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BOOK NOW FOR OUR NEXT PRODUCTION:
We will shortly be holding auditions for the first three productions in our 2012/13 season. Please make a note in your diary.
‘Natural Causes’ - we will need 3 Males and 2 Females - Thursday 21st June 2012 - Director Bill Rogers
‘Flamingoland’ - We will need 1 Male and 4 Females - Tuesday 26th June 2012 - Director Ian Taylor
‘Mother Goose’ - We will need 12 principals of various sizes!! - Thursday 28th June 2012 - Director Ian Taylor
All auditions will be held here at the Theatre at 7.30pm. Everyone is welcome to come along and try for a part or simply to meet other people and see what its all about. If you would like to audition be cannot make it on the night, please contact the theatre on a Tuesday or Thursday evening BEFORE the audition night and ask for the either Bill or Ian.
Come along, you’ll never know what you’re missing ‘til you try it.
It is with great sadness that TLT announce the loss of Winnie Evans who died peacefully in hospital on Thursday 10th May 2012. Her funeral service and committal were held at Howe Bridge Cemetary on Friday 18th May with family flowers and donations (in lieu of flowers) to The Christie Hospital. We reproduce the tribute which was published in our programme for 'Building Blocks'.
FAREWELL WINNIE - BLESS YOU
It is with monumental sadness that we must report the news that our longstanding friend and one of our brightest ever stars, Winnie Evans, passed away just days before the opening of this production. Winnie was one of those people who lit up a room by entering it, full of warmth and wit, and lit up a stage – songs, dances, high kicks and all – well into her 80s. It has been a delight to the society that she always found the time and energy to continue, even after achieving an impressive “half-century” of roles. Her debut was as the Commanding Officer in the all female show ‘The Passing Out Parade’ in February 1985. She came full circle in February 2002 – 17 years later – as she once more appeared in an all woman show, ‘Bazaar & Rummage’, and proved that she still had what it takes! A firm favourite with audiences at TLT, Winnie had tremendous composure on stage, thanks to the experience of performing at Lemon Street for so many years and she was justly rewarded. She won an “Adjudicator’s Discretionary” Award from the GMDF for her 1988 role as the Chamberlain in the pantomime ‘Tom, the Piper’s Son’ and a “Best Actress” Award at the 2004 Partington Players One Act Play Festival for her hilarious turn as Joyce in the oft-performed comedy ‘Last Tango in Little Grimley’. Winnie was often seen to be helping out with wardrobe and also gave much of her time to coaching younger, less experienced actors. Long-standing audiences will remember her on-stage for her roles in ‘Habeas Corpus’ (1985), ‘The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie’ (1990) and ‘Lord Arthur Saville’s Crime’ (1991). One of her all time favourite roles, though, was that of Evelyn, the drunken wife in ‘No Room for Love’ (1995) but she has also confessed to finding ‘Bazaar & Rummage’ to be a very good play thanks to its well drawn characterisations. In December 2006 she returned to the role of pantomime villain, something she often performed with scenery chewing relish many times. Fittingly, in subsequent pantos she bequeathed the role of villainess to her daughter-in-law, Ingrid Folkard-Evans, who emulated her beloved Mum-in-law’s success by winning an award for her panto performance. It was something that Winnie was very proud of. Ever youthful, Winnie’s final success, in ‘Robinson Crusoe & the Pirates’ (Dec 2010) involved both singing and dancing. She struck up a series of successful ‘music hall’ style routines with her friend Roma Etherington, often writing lyrics and choreographing the dances and the role of Island Native and Pirate in ‘Robinson’ was a lively and hilariously appropriate swan song. Sadly, in 2011 she began a serious battle with illness – although it surprised none of her friends that she tackled this with customary bravery, strength and good humour. Winnie continued to support the theatre by attending shows, always making a point of arriving backstage to offer congratulations. Should anyone win or be nominated for an award, then a celebratory card or message would surely arrive. She yearned to appear in panto once more but it sadly wasn’t to be. Winnie Evans, a true leading light of TLT, took a final curtain call in the early hours of Thursday 10th May 2012. Nevertheless, she leaves the fondest of memories and a deservedly celebrated body of work. Her presence has been so strong, and her good will so heartfelt that there is no doubt that when the curtain closes tonight, and for the night of every TLT performance to come, there will be a sense of proud congratulation and sparkling warmth in the air from our Winnie. For a legacy such as hers will always, always be felt.
(or how not to relax and enjoy yourself!!!)
Once again a major grant from Viridor Credits, plus extra funding from Wigan Council Community Chest and the Coalfields Regeneration Fund has enabled us to significantly improve our facilities.
Viridor Credits have come up trumps again, this time with a grant of £8000 to replace the worn seating in the auditorium and balcony of the Theatre. This has brought a new meaning to the phrase 'bums on seats' as TLT members test the new seats to ensure that, in addidtion to offering top quality theatre, we also offer top quality comfort. Unfornutelly Theatre members still have to strip out the old seats and install the new ones, but still isn't that what the summer holidays are all about??
Again TLT offer our heartfelt thanks to the staff at Viridor Credits for this grant which further extends the improvements to TLT, many of which have been funded by previous Viridor grants. If you think that Viridor Credits can help your organisation please visit www.viridor-credits.co.uk for full detail.
Not to be outdone, Wigan Council have also many a significant contribution of £1,125 to further extend the refurbishment of the Thetre stock of lights. This should make TLT one of the 'brightest' amateur dramatic companies in Britain. We again offer our grateful thanks to the Wigan Council Grant staff.
In addition to these grants, we have also received a grant of £250 from Create, the charity arm of Finance Redirect, which is an insurance services company offering insurance to 'not for profit organisations'. This grant has also gone towards the extention of the TLT stock of lights. You can obtain details of the work done by Create by visiting www.create-charity.org.uk or obtain details of services offered by Finance Redirect at www.financeredirect.co.uk
In recent years, certain productions have made a real impact and earned several award wins or nominations. Last season’s shows have managed to pull this trick off once again. The thriller ‘Dead Guilty’, directed by Paul Ward and the pantomime ‘Robinson Crusoe and the Pirates’, directed by Ian Taylor earned a stunning total of 12 nominations between them, taking into account the Greater Manchester Drama Federation Awards (GMDF) in July and the Bolton Amateur Theatre Societies (BATS) Awards in September. Perhaps, the most astonishing fact is that those 12 nominations equals the highest amount of nominations that the society has ever earned in one season! Hats off then, to ‘Summer End’, directed by Jenny Whur, which also picked up a nomination at the BATS event, thereby providing TLT with a record-breaking year!
However, before we delve further into the mind-bending world of awards trivia, here’s the breakdown of award nominations and wins for our 2010/2011 season:
GREATER MANCHESTER DRAMA FEDERATION FULL LENGTH PLAY FESTIVAL
‘Dead Guilty’ - directed by Paul Ward
Joyce Elder – Best Supporting Actress - WINNER
Paul Ward – Best Director - WINNER
Lowry Trophy – Best Production Runner Up - WINNER
Karen Ward – Best Actress - RUNNER UP
Best Production - RUNNER UP
‘Robinson Crusoe & the Pirates’ – directed by Ian Taylor
Best Costume and Design Creation - WINNER
Rosie Hynes – Best Choreography - WINNER
Best Technical Presentation - RUNNER UP
Best Pantomime - RUNNER UP
BOLTON AMATEUR THEATRE SOCIETY AWARDS
‘Summer End’ - directed by Jenny Whur
Winnie Beatty – Best Actress in a Comedy - RUNNER UP
‘Dead Guilty’ – directed by Paul Ward
Karen Ward - Best Actress in a Drama - WINNER
Best Drama - RUNNER UP
‘Robinson Crusoe & the Pirates’ – directed by Ian Taylor
Best Pantomime - RUNNER UP
The nine GMDF nominations in one season is all the more amazing considering the fact that, for the third season in recent memory, one show was not eligible for adjudication due to the restructuring of the GMDF Awards format. Last season’s closing comedy ‘Come Blow Your Horn’ was the latest play to draw the short straw, following ‘After September’ in 2006 and ‘Good Old Summertime’ in 2009. The 2010 ‘Another Evening of One Act Plays’ missed out by being staged after the official closing date of the 2009/2010 festival competition.
It will come as no surprise to anyone who saw ‘Dead Guilty’ in March 2010 that both director and principal actresses have been acknowledged for their awesome efforts. Karen and Joyce have both previously been awarded Best Actress Runner Up Awards at the Bolton Amateur Theatre Society Awards, for ‘Sylvia’s Wedding’ (2006) and ‘Trap for a Lonely Man’ (2010) respectively, whilst the GMDF gave Paul a discretionary award for his directing of the thriller ‘House Guest’ back in 2005. It is fair to say that ‘Dead Guilty’ saw all three reach an incredible peak – sincere congratulations, guys!
The panto nominations show that, whilst director Ian Taylor manages to hold everything together, there is a wealth of talent and effort that make these Christmas shows such a success. The Technical nomination recognizes the efforts of those responsible for sound, lighting, special set/props construction and stage management. As such, much back-slapping should be bestowed upon the sound and lighting team of Andy Sutton and Paul & Jenny Whur, who really made the season’s show stand apart dramatically and atmospherically – never has a desert island looked and sounded better! Well done, also, to the stage management ‘guvnor’, Wallace Taylor and the master backcloth painter, Ken Berry. This talented and evergreen pair of organ grinders were ably supported by the following 'monkeys' (!): Val Betts, Tony Thompson, Ian Taylor, Alex Clarke, Paul Ward, Mark Sutcliffe, Ian Hunter, Andy Sutton and Lou Robinson.
For Costume Design & Creation (third nomination in four years!), our congratulations must go to costume gurus, Margaret Speakes, Hilda Taylor (with memorable additions from James O’Reilly and Jade Hurdus-Lodge) and make-up madam, Lisa Taylor.
Also, a massive heads up to the supremely talented dancer Rosie Hynes, who made this last year’s choreography so special. Brought in by her mate Shelley Tickle, who couldn’t take on the role of choreographer due to her landing the part of principal girl on stage, Rosie worked wonders with amateur young dancers…and her free-style solo dance routine was a thing of beauty.
The BATS Runner Up Award for Best Pantomime is of special note because it means that, since becoming eligible for consideration in 2003/04, TLT has collected 6 out of a potential 8 awards – Best Pantomime for 'Jack & Jill' (2003), ‘Red Riding Hood’ (2006), ‘Snow White’ (2008) and ‘Sleeping Beauty’ (2009) and Best Pantomime Runner Up for ‘Ali Baba’ (2007) and ‘Robinson Crusoe’ (2010).
The addition of Winnie Beatty as a Best Actress Runner Up for ‘Summer End’ is pleasing on two counts; it not only gives Winnie, a popular actress at Lemon Street for an amazing 33 years, her first acting nomination (very surprising, considering her talent) but also recognizes the success of Jenny Whur’s production of ‘Summer End’, a production that received a great reception back in February. This is the third of Jenny’s shows to receive nominations, the others being ‘Silhouette’ (2005) and ‘Third Week in August’ (2008).
Any final statistics? Well, ‘Dead Guilty’ now ties with ‘Adrian Mole’ for the top as our most nominated show, with 7 nominations. As far as wins go, it is top of the tree with an impressive 4. ‘Robinson Crusoe’ becomes our most nominated panto with 5 nominations and, going back to where we began (if you can remember that far back!), Tyldesley Little Theatre has enjoyed the record-breaking figure of 13 separate nominations for last season – not so unlucky for some!
Congratulations to each and every nominee and the theatre members who contributed in any way to helping yet more critical success come our way. As it stands, Tyldesley Little Theatre are the proud retainers of 103 award wins or nominations in all competitions since first being honoured in 1984!
Lemon Street
Tyldesley
Manchester
M29 8HT
Ticket Line: 01204 655619
Theatre: 01942 886908
(not continuously manned)