St Michael's Church, Bugle Street, Southampton
onWednesday 9th to Friday 11th December 2009
The Maskers had presented their annual Christmas show in The Tudor Merchant's Hall, Southampton for the previous fifteen years, but that venue was being refurbished by the City Council and we had to find another venue for our 2009 Christmas Show. We were fortunate to have the offer of using St Michael's Church this year and we welcomed the challenge of a new and novel venue.
The show was highly successful and played to large appreciative audiences every night. Presenting the show in the Church was a major challenge to the Masker's technical staff, the building was not designed to accommodate modern theatre lighting, and the acoustic made it very difficult to design the kind of high quality sound system the Maskers technical staff and their audiences have come to expect. However, the sound and lighting designers did achieve the standard they wanted and the technical aspects of the production gave a very high standard of support to the players.
The church was founded in 1070 and has undergone many alterations over the following centuries. The 15th century wooden spire was replaced in 1732 by a stonework one having a height of 165 ft, it remains one of the major landmarks of the City to this day. In the 1960's the entire church was restored at a total cost of £36,000, with the work being completed in time for the church's 900th anniversary in 1970.
Director's Thoughts
Christmas is very special to all our family, thanks to my parents who always managed to make this the most magical time of the year when we were growing up.
Three generations and four great-grandchildren later, we are all still enjoying the same Christmas magic.
I hope tonight we can share this with you.
Jan Spiers (Director)
| The Players |
| Andy Burrows |
| Sheana Carrington |
| David Collis |
| Philip de Grouchy |
| Gina Marchant |
| Janey Miller |
| Ken Spencer |
| Alan Watson |
| The Singers |
| Rebecca McLaughlin |
| Jack White |
| Guest Appearances with thanks to |
| Amanda Barnes-Andrew with children from years 5 and 6 at St Monica Junior School Choir. |
| Elizabeth Cole choreographed by Tori Caine and Marie Williams from the Tori Caine School of Dance, St Peter's Church Hall, Maybush, Southampton |
| Ballroom sequence with Kirsty Sahota and Lewis Handley-Greaves from The Leigh Ballroom, 79 Leigh Road, Eastleigh. |
| For the Maskers | |
| Stage Manager | Karen Shortland |
| Production Manager | Rob Spiers |
| Sound Designer | Geoff Grandy |
| Lighting Designer | Jamie McCarthy |
| Marketing | Angela Stansbridge |
| Front of House | Peter Hill and Maskers |
| Catering | Jackie Gardner, Gill Buchanan and Maskers |
| Photography | Clive Weeks |
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