ANNUAL QUIZ NIGHT
Saturday 16th October 2010
The fourth annual Harlequin Quiz night on 16th October at Brewood Cricket Club again featured challenging questions set & marked by Frank & Chris Clarke(see photo). The questions were read out by Paul Bowman. Suitable humility was shown by the question masters when popular protest caused a change of mind about telephone codes for Manchester & Liverpool!
The nine teams formed from some of our youngest members (‘The Beansprouts’ – see photo) together with our most mature (‘The Pheasant Pluckers’ and the ‘Music Maestro Please’ teams) strained little grey cells to come up with the right answers as well as the best round (of 11) in which to play their double points ‘joker’.
The half time interval allowed the forty or so members & friends to devour the cold buffet whilst also indulging in a round of a stand-up (sit-down?) bingo competition. This was won by Ian Clarke from the ‘Dim Wits’ team (see photo).
After refreshments, battle recommenced with a neck & neck competition developing between several teams. In the end, the ‘Pheasant Pluckers’ team of Jan & Andy Cole with Mark & Claire Leadbetter (see photo) pipped the other teams with 107 points with the ‘Stalkers’ team scoring 98 coming second. The wooden spoon prize or should that be the Jaffa cake® prize went to the youthful ‘Unbelievable Tekkers’ team of Emily Stringfellow, Jenny Timmins, Claire & Vicky Holbrey who received their prizes from Frank Clarke (see photo) and scored a miserable 57!
(Please click on image to enlarge)
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AUDITION WORKSHOP
Wednesday 30th June 2010
Please click here to see pictures
AMAZING... FABULOUS... EXCELLENT!!!
All of these were uttered at the Audition Workshop on Wednesday 30th June at Bilbrook scout hut.
Jan Cole and Ian Jones put together an evening aimed at giving cast members a better chance of
gaining principle roles by giving better auditions.
Well, as Brucie might say, 'Didn't they do well'... EVERY member who attended entered into the
spirit of the evening and helped to create a very relaxed atmosphere. This allowed some of our more shy
members to really 'Step up to the mike'.
Jan began proceedings with an Icebreaker of Human Machines. This allowed all concerned to ease into the evening
gently. The group was then split into 4 for the Song and Dance section. It was decided to give those members not
used to playing principle roles the opportunity to have their moment in the spotlight. Holly Stringfellow and Anna Hirst
took their groups of Chorus upstairs to learn their sections. Jan then drilled the 2 remaining groups of principles downstairs.
Under the Musical direction of Will Joy the groups came together to give their rendition of 'Be back soon' from Oliver.
Jan and Ian then treated us (well not quite) to their interpretation of how an audition should and shouldn't be done. Could you
tell the difference? Well just about!
After the break (thanks Chris Clarke) the real fun started!!. All those attending had been asked to learn Humpty Dumpty before
they came. All sounds too simple? Well, everyone was issued with a slip of paper with a Style or character on. They then had to perform
Humpty Dumpty in that style. That's where the expletives... AMAZING... FABULOUS.. EXCELLENT were uttered. EVERYONE put their all
into their performances. Marcus was a wonderful Camp Humpty, Rachael Evans was suitably OTT, James a far too realistic Drunk and Ellie
a diva like Opera singer. These are to name just a few of the brilliant performances. Everyone exceeded our expectations.
All in all it was a thoroughly enjoyable and entertaining evening. Everyone went away with a new found enthusiasm for the auditions.
Thanks to all who helped and a big thank you to those who attended and made the evening a great success.
**** Look out for the dates for the Drama Workshop in the New Year ****
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ANNUAL SUMMER BBQ
Sunday 27th June 2010
Please click here to see pictures
Some 50 or so Harlequin members, friends & family gathered in glorious sunshine at the Chairman’s summer residence to enjoy the flame grilled delicacies by our Chef-in-Residence, Chris Martin. As it was most people spent the afternoon under cover (gazebos erected the day before by the Back stage boys)! This year circumstances would have it that this long planned Harlequin social event just happened to coincide with a certain World Cup 2010 football match which perhaps, unsurprisingly, most of the men-folk were NOT going to miss. The Chairman and backstage boys had managed to arrange for a TV in the garden and it was standing room only as kick off approached!
With the consumption of the odd can of Carling™ or bottle of Fox’s Knob®, an air of optimism fell upon the excited crowd. An early goal by the team in red (England) did nothing to quell the excitement. By half-time when further refreshments were taken & the raffle (organised as always by one Chris Clarke with prizes mostly won by Harlequin Committee members eliciting shouts of “fix” by some) had been drawn, the clouds of doomed inevitability were starting to gather. When the referee didn’t give a second England goal, there were howls of protest especially from a certain Treasurer! It took several minutes, a few gulps of amber nectar & pleas from his daughter before he would sit down! After the team in white (Germany) had scored their second goal, some had seen enough & slunk off to join the ladies. Meanwhile the younger people had already got into garden games, particularly a rather sand-free version of the French game, boules!
Inevitably, some would say, England lost. This rather dampened most of the male contingents’ enthusiasm but many stayed on for sometime to relax & chat in the warm late afternoon summer sunshine. Another successful social event for Harlequin Pantomime. Keep a watch on the website for the next such event. Have a good summer break!
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SUMMER DECADES PARTY
Friday 25th June 2010
Please click here to see pictures
Well the clock was turned back to the sixties, seventies and eighties for a summer get together of the Harlequinites. Around 60 plus turned up to enjoy a hot summers evening in downtown Codsall at the now familiar Codsall conservative club. Almost everyone had dressed for the occasion ranging from hippies to Michael Jackson wannabies, even our illustrious lighting engineer had squeezed into his old seventies apparel. The time raced by and before we knew it Madame Producer had everyone running about trying to acquire various objects or such like to win a spot prize everyone seemed to enjoy the furore of it all anyway. Then it was time for some sustenance from the buffet adequately provided by the committee, thanks to all involved again for a resplendent feast. Back to the dancing once again and after a while it was over to the honourable Lady President to judge the fancy dress, adult winner was Scott Freeman for his 'Bad' impression of Jacko , junior winner was Luke Bennett’s brother for his Elvis costume, then as soon as it had begun it was time to wend our way home after another successful Harlequin night out. Thank you to all who supported the event.
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THE 2010 HARLEQUIN TREASURE HUNT
Sunday 16th May 2010
This year the annual Harlequin Treasure Hunt, organised by Jan & Andy Cole took place on Sunday 16th May. It was blessed with glorious spring sunshine despite the adverse forecast! Around 30 Harlequin members, their family & friends took to the highways of Staffordshire, Shropshire & even as far south as Worcestershire. Having started out shortly after 9 o’clock, the next two hours had people scurrying around the leafy lanes peering into gardens, counting garage doors, acorns and developing a curious interest in all things to do with drains and their coverings! What the visitors and staff of the Severn Valley Country Park, Upper Alveley thought when a noisy group with clip boards & pens descended into the visitor centre, is anyone’s guess, though the lady who had just varnished the tables (still wet) did well not to blow a fuse I guess! Though this wasn’t the coffee stop, it did at least give one Harlequin member a quick steam fix as you can see the Severn Valley Railway from there! From here we quickly found our way to Arley Arboretum for coffee and /or cream tea! Suitably refreshed the intrepid treasure hunters hit the road for a further few hours, including a couple, wandering (aimlessly some would think) around the centre of Wombourne where, as is becoming customary, everyone was encouraged to take a more than passing interest in the dead of the area (looking at grave headstones)! As the afternoon sun began to lose some of its’ heat, everyone headed off to the Wagon & Horses pub in Wombourne for further refreshment & nourishment though it has to be said some were, by four o’clock, much keener to get there than they were in getting as many answers as possible in Wombourne!
After everyone had had their fill (see photos), Jan made the presentations in what turned out to be a tightly contested result with less than 10 points covering the first four teams. (See photo – is the Hon. Secretary accusing others of cheating?)
The second place team were the Cam Cleggs (Ian Jones, Angie & Richard Bourne; see photo - though what Angie Bourne was thinking about when the photo was taken, is anyone’s guess) and first place was awarded to the Muscomians (David Walters, Kimberley Robinson, Holly Stringfellow & Ben Vaughan - see photo).
See you all next year!
(Please click on image to enlarge)
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HARLEQUIN MOROCCAN WEEKEND AWAY
Friday 19th - Sunday 21st February 2010
Please click here to see pictures
An intrepid band of twelve Harlequin brothers (& sisters) headed off on Friday 19th February into the dark and damp Welsh mountains, actually just on the English (wrong?) side of the river Wye, to shut themselves away in a former religious retreat (really …. it wasn’t a hospital for the insane) for a weekend of reflective contemplation & meditation (see photo) about the Mother Goose week of shows. Cut off from the outside world in a house, with no phone reception and a two mile walk up the side of a steep valley to the nearest sign of civilization (the pub), it was an ordeal that most fellow Harlequin members (especially the younger ones used to mobile phones & instant TXTin) would do anything to avoid. However, those gallant few felt that it was their bounden duty to undertake this task!
On the Friday night, when Mr Jones (not a Welsh one) who was the key holder for the weekend, let everyone out to get some food at the pub (up the hill), it was felt necessary for everyone’s safety to put The Treasurer and, especially, his wife under house arrest for a while after they had spent too much time together in their bedroom (apparently getting changed)!
With so many men & women under one roof it was no surprise to receive reports on Saturday morning of nocturnal wall shaking – not what you think; it was loud snoring! After a fine breakfast (see photo) everyone was allowed out to visit some of the local attractions (no, not Charlotte Church) like Monmouth & Raglan Castle (see photo). However everyone was under curfew to be back at the retreat for sundown. After this an amazing transformation took place and everyone reappeared dressed as they thought indigenous Moroccan people might attire themselves! (See pictures – can you tell who is wearing the luminous pink underwear?) A Sumptuous meal of meatballs, lamb tagine & Mediterranean vegetables together with some dubious cocktails (spot the radioactive green one in the photos) was followed by a number of games which involved a certain amount of running around, hiding things, making fools of one selves & spinning a mini-roulette wheel! Yours might not be the only mind was indeed boggling!
A very late Sunday morning was had by all with some more leisure activities in the afternoon and a return to normal dress code! The last of the inmates hung onto the surreal atmosphere of the retreat until Monday morning before being drawn back to the real world of Wolverhampton and so ended another great Harlequin escape weekend. Watch out for next years’ school camp as there are very limited places for adults only!!
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HARLEQUIN AFTER SHOW PARTY & AWARDS EVENING
Saturday 6th February 2010
The after show party & Harlequin Awards night was held again in Codsall and was attended by over 90 Harlequin members, their family & friends. After an hour or so of everyone catching up with one another since the show, our Chairman, Paul Bowman, presided over the Awards ceremony. The awards which were presented by the Harlequin Pantomime President, Mrs Olwen Rowley, included the NODA awards as well as the Harlequin Pantomime Awards.
Please click here to see list of the awards and winners
After the Awards everyone tucked into the wonderful buffet. Fortunately there followed a great light & sound disco with which (mainly) the youngsters (& young at heart) could burn off a few calories though not everyone had any energy for gyrations, having had to fit in a foreign holiday since the show ended!!
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Click here to see News items from 2009
