our productions would not exist (or they would be quite boring since they would take place on a bare stage): The Barnacles, which comprises David Wrigley, Norman Beveridge, John Fox, Mike Hart, Deborah Hill, Martin Shaw, Bryan Thomas, Alydia Seidell.

The Committee and members expressed their gratitude to Helen Weir, Frou Frou and Katya Akulich for having served on the Committee and for having been part of a fun and productive team. Special thanks was given to Jo Beveridge for her exceptional leadership as Chair for the last three years.

The 2025/26 Committee nominations were announced and we are pleased to confirm the new Committee is as follows:

• Chair - Gisela Schmidt-Martin
• Vicechair - Jo Beveridge
• Treasurer - David Ball
• Secretary - Bindu Kapur
• Business Manager - Wenona Christie
• Publicity Manager - Chris Cartwright
• Membership Secretary - Cheryl Rooney-Ball
• Assistant Business Manager - Lucy Irwin*
• Assistant Publicity Manager - Lauren Stocker
• Technical Manager - Derek Mathieson

* At the time of the AGM, no one had accepted a nomination for the role of Assistant Business Manager, and during the AGM no one expressed an interest in this role following a request for volunteers. Lucy Irwin kindly accepted to take on the role after the AGM.

You can find all the Committee members' bios here.