March 2009
The Annual General Meeting of the Society will be held on Thursday 14th May commencing promptly at 7.15pm. The meeting will be held in our normal rehearsal venue in the Annexe to the United Reformed Church in Bradleigh Avenue. Whilst everyone is invited to attend, only the then currently fully paid up Members of the Society are entitled to vote on any matter requiring a formal decision.
In accordance with the Constitution, the following items will be on the Agenda.
• To receive and approve the Chairman’s report on the year.
• To receive and approve the audited accounts of the Society.
• To elect the Committee.
• To transact any other business, notice of which has been given to the Secretary at least seven days before the meeting. (Please put any such request in writing).
The existing make up of the Committee is as follows:
• Chairman Ken Baker
• Vice Chair Alan Flint
• Secretary Jeanie Flint
• Treasurer Suzanne Gunn
• Committee Members Rene Druett, Kate Pettit and Vera Adams (Vera was co-opted by the Committee on 5 January 2009 in accordance with Rule 5(b(ii)).
In January of this year when, following the sad death of Jose Webb, I was asked to take on, and accepted, the role of Chairman, I said that I would hope, subject to confirmation at the AGM, to take forward the existing Committee (as named above), for at least the next year to progress the matters that are already in hand for the 50th Anniversary of TOPS in 2010.
I will therefore be requesting the AGM to re-elect the existing Committee (as above) en-mass for a further term.
Nevertheless the Constitution allows for nominations and states:
All Committee members shall be Ordinary Members of the Society and shall be elected annually by the Ordinary Members at the Annual General Meeting of the Society.
Nomination slips are available from the Secretary of TOPS, if required.
NOW ON TO OTHER MATTERS
• Fiddler on the Roof. Thank you for bringing in the costumes that you have been asked to provide. In the main these were appropriate although some of you were asked to try and obtain or adapt certain pieces to make them more suitable. It was therefore a worthwhile exercise, but I have to say that I was not very encouraged by the attitude of a few who did not like being asked to put their costumes on again for a second look. At this stage in the production it seems a shame that I have to remind the few that the rehearsals are not a Social gathering but a place to work to bring everything together so that we can put on a show to be proud of. Perhaps some need to reflect on whether they wish to be included in future productions. There is a need to push ticket sales particularly for the opening night which is currently very poor Please make sure that you know from the rehearsal schedule the times of the remaining rehearsals and Costume Parade and also familiarise yourself with the schedule of requirements for your attendance in the Theatre.
• Road Crew Concert 6 June. Don’t forget that on 6th June the Essex Group “Road Crew” have kindly offered to perform a Concert for us in the Main Hall adjacent to the United Reformed Church in Bradleigh Avenue. Their intention is to donate the proceeds from this concert to TOPS funds, but it will only be successful if we sell the tickets which will soon be available at a cost of £5.00 each. The Road Crew are a very talented group of young performers and they will be presenting a whole range of songs from Musicals in this concert. We hope to sell about 200 tickets so please do what you can to sell tickets and to support this event which is after all for your benefit.
• Memorial Concert for Jose Webb 26 July. The Memorial Concert for Jose Webb will be entitled “Rose of England”.
Arrangements are now being finalised and it will be held on Sunday 26th July commencing at 3.00pm in the Thameside Theatre. The Committee have been busy developing a programme that will include a variety of songs, which were either performed by, or involved, Jose in Shows and Concerts over the years or are known to be among her favourites. The Concert will also include music, readings and other tributes to this remarkable Lady and will feature members from her “family” of TOPS and other friends who have been closely associated with us.
Rehearsals for this Concert will commence on the Thursday immediately following the production of FIDDLER and will then continue every Thursday, with the exception of Maundy Thursday, until the Memorial Concert.
The Committee will be selecting those to be asked to perform Solo and ensemble numbers and the overriding requirement throughout will be that this is to be a concert of QUALITY. Everyone involved will be expected to give this their full commitment. We are only too well aware that there has to be a limit on the number of items that can be included and indeed there will be some disappointments as not everyone who perhaps wants can be asked to perform a solo or take part in an ensemble number. I am therefore asking for everyone’s understanding and support for those involved in arranging this very special event.
Tickets will shortly be on sale and our thanks go again to Marion Hunting as she has confirmed that she will be happy to deal with the Society Box Office. The Thameside Theatre will also sell tickets for this Memorial Concert and I am aware that enquiries are already being received from a number of the organisations that Jose was involved with. Therefore please do not hesitate to put in your orders as soon as possible, because I know that it will be a sell-out event.
Tickets are £8.00 each and can be ordered from TOPS Society Box Office via Marion Hunting on 01375 675591 or by sending a stamped address envelope with a note of your requirements to Marion Hunting, 6 Lampits Hill, Corringham, SS17 9AN.
• Productions for next year - 2010. Next year marks TOPS 50th Anniversary and to celebrate that the Committee have decided to mark that by staging two productions. One in February (24th to 27th ) will be “The Chicago Mikado” our own unique version of Gilbert and Sullivan’s Operetta set in 1920’s America and in September (22nd to 25th) we will hopefully staging “Oklahoma”, but that is subject to confirmation of the necessary licence.
Ken Baker Chairman of TOPS
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