Copyright 1980-2010
The Wychwood
It’s Maud’s birthday soon and Fred is taking her to listen to Voice Box, the wonderful local singers. Voice Box was formed in 2004; Maud loved their first production Summer Pudding. A glass of bubbly made the evening and helped her fizz as she hummed along happily to music from opera to jazz. Speaking of which, Fred didn’t half fancy Sheena from the Sheena Davis Group when the New Beaconsfield Hall was turned into a jazz club for the evening, with candlelit tables and subdued lighting creating a seductive atmosphere for an outstanding performance.
Making a Song and Dance
Thinking of the excellent facilities of the new Hall, Fred casts his mind back to the final concert on Nov 7th 1998 of the Wychwood Singers which brought to an end their 14 successful years as a community choir. Believe it or not there were 51 singers and two conductors on their last night! It could have been a sad occasion, as the message was clear; “We wish you all a last goodbye!”, was sung at least twice and in the final chorus the men sang “We go, we go, we go” ad infinitum. But a happy evening was enjoyed by a full house, for many their first introduction to the new hall.
Now we have the Roseneath School of Music Summer Concert and then The Cotswolds Children’s Choir was set up more than ten years ago, to provide local children with the opportunity to sing and develop performance skills.
Ooh You Make a lovely Mabel!
“Just like me,” laughed Fred who was about as musical as a cat with a sore throat. He had greatly enjoyed Bob Forster’s fun articles in 2005 where Bob described himself as “One Arpeggio Short of an Octave” and recalled being cast, because of his angelic looks at age 11, as Mabel, the leading soprano in the Pirates of Penzance, “Ears well pinned by a blond wig and body engulfed in a voluminous pink frock.”
Fred can’t abide opera, “All those large fat ladies singing love arias to tiny scared men.” Little does he know what he has been missing, for opera has been coming to the Wychwoods since 2004 when La Bohème was performed as part of Opera Soufflé. Our reviewer wrote; “Opera Soufflé is such an apt name and these two dishes are worthy of a place on any gourmet’s ideal menu: they are light and fluffy but immensely satisfying. Bravo!”
If Fred had only checked out the Darling Divas, he might have changed his mind about opera singers!
Dance With You Baby?
Miranda adores Strictly Come Dancing and has been brushing up her tango dancing every Monday night in Milton Village Hall. There’s ballroom, Latin American, and line dancing. Miranda’s current boyfriend Jason, thinks she is a nice little mover, but the Folk Nights in the Tiddy Hall, are more his thing. There have been some fabulous acts since the evenings were resurrected in 1996, in memory of John Townsend and they have raised over £8,000 for Tiddy Hall funds.
Miranda and Jason love films and can’t always afford to go into Oxford. Since May 2005 Flix in the Stix has shown 60 films in the three Wychwood villages, attracting total audiences of 3,123. One of the greatest successes was The Queen when the audience just kept coming until there were about 112 and the “House Full” sign had to go up! Other big successes were Atonement along with David Trollope’s The Wychwoods in Flood DVD. Flix is now part of Movies on the Move, run by Chipping Norton Theatre, showing films bi-monthly.
Wychwood Art and Crafts
Maud remembers Helen Chapman’s paintings and drawings in 1996 and now loves ARTWEEK, started in 1995 when a group of arts and crafts people decided to open their doors to the public. It is now one of the most important events of its kind. In 2003, Jan Harvey set up an art appreciation group which is still going strong. One of the group's projects was The BIG Weekend of Art in 2005 when twenty five local artists displayed paintings and sculptures to almost 1,000 visitors. The same year saw the birth of Idbury Arts Festival, to raise funds for the survival of St Nicholas. Not to mention art classes at the hall, children’s poems, bobbin lace making!
The Secret of Great Theatre
Miranda loves theatre. Jason says she is just as pretty as some of the movie stars and she would like to audition soon for The Wychwood Players. They have a great reputation locally. The group was formed in January 1997 to promote the dramatic arts and have fun while doing it! The idea came from the highly successful run of nine pantomimes put on by the WI. John Drew, writing in December 2001 remembers the rehearsals in Hartley’s barn; “When the chilling temperature was transformed by the warmth of the group.” The first production in the new Hall was Shaw’s The Devil’s Disciple, an ambitious choice. The first panto there, written by John, was The Family Robinson Cruis, Oh. Michael Craddock (aged 10) expertly reviewed Sleeping Beauty and the Beast concluding; “All the characters were over the top, just how a good panto should be. I particularly liked the Good Fairy and the Bad Fairy.”
Of Toe-
In her review of Frankenstein the Monster Musical in 2006, Trudy Yates mentions the various sacrifices that were made so that the show could go on including; one lost toe-nail, thankfully preserved for posterity; two lost voices due to laryngitis, one septic toe and one very nearly broken and severely swollen arm. Miranda loves the
Making a Song and Dance
Thinking of the excellent facilities of the new Hall, Fred casts his mind back to the final concert on Nov 7th 1998 of the Wychwood Singers which brought to an end their 14 successful years as a community choir. Believe it or not there were 51 singers and two conductors on their last night! It could have been a sad occasion, as the message was clear; “We wish you all a last goodbye!”, was sung at least twice and in the final chorus the men sang “We go, we go, we go” ad infinitum. But a happy evening was enjoyed by a full house, for many their first introduction to the new hall.
Now we have the Roseneath School of Music Summer Concert and then The Cotswolds Children’s Choir was set up more than ten years ago, to provide local children with the opportunity to sing and develop performance skills.
Ooh You Make a lovely Mabel!
“Just like me,” laughed Fred who was about as musical as a cat with a sore throat. He had greatly enjoyed Bob Forster’s fun articles in 2005 where Bob described himself as “One Arpeggio Short of an Octave” and recalled being cast, because of his angelic looks at age 11, as Mabel, the leading soprano in the Pirates of Penzance, “Ears well pinned by a blond wig and body engulfed in a voluminous pink frock.”
Fred can’t abide opera, “All those large fat ladies singing love arias to tiny scared men.” Little does he know what he has been missing, for opera has been coming to the Wychwoods since 2004 when La Bohème was performed as part of Opera Soufflé. Our reviewer wrote; “Opera Soufflé is such an apt name and these two dishes are worthy of a place on any gourmet’s ideal menu: they are light and fluffy but immensely satisfying. Bravo!”
If Fred had only checked out the Darling Divas, he might have changed his mind about opera singers!
Dance With You Baby?
Miranda adores Strictly Come Dancing and has been brushing up her tango dancing every Monday night in Milton Village Hall. There’s ballroom, Latin American, and line dancing. Miranda’s current boyfriend Jason, thinks she is a nice little mover, but the Folk Nights in the Tiddy Hall, are more his thing. There have been some fabulous acts since the evenings were resurrected in 1996, in memory of John Townsend and they have raised over £8,000 for Tiddy Hall funds.
Miranda and Jason love films and can’t always afford to go into Oxford. Since May 2005 Flix in the Stix has shown 60 films in the three Wychwood villages, attracting total audiences of 3,123. One of the greatest successes was The Queen when the audience just kept coming until there were about 112 and the “House Full” sign had to go up! Other big successes were Atonement along with David Trollope’s The Wychwoods in Flood DVD. Flix is now part of Movies on the Move, run by Chipping Norton Theatre, showing films bi-
Wychwood Art and Crafts
Maud remembers Helen Chapman’s paintings and drawings in 1996 and now loves ARTWEEK, started in 1995 when a group of arts and crafts people decided to open their doors to the public. It is now one of the most important events of its kind. In 2003, Jan Harvey set up an art appreciation group which is still going strong. One of the group's projects was The BIG Weekend of Art in 2005 when twenty five local artists displayed paintings and sculptures to almost 1,000 visitors. The same year saw the birth of Idbury Arts Festival, to raise funds for the survival of St Nicholas. Not to mention art classes at the hall, children’s poems, bobbin lace making!
The Secret of Great Theatre
Miranda loves theatre. Jason says she is just as pretty as some of the movie stars and she would like to audition soon for The Wychwood Players. They have a great reputation locally. The group was formed in January 1997 to promote the dramatic arts and have fun while doing it! The idea came from the highly successful run of nine pantomimes put on by the WI. John Drew, writing in December 2001 remembers the rehearsals in Hartley’s barn; “When the chilling temperature was transformed by the warmth of the group.” The first production in the new Hall was Shaw’s The Devil’s Disciple, an ambitious choice. The first panto there, written by John, was The Family Robinson Cruis, Oh. Michael Craddock (aged 10) expertly reviewed Sleeping Beauty and the Beast concluding; “All the characters were over the top, just how a good panto should be. I particularly liked the Good Fairy and the Bad Fairy.”
Of Toe-
In her review of Frankenstein the Monster Musical in 2006, Trudy Yates mentions the various sacrifices that were made so that the show could go on including; one lost toe-
The Wychwood Social Whirl
Art and Entertainment Galore in the
