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 15
July 2010
West Side Story for 2011
Hamilton Operatic Society today confirmed that they
had been offered the rights to stage West Side Story, which will now replace
their intended June 2011 production of Les Miserablés.
Hamilton Operatic has twice previously staged Les
Miserablés, first to a sell-out three week season in 1995 and then again to
sold-out houses in 2001. The upcoming season of Les Miserablés had been made
public in their recent production of
The Secret Garden,
and it was with much excitement that they intended to
again produce the ever popular Alain Boublil and Claude-Michel Schönberg
musical.
After news was received recently that the rights to
Les Miserables had been withdrawn by the holders in Australia (Hal Leonard)
to make way for a potential Australasian professional tour, Hamilton
Operatic was given the opportunity to instead stage the internationally
renowned and immensely popular West Side Story.
"It is disappointing when your plans are scuttled by a
professional tour that will not reach your city but unfortunately this is
the reality of theatre in New Zealand, several other theatre companies
around the country have also had found themselves in this predicament. We
are however very fortunate to have been offered such a fantastic show for
its replacement" commented Jason Wade, Chairperson of Hamilton Operatic
Society.
More than fifty years ago, a show about New York City
changed musical theatre forever. From the first notes to the final breath,
West Side Story is one of the most memorable musicals and greatest love
stories of all time. Arthur Laurents’ book remains as powerful, poignant and
timely as ever. The score by Leonard Bernstein and Stephen Sondheim — a
collection of standards that includes "Tonight," "America," "Maria," "I Feel
Pretty" and "Somewhere" — is widely regarded as one of the best ever
written.
The production team and major sponsors are yet to be
announced and the opportunity still exists for Waikato Businesses to get
behind this fantastic musical. If you are interested please contact Jason
Wade: Phone 027 477 0034.
 12 January 2010
Council changes back to Ticketek for Ticketing
Provider
It's back to the future for Hamilton City
Council's ticketing, with the Council's theatres re-engaging Ticketek as the
provider of ticketing services at its three venues.
Ticketek used to provide ticketing services
until the Council joined forces with Ticket Direct in 2005. Tickets were
available at City libraries, and the Founders box office was closed.
Following the change, Libraries are no longer
outlets for ticketing, with the new i-Site in Garden place picking up
Ticketek services as well as a return to Founders Theatre as a ticketing
venue.
See our
Tickets page for full details of Ticket
venues and contact details.
10 July 2009
2010 Season Announced
"The Secret Garden" and Andrew Lloyd Webber's
"Aspects of Love" are Hamilton Operatic Society's two major productions for
2010.
 "The
Secret Garden", winner of three Tony Awards, is a musical based on the 1909
novel of the same name by Frances Hodgson Burnett. This beautiful and
uplifting musical tells the story of a young English girl who, after the
death of her parents in India, is sent away to Yorkshire, England, to live
with relatives whom she has never met. Her own personality blossoms as she
and a young gardener bring new life to a neglected garden, as well as to her
sickly cousin and uncle. Directed by David Sidwell, "The Secret Garden" will
be staged in April / May at Hamilton's Clarence Street Theatre.
 "Aspects
of Love" tells the story of passion, love, life and loss across three
generations of a family and their artistic companions, against a background
of 1940’s France and Italy. Written by Andrew Lloyd Webber and featuring the
hit song "Love Changes Everything", "Aspects of Love" will be presented in
September.
The two shows were announced at a special launch
evening held at the Meteor theatre last night. The audience was treated to a
preview of the shows by Reece Pennington and Loretta Wilkinson.
Auditions for "The Secret Garden" are being held
on 5 & 6 September 2009 - make sure you've signed up for our email
newsletter for more information over the next few months.
1 April 2009
 Disney's
Beauty and the Beast Postponed
After
a great deal of careful consideration it is with great regret that the Board
of Management of the Hamilton Operatic Society must advise that the 2009
production of Disney's Beauty and the Beast has been postponed for the
foreseeable future.
This
decision has not been made lightly and there were numerous mitigating
circumstances, primarily the Venue Hire and its associated costs (which were
going to be approximately 75% higher than those for CATS last year) and also
the costs related to Set, Costumes and Freight (which were going to be
double those for CATS).
In
this current economic climate, we could not rely on the paramount ticket
sales which we experienced for CATS to cover our elevated production costs.
It
would be fiscally irresponsible for the Hamilton Operatic Society to proceed
any further with this production of Beauty and the Beast at this time whilst
expecting to maintain our high production values and artistic integrity.
Although this is a disappointing outcome, it will put us in a much stronger
position to be able to stage our next and future productions.
We
thank you for your continued support of the Society.
Board
of Management
Hamilton Operatic Society
30 May 2008
Hair Cast spreads the love at Hippie Picnic
Members of the Hair "Tribe" gave Hamilton
shoppers a taste of the 60s hippie counter-culture with a lunchtime picnic
on Saturday. Visitors to Hamilton's Garden Place were entertained by the
cast who appeared in 60s costume with guitars, singing and even body paint!
Hair & Make-up Designer Jocelyn Kerr works her
magic on Katie Clark
10 December 2007
Exciting line-up of shows announced for 2008 /
2009!
Following on from the artistic successes of
The Rocky Horror Show and
Blood Brothers, Hamilton
Operatic is excited to announce its lineup of forthcoming productions. The
next two years bring a medley of shows for all tastes.
 June
2008 sees the dawning of the 40th Anniversary production of
HAIR – the tribal love rock musical
which became the defining point of a generation and
introduced the Rock Musical to theatre audiences.
This cult
rock musical includes hits songs such as Aquarius, Hair, Good Morning Star
Shine and Let The Sunshine In plus many more brilliant folk-rock anthems.
Artistic Director David Sidwell says ”this all new production of Hair will
sweep you along, march you ‘round, and set you down, dazed and amazed!”
 September
2008 is the purrfect month to stage the multi award winning Andrew
Lloyd Webber mega-hit musical CATS.
A true musical theatre
phenomenon, CATS opened at London's New London Theatre on May 11, 1981 and
ran for a record-setting 21 years. CATS' London success was nearly matched
on Broadway where it ran for just over 18 years. CATS is based on the
universally popular poetry of T.S. Eliot.
This
production will see the stunning original set and costumes from the
Australian touring production.
 June/July
2009 will see the stage transformed into the enchanted world of Broadway’s
modern classic, Disney’s BEAUTY AND THE BEAST. Based on the Academy
Award winning animated feature, the stage version of Disney’s BEAUTY AND THE
BEAST includes all of the wonderful songs from the film, written by Alan
Menken and the late Howard Ashman, (the team responsible for LITTLE SHOP OF
HORRORS), plus new songs written especially for the Broadway version by Mr.
Menken and Tim Rice (ALADDIN, AIDA).
Operatic
Board chairman, Dave Smith is thrilled to have the opportunity to stage this
magnificent, internationally renowned production for Hamilton audiences. The
production has all the magical characters from the movie with costumes
specially designed and built by Peter Jackson’s WETA Workshops in
Wellington.
To receive the latest
updates on these shows including performance dates, venues and ticket info,
subscribe to our email newsletter (left).
14 September 2007
New Costume Hire Hours
Our Costume Hire opening hours have changed to
provide more convenient hours for choosing and returning costumes. With most
costumes hired for weekend functions Costume Hire will open for longer hours
on Thursdays from midday until 6pm, as well as Mondays from 10am - 4pm.
Costume Hire will now be closed on Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Sundays. For
info on new opening hours
click here.
 10 September
2007
Blood Brothers cast and crew donate for Kirsty
Members of the cast and crew of our upcoming show - Blood Brothers - donated
blood last Friday to thank the Waikato Community for supporting the Kirsty
Otto appeal.
Click here for the full Waikato Times
article. (Photo: Bruce Mercer - Waikato
Times)
1
August 2007
Donate to Kirsty Otto Appeal
Thanks to everyone who attended and performed at the Concert on Saturday.
The concert raised $6400 toward Kirsty's appeal. For details of further
fundraising activities and how to donate visit the website:
www.kirstyotto.co.nz
 23
July 2007
Concert for Kirsty
18-year old Kirsty Otto,
who has performed in shows for the Hamilton Operatic Society, was diagnosed
with a brain tumor just over a month ago. Doctors in New Zealand have
declared it in-operable, and the chemo and radiotherapy she is undertaking
are not working. This means that without an operation, Kirsty won't
survive for very long at all. Fortunately, a surgeon in Australia says
an operation is possible and that it could be highly successful - but will
cost NZ$83,000, which is not government funded. So as a way of fundraising,
Kirsty is holding a concert this coming Saturday to try and raise as much
money as possible in the hope of taking some of the pressure off herself and
her family.
-
Date & Time:
Saturday 28th July, doors open from 7.30pm – show starts 8pm
-
Venue: Fraser
High school Hall (on Ellicott road in Dinsdale)
-
Tickets: $25 a
ticket, door sales only and cash only
-
There will be food and
drinks for sale (no alcohol).
Kirsty will be performing
along with Nick Wilkinson, Jo Eggleton, David and Fiona Artis, Sam Ware,
Pamela Wallace and Michela Cairns, with music from David Sidwell and
Campbell Douglas.
There will also be raffles
off heaps of cool stuff that businesses have donated, so tickets for them
will be on sale too. Afterwards there will be an open-mike. Come along and
enjoy some great performances, and help raise money for this very worthy
cause.
For
more details contact Courtenay Mason on 027 642 1267
and
read this
article from the Waikato Times
Photos courtesy Waikato Times
23
July 2007
Winner of the Bloodbrothers Competition
is Ron Braithwaite - congratulations on winning
double pass to the show, plus a $50 dinner voucher!
31
October 2006
AGM set for 16 November
The
Annual General Meeting of the Hamilton Operatic Society will be held on
Thursday 16 November 2006 at 7pm in the Dance Studio at Clarence St Theatre,
Hamilton. Nominations for board membership and notices of motion must be
received at Costume Hire by 1pm Saturday 11 November 2006.
18
November 2005
City Libraries take over bookings for shows
The
Central and Chartwell Libraries are now taking Ticket Direct bookings for
all Hamilton theatre venues, including our next show "Jailbirds". From
December 3rd, Founders Theatre will no longer take any bookings.
10
October 2005
"Rocky" opens to standing ovation!
The
Fuji Xerox season of Richard O'Brien's "The Rocky Horror Show" opened
Saturday with the audience giving a standing ovation to cast and crew at the
end of the performance. Later at the opening night celebrations, creator
O'Brien gifted to the City of Hamilton the Evening Standard Theatre Award
the show received for Best Musical in 1973.
Click here to read what the
Waikato Times had to say
11
August 2005
Final Night Performance now 29 October
Our
special Halloween / 30th Anniversary Celebration performance will now be on
Saturday 29th October. We have moved the event to ensure as many people as
possible will be able to attend, and we are delighted that Richard O'Brien
has accepted an invitation to this performance.
12
July 2005
The Rocky Horror Show fully Cast
Casting is now complete for
the Fuji Xerox season of Richard O’Brien’s “The Rocky Horror Show” with the
announcement that Roy Snow will play the role of Frank ‘n Furter and
“Dancing with the Stars” Nerida Lister has been engaged as Choreographer for
the show.
Roy is best known for his
four year stint as “Matt McAllister” in Shortland Street, and recently
played Brad in the Auckland Theatre Company production of “Rocky”.
Nerida partnered Shane Cortese in TVNZ’s high
rating “Dancing with the Stars” and choreographed some of the more
spectacular dances on the show.
Roy’s stunning looks and all-round talent made
him the obvious choice. His casting completes the high calibre line-up of
Hamilton and New Zealand’s finest talent that includes Ginette McDonald as
the Narrator, Morgan Fairhead as Janet, and Mike Edward as Rocky.
The Hamilton Operatic Society is also pleased to
confirm Fuji Xerox New Zealand Ltd as the major sponsor for the three-week
season which opens 8 October 2005 at Hamilton’s Founders Theatre.
Executive Producer Paul Mitchell says this
production will be the cultural event of the decade because of the special
association the show has with Hamilton. “We have deliberately secured a
three week season to give as many people as possible an opportunity to see
this iconic production,” he says.
Ticket sales open 18 July through Ticket Direct
at Founders Theatre phone 07 958 5858 or online at
www.ticketdirect.co.nz.
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Ginette McDonald
"Narrator" |
Roy Snow
"Frank 'n Furter" |
Mike Edward
"Rocky" |
7
June 2005
Naked Ambition
Female cast members kept their clothes on during Friday's opening night of
The Full Monty in Hamilton, but the near full house erupted in cheers when
their male counterparts went the whole way. Male cast members of the
Hamilton Operatic Society abandoned their flesh coloured g-strings in the
final scene of the play - about ordinary men becoming strippers.
Actor
David Artis said he was the last of the six main characters to forgo his
g-string, but was now comfortable about it.
Director David Sidwell said he only knew of the cast's decision shortly
before the curtain went up. "You wouldn't get me up onstage in a million
years without my clothes on." Waikato
Times Monday 6 June 2005
Photos from the show:
16 November 2004
 Wanted: Six guys
prepared to go THE FULL MONTY!
Hamilton Operatic Society has secured the rights to the New Zealand Premiere
of the award-winning new musical “The Full Monty” to be staged at Hamilton’s
Founders Theatre in June next year.
Based
on the hugely successful movie, The Full Monty is the big-hearted story of
six unemployed steelworkers in who’ve come up with a bold way to make some
quick cash. In the process they find renewed self-esteem, the importance of
friendship and the ability to have fun.
Director David Sidwell is looking for a cast of 13 men and 8 women for the
production. Prospective actors for the six male leads need to be prepared to
go all the way. “Yes, it is The Full Monty!” says David. “We do want to be
authentic, it can’t be The Half Monty! However, as in the movie, there are
the security caps placed strategically at the end of the final number as
well as the appropriately placed blackout!”
Auditions are being held Saturday 27 November. Full audition information is
available at: www.hamiltonoperatic.co.nz or by calling 07 839 3082.
The Full Monty being produced by the same team that presented the hit
musical “Grease” earlier this year, with Musical Direction by Jenny Going
and Choreography by Sean Archer. The show opens at Founders Theatre on 4
June 2005 for a two-week season.
12 September 2004
Christmas Show Tickets On Sale Now
Tickets for Hamilton Operatic Society's popular
Christmas Adult Theatre Restaurant show "Around Uranus in 80 Ways" are now
on sale at Ticketek. This year's show follows in the tradition of "Pirates",
"The Bishop's Ring" and last year's hugely successful season of "What?! The
Phar Canal". The same production team is back with Director Nick Wilkinson,
MD Sam Cleaver and Choreographer Rachel Wade. As the title suggests, this
year's show had a distinct sci-fi theme. Last year's show sold out quickly
so book now to secure your seats, before we blast off for the nether regions
of the universe! Click here for
more info
8 June 2004
Fans have a ball at the Sing Along shows
Click here for the Waikato Times article
21 May 2004
"Tommy" Auditions Announced
Auditions for "Tommy" are being held on Saturday
26 June 2004 at Hamilton's WestpacTrust Community Theatre.
Click here for more info.
16 April 2004
"Westend to Broadway" Auditions Announced
Auditions for "Westend to Broadway" are being
held on Saturday 1 May 2004 at Hamilton's WestpacTrust Community Theatre.
Click here for more info.
16 April 2004
Costume Hire gets the "Red Carpet Treatment"
Our Costume Hire department recently got the Red
Carpet Treatment - literally - when it was recarpeted with the red carpet
used for the World Premiere of "Lord of the Rings - Return of the King" in
Wellington. Not only does the (almost) new carpet look fantastic, it's great
to think of all the stars that have walked over it. So come on up to our
Costume Hire department and really feel like a star!
7 April 2004
Grease Tickets now On Sale!
Tickets for our major production of "Grease" are
now on sale at Ticketek.
Click here for more
info.
8 March 2004
Mamma Mia! Winner Drawn
Congratulations to Mrs Elva Waters who won 2
tickets to Mamma Mia! by becoming a 2004 member.
Archived News Stories
Grease Auditions Announced
"Westend to Broadway" for 2004
Auditions for Christmas Show August 2 & 3
NZ Premiere of "Tommy" announced
Audiences have a ball at the Singalong Shows!
Opening Night an Outstanding Success!
Tickets to "The Sound of Music" now on sale!
Waikato Symphony confirmed for "The Sound of Music"
"The Sound of Music" Cast Announced
"The Bishop's Ring" a Heavenly Success!
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