IT WAS a wonderful extravaganza at Freshwater Memorial Hall — the 100th production for Curtain Up Amateur Dramatic Group, and celebrating 70 years of our Queen being on the throne.
And what entertainment! Those were the days... Singing songs from across the years of Her Majesty's reign — from theatre musicals, and hits from stars like Shirley Bassey, and Tom Jones; sketches adapted from comedians like the Two Ronnies and John Cleese.
What a fantastic achievement for producer Cheryl May to put this show together with Freshwater's actors, singers and comedians to give us such a nostalgic trip down memory lane.
And what a talented cast. They had climbed every mountain, and heard the sound of silence!
Those were the days when decimalisation came into buying sweets. Ounces please? No, it's grams now!
We toodlepipped with two Freshwater 'Ronnies' with delightfully local twists to the lines, watched great choreography, heard poetry by Pam Ayres, and listened to guitars and singing that sounded like the ocean.
We watched an adapted Bake Off with 'Boris' as one of the contestants — he was never going to win!
And the whole audience was singing along to James Bond themes.
We remembered wearing those '60s clothes, and growing our hair long in the '70s!
Victoria Wood sang Let's Do it, and then we needed to get to the church on time, and pose for ordinary old cameras — flash, bang, wallop. What a picture! What a performance!
Musical expertise shone through from Bryan Rhodes-Smith, reminding me of people I knew over the years who could play a keyboard or piano to order.
'You hum it — I'll play it!' And Bryan's little rescue dog Missy sat at his feet, completely absorbed like us in the whole performance.
A fire consuming the group's sets and costumes recently might have been a setback, but no! Everyone had risen to the occasion.
No lack of costumes! No lack of inventive sets and super props! And definitely, some dedicated rehearsal work!
The huge Union flag behind the whole cast singing Rule Britannia had even been donated.
The Freshwater community came together. Amateur dramatics? A West Wight wonder! Definitely, an extravaganza jubilee performance!
To get involved in the group, email curtainup.publicity@gmail.com
House Rules
We do not moderate comments, but we expect readers to adhere to certain rules in the interests of open and accountable debate.
Read the rules here