The award-winning cast of
Lisnagarvey Operatic Society's1995 production of
Pirates of Penzance, which won the AIMS awards
for Best Chorus , Best Female Voice and Best
Supporting Actress.
THE award winning Lisnagarvey Operatic
Society will mark its Golden Jubilee with a production of Cole
Porter's shipboard musical Anything Goes' in the Island Arts
Centre next week.
Apart from the title track this classic show
written in the 1930's features a number of songs which are
instantly recognisable including 'It's de lovely' and 'You're
the Top'.
It tells the story of Billy Crocker, a young
Wall Street broker who stows away on a liner in a bid to win the
heart of his beloved Hope Harcourt.
The musical will run from Tuesday (April 24)
to Saturday (April 28) and is just the latest in a long line of
challenging productions staged since the foundation of the
current society from the nucleus of the then Lisnagarvey Male
Voice Choir in 1957.
These include shows such as 'The Merry Widow', 'Calamity
Jane', 'Pirates of Penzance', 'Brigadoon' and 'Hello Dolly'.
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Cole Porters classic musical comedy
"Anything Goes" being performed by Lisnagarvey
Operatic Society including Claire Campbell (Angel),
Gillian Algie as Bonnie, Louise Lemon (Angel), Dawn
Patton as Reno, and Katie Pielou (Angel)
US1407-406PM Pic by Paul Murphy |
Some of the cast from Lisnagarvey
Operatic Society's 2004 production of Me and My
Girl. |
However, Lisnagarvey's roots stretch back
much further than 1957.
A local society was founded in 1928 - even
before Cole Porter first wrote of that by now famous 'glimpse of
stocking looked on as something shocking'.
This group put on mainly Gilbert & Sullivan
productions until its activities were suspended due to the
Second World War.
Established
For more than 20 years after 1957 rehearsal
locations included Wallace High School, The Lombard Caf� and the
Assembly Rooms before a rehearsal base was established at
Dalboyne Court on Belsize Road in the early 1980's, in premises
kindly provided by the late Mr. Leslie Boyle and his wife Mrs.
Norah Boyle both long time members, patrons and vice-presidents
of the Society.
In 2004 the Society purchased the property
from Mrs. Boyle and carried out an extensive refurbishment
which, when completed was officially opened by Mrs. Boyle on
September 30, 2005.
Main productions were per formed in the Orange
Hall until the early 1970s when they transferred to Lisburn
Technical College.
In 1991 the company moved to the Arts Theatre
where it remained until the venue closed in 1998.
The next few shows were staged in Laurelhill
Community College and it is now hoped the Civic Centre, which
opened in 2001, will provide a permanent theatre facility.
The Society has frequently participated in
the Northern Ireland and Waterford Festivals of Light Opera and
the Association of Irish Musical Societies (AIMS) award scheme
taking prizes for individual and group performances.
In addition to its main productions the
Society and the Youth Society, formed in the early 1980s, have
engaged in a busy programme of concerts to raise many thousands
of pounds for a variety of charitable organisations.
"The Society is in great heart and is
vibrant, healthy and successful. This show is a fine tribute to
all those who over the years have assisted the Society in so
many different ways," said a spokesperson.
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The first
Lisnagarvey Operatic pantomime was Dick Whittington,
staged in Lisburn Orange Hall in 1972. |
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Lisnagarvey Operatic Society won Best
Show in the Northern Ireland Festival of Light Opera
in 1979 with their production of The Gondoliers. |
