20th & 22nd May 2010
" Sing Something Simple"
A fond look back at the music and dance of the 1950's and 60's
when apples and blackberries were fruits
and telephones knew their place connected to the wall by a cable
Produced by Kay Marsh and Caroline Newman
Directed by Kay Marsh
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23rd & 24th October 2009
"THE ADVENTURES OF MR.TOAD"
Produced and directed by Tracie Bachelor
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5th-7th February 2009
"SLEEPING BEAUTY"
Produced by Karen Lynch, Tracie Batchelor & Caroline Newman
Directed by Karen Lynch
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NODA REVIEW -
Show: Sleeping Beauty
Company: Forge Singers
Date: 7th February 2009
Once again, there was a warm and inviting welcome from Forge Singers - one of the great things about coming to see you is the friendly atmosphere and all within walking distance from home!
This was a very traditional family entertainment, which was very well received by the audience - always a key issue with pantomime. The production had very many strengths; choreography (Karen Lynch, Tracie Batchelor & Kirsty Lynch) was impressive from the opening number, and the chorus as a whole was very strong, and obviously well-drilled by Director Karen Lynch. She also brought out lively performances from the principal characters.
Production (Karen Lynch, Tracie Batchelor & Caroline Newman) values as a whole were good; the set by Angela Dobbs & Caroline Mercer was well-painted and effective, while the very competent lighting & sound (James Lawson & Penny Smith) helpfully emphasised the excellent costumes by Kay Marsh- these really made a great difference to the production’s impact. Hair & makeup by Mandy Wheeler also fitted seamlessly with the presentation.
The cast was generally strong; worthy of particular mention were Queen Formica (Rosie Saunders), who brought a determinedly bovine characterisation to the part, Rosie Newman-Bekkelund, who was charmingly naïve as Prince Richard, and made a good foil to the lovely (but perhaps slightly hyperactive) Kate Hume as Princess Beauty. Meanwhile, Kirsty Lynch was a very engaging Queen of the Fairies, and Peter Stevens brought his usual inimitable style to King Fred.
The four other Princes (of Iceland, Mexico, Ceylon & China) made a good if dated effort at characterisation, and provoked much mirth from the relaxed & thoroughly entertained audience.
Sadly, I found this script rather dated & lacking in contemporary jokes (oops – yes I do know where it comes from!) but I can’t help feeling that the obvious enthusiasm and talent of the company would be better rewarded by an updated rendition of the story.
Overall, this was a fine evening’s entertainment, rendered in the best style of local pantomime; a great deal of truly local entertainment, and a real involvement of great numbers of up and coming performers. Thank you for a good evening.
Jo Silcox SE District 8
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13th & 14th June 2008
"Olde Tyme Music Hall"
Produced and Directed by John Bateson and Peter Stevens
Musical Director: Ken Day
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| John Bateson |
Eddie Field - Your Chairman |
Peter Stevens |
"No one loves a fairy when she's 40"
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| "Daisy, Daisy" |
"Why am I always the bridesmaid?" |
"The Chorus"
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October 12th & 13th, 2007
"Musical Allsorts 2"
A selection of songs from musicals past and present
Produced and directed by Kate Gambrill and Karen Lynch
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January 18th - 20th, 2007
"The Snow Queen"
A Pantomime by Peter Denyer
Scripts provided by N.O.D.A. Pantomimes,
Peterborough, PE1 2RZ
Producer: Caroline Newman
Director: Cecily Godward
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| Hans Christian Anderson |
Gerda |
The Snow Queen |
Kay |
Igor |
| (Peter Stevens) |
(Alex Godward) |
(Kate Gambrill) |
(Jamie Cox) |
(Rosie Newman-Bukkelund) |
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| Cora |
Corr |
Prince Erik |
Princess Katrina |
| (Charlotte Edwards) |
(Kirsty Lynch) |
(Kate Hume) |
(Samantha Saunders) |
NODA REVIEW
Show: Snow Queen:
Company: The Forge Singers:
Date: 19th January 2007
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This was a competent production by the Forge Singers in a traditional village hall setting. Although not a true pantomime, The Snow Queen contains many of the traditional elements expected in a New Years show, and was an excellent and different choice. The whole company are to be congratulated on the scale of involvement of younger performers, who considerably outnumbered the oldies and played the majority of the principle parts. It is very nice to see such a level of enthusiastic involvement; I hope that the youngsters will continue!
Costumes by Kay Marsh were very effective, particularly the Snow Queen’s, which was worthy of a professional production! They provided a very fine foreground for the attractive and simple set by Brenda Saunders. Lighting by James Lawson was also very effective, if perhaps slightly restrained. Sound was competently balanced, but it was sometimes a struggle to hear some of the performers; this is frequently the case with younger players, and something which they need to be aware requires work.
Peter Stevens, as Hans Christian Andersen, made a genial and entertaining narrator, and it was amusing to see him becoming more involved with the plot as it wore on. Jamie Cox produced a sound performance as the hapless Kay, and Alex Godward was appealingly wistful as Gerda, his sister - but also very believably determined in her search for him. Kate Gambrill made an excellent Snow Queen with a great deal of stage presence; her costume and make-up were extremely effective, and a lovely contrast to her sinister manner. Rosie Newman-Bekkelund, her ineffective henchman Igor, displayed her dry humour with very good comic timing throughout. Kate Hume was quite delightful as the elegant Prince Eric, while his intended Princess Katrina gave a spiritedly petulant performance - you could see them as an old married couple! Corr and Cora, the ravens, were very well played by Kirsty Lynch and Charlotte Edwards respectively, with good timing and stage presence; I was very pleased to see Charlotte extending her dramatic range into comedy.
There is also little to fault in the many supporting parts, which were of a good standard throughout, with nice comic touches in many instances; particularly worthy of mention was young Nicholas Godward as the Oldest Eskimo in the world. Chorus work was also good, with fine discipline and group movement. Choreography by Tracie Batchelor and Karen Lynch was generally simple but effectively performed and entertaining; the whole cast had been very well drilled indeed.
Musically the show suffered slightly with loss of diction, as we struggled to hear some of the singing over the most sympathetic accompaniment of Ken Day, but it is hard to see how this could be rectified other than by a considerable investment in body microphones and so forth; in the circumstances, the musical numbers were generally enjoyable, appropriate to the plot, and of a good standard, but it was noticeable that some cast members carried much better over the music than others.
I would also like to put in a good word for the programme, which was attractively designed and presented, but also gave a lot of information. It had some novel additions and really helped to promote a feeling of involvement with the production. I do hope that you will consider entering this for the NODA programme competition this year.
Altogether, this was a commendable production, and the Producer, Caroline Newman, and Director, Cecily Godward, are to be congratulated on the overall quality they have achieved, particularly considering the general youth and inexperience of some of the cast! The audience were most appreciative of their value for money evening’s entertainment. It is very pleasant to see so many youngsters of high quality and potential, and I hope that they will carry on participating in the Forge Singers productions. Well done!
Joanna Silcox NODA Rep, District 8, SE Area
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"Thank you for the Music" - 12th/14th May 2006
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'Sound of Music' - 20th/22nd October 2005
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| The Von Trapp Children |
Von Trapp Children with Maria |
Maria in the Abbey |
| 1955 Country Capers (in aid of N.S.P.C.C.)
| 1956 Me and My Girl |
1956 Country Capers
| 1957 Jill Darling |
1958 Cinderella
| 1958 Bob's Your Uncle
1960 Humpty Dumpty
| 1961 Dick Whittington
1962 Aladdin
| 1963 Goody Two Shoes
1963 Jest a Moment
| 1964 It's a 'May' Zing
1965 Singarama
| 1965 Calamity Jane
1966 Free as Air
| 1967 Demand Performance
1968 Old Tyme Music Hall
| 1969 Sing Around the Clock
1969 Old Tyme Music Hall
| 1970 Orbits
1970 The Boyfriend
| 1971 Hall of Varieties
1971 Wizard of Oz\
| 1972 Half a Sixpence
1973 Old Tyme Music Hall
| 1973 Alice in Wonderland
1974 It's a Grand Night for Singing
| 1974 Revue '74
1975 Revue '75
| 1976 Old Tyme Music Hall
1976 Little Mary Sunshine
| 1977 Jubilee '77
1977 Bless the Bride
| 1978 A Lovely Way to Spend an Evening
1979 Cinderella
| 1979 My Fair Lady
1980 First Show in Mont St. Aignan
| 1980 Old Tyme Music Hall
1981 Aladdin
| 1981 S how in Mont St. Aignan
1981 Free as Air
| 1982 Sounds Familiar
1983 Jack in the Beanstalk
| 1983 Show in Mont St. Aignan
1983 South Pacific
| 1984 Old Tyme Music Hall
1984 Revue '84
| 1985 The Wizard of Oz
1986 Show in Mont St. Aignan
| 1986 Old Tyme Music Hall
1987 Alice in Wonderland
| 1988 Matchgirls
1988 Irene
| 1989 Dick Whittington and his Cat
1989 Salad Days
| 1990 Calamity Jane
1990 Old Tyme Music Hall (Edenbridge Arts Week)
| 1991 Mother Goose
1991 Show in Mont St. Aignan
| 1991 Anything Goes
1992 Ali Baba
| 1992 Lights, Camera, Action
1993 Babes in the Wood
| 1993 Knole Park, Celebration '93
1993 Charlie Girl
| 1994 High Society
1994 Mr. Cinders
| 1995 Robinson Crusoe
1995 V.E.Day
| 1995 Old Tyme Music Hall
1995 My Fair Lady
| 1996 Music Man
1997 Oklahoma
| 1997 The Wizard of Oz
1998 Show in Mont St. Aignan
| 1998 Encore
1998 The Boyfriend
| 1999 Cinderella
1999 Salute to the Songwriters
| 2000 Celebration 2000
2000 Show in Mont St. Aignan
| 2000 Fiddler on the Roof
2000 Celebration of the Century
| 2001 Oliver
2002 Aladdin
| 2003 Annie
2003 Coronation Celebration
| 2004 Musical Allsorts
2005 Cinderella
| 2005 Sound of Music
2006 Thank you for the Music
| 2007 The Snow Queen
2007 Musical Allsorts 2
| 2008 Olde Tyme Music Hall
2009 Sleeping Beauty
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Copyright 2010 Forge Singers
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5th-7th February 2009
Produced by Karen Lynch, Tracie Batchelor & Caroline Newman
"Rhythm of life' (Sweet Charity)
