Operatic's Young 'Uns to perform Honk! next year

* Members of The Young 'Uns during their performance in the RAFA Club. 

LLANGOLLEN Operatic Society’s junior section, The Young ‘Uns, has announced that its next show will be the musical Honk!

With music by George Stiles and book and lyrics by Anthony Drewe, it is based on the story of The Ugly Duckling by Hans Christian Anderson.

The recipient of an Olivier Musical Award, this heart- warming show was first performed by The Young ‘Uns 13 years ago and members are now excited about reprising it with a new cast and crew. 

Producer Pamela Williams said: “We are all really looking forward to getting started with this show.

“It’s incredibly funny and is guaranteed to charm all who come to see it.

“We are actively looking for children aged 11-18 who would like to join in the fun, particularly boys, as some of previous members have now left us to move on to university.

“We currently have a waiting list for 6-10 year olds but anyone wishing to join should please still get in touch so we have your contact details for the future. 

“Similarly, we would love to hear from anyone, of any age, who might be interested in getting involved on the production side, designing and building the set, organising and making costumes or helping in some other capacity. It’s always great to get new faces on board.” 

Honk! will be performed at Llangollen Town Hall from February 4-6 next year.

Over the past five weeks, members of The Young ‘Uns production team, assisted by friends of the society, have run a series of workshops for children aged 6 to 11 years, with the aim of developing performance skills and building confidence.

The workshops included drama games, group story telling through mime, character development and singing and culminated with a performance of songs and more for family and friends on the evening of Monday July 13 at Llangollen RAFA Club. 

Every child was rewarded with a certificate for their teamwork and commitment.

The team involved in the workshops and performance included Pamela Williams, Dee Smith, Helen Belton and Alison Jarvis.

Adventure centre marks 10th anniversary

New buses out of Llan launched

The Welsh Liberal Democrats’ Young Person’s Concessionary Bus Fare scheme for 16, 17 and 18 year olds will be launched in September 2015, it has been announced today at the same time as new T3 buses linking Llangollen and Corwen to Barmouth are launched – a route saved by local campaigners.

 

From September nearly 3,500 young people in Denbighshire will receive a one-third discount on all of their journeys by bus, including the TrawsCymru network of longer-distance services.

 

In September 2014 the Welsh Liberal Democrats agreed to allow the Welsh Government’s annual budget to pass in exchange for funding for a range of key Welsh Liberal Democrat policies, including almost £15m for a Young Person’s Concessionary Bus Fare scheme.  The scheme will be available to 112,000 16-18 year olds in Wales.

 

North Wales’ Liberal Democrat Assembly Member Aled Roberts said: “We used our influence in the National Assembly to ensure young people will have their very own bus pass. 

 

"Because of the Welsh Liberal Democrats, people aged 16-18 will now have the help they need to take advantage of work and training opportunities on offer.

 

“In North Wales 24,363 16-18 year olds will be able to travel using discounted fares. Once again we have shown that a vote for the Welsh Liberal Democrats is a vote for Lib Dem polices to be put into practice.

 

“As always, we see today a Welsh Labour Government trying to claim credit for a policy they have been forced to implement. 

 

"Let us be in no doubt, this excellent scheme is only becoming a reality because of the Welsh Liberal Democrats.”

 

He added: “I would also like to welcome the new T3 buses – a route that was only saved as result of local campaigners collecting signatures for an Assembly petition when Arriva Buses had proposed that it be cut – a campaign that was supported by myself.”

Excellent prognosis for Eisteddfod says new chairman

 

* New Eisteddfod chairman, Dr Rhys Davies.

 

A doctor who's taken over the helm of the Llangollen International Eisteddfod says the prognosis for the future of the iconic festival is excellent.

 

Dr Rhys Davies was elected chairman at an extraordinary general meeting succeeding Gethin Davies who has stepped down after many years' service.

 

During this year's event a £70,000 appeal was launched to cover predicted losses due to disappointing ticket sales - and more than £40,000 has rolled in already.

 

Planning for next year's event is underway and classical singing sensation Katherine Jenkins has been announced as the headline star of the opening night when she will perform all the arias from the opera, Carmen.

 

Rhys, 59, a well-known local GP in Llangollen like his father before him until his recent retirement from daily practice, said: “In medical terms I’d say that the Eisteddfod is in recovery and the prognosis is excellent.

 

"We're very much looking forward to our 70th Eisteddfod next year and it's shaping up to being one of the best ever."

 

Born and bred in Llangollen where he still lives, Rhys says he has been coming to the annual festival every year since he was a “babe in arms”.

 

His late father, Dr Jack Davies, practised as a GP in the town for 30 years from 1955 and for many years the family home was just on the edge of the Eisteddfod field at Dolafon Villas, close to the old Cottage Hospital.

 

Rhys, who now lives with his family at Pentrefelin House since his parents passed on in the mid 1990s recalled: “We were so close to the field at Dolafon that we could just step out of our garden and into the Eisteddfod.

 

“From being a little boy I volunteered at the festival, as a messenger, programme seller, an usher and steward.

 

“University and my job took me away from the area for some years but I still returned each year for the Eisteddfod until I returned to live and work Llangollen in 1984 – eventually becoming senior partner at the local GP practice.

 

“In those days we used to provide medical cover for the festival but we haven’t done that for some time now.

 

“I became a member of the grounds committee and eventually its vice-chairman.

 

“Recently I was co-opted onto the board of the Eisteddfod and earlier this year I became vice-chairman.”

 

Rhys added: “I’m taking over as chairman from Gethin Davies following his retirement. Gethin has done an excellent job.

 

“With our well reported financial problems I know it’s not the easiest time to be coming in as chairman but I’m looking forward to the challenge.

 

“To ensure that Llangollen goes from strength to strength, I’ll be working very closely with our chief executive, our musical director, the standing board and, crucially, our small army of 800 volunteers without whom the Eisteddfod just couldn’t happen.

 

“We have a three-year plan and we will also be working with the Welsh Government and other organisations to obtain further financial support.

 

“The appeal we launched just before this year’s festival has already had a good response and we have lots of other ideas for raising money.

 

“The response we’ve had from our volunteers has also been amazing and very humbling for me.

 

"The announcement of Katherine Jenkins as the star of our opening night has caused a huge amount of excitement and tickets are selling like hot cakes - I'd advise anybody who wants to be there to buy their tickets as soon as possible."

 

Rhys, who is married to Ann, a nurse, and has a grown-up son and daughter, stressed that conditions under which the Eisteddfod had to operate were very different now to its early days almost 70 years ago.

 

He said: “Back in 1947 when the Eisteddfod was first held there wasn’t anything else like it.

 

“But over the years things have changed and we now face stiff competition from many other festivals in terms of attracting competitors, the very best performers from around the world and audiences. We need to market the festival afar, but also to potential audiences within an hour or so of Llangollen.

 

“However, we have to go in the face of that competition and continue to secure the future for what is a truly unique festival.

 

“I will be doing my very best to see that happens so that the magic of the Llangollen International Musical Eisteddfod lives on for many generations to come.”     

Red tape is "strangling" Fringe claims director

*Town Mayor, Councillor Mike Adams, cuts the tape to open this year's Fringe Festival.

A DIRECTOR of Llangollen Fringe claims council red tape is "strangling" the popular annual event.

Graham Timms says that despite the festival, currently in progress at various venues in the town, bringing £150,000 into the local economy, its success is being hampered by both the town and county councils.

And Graham Timms believes that without more support he does not see how it can survive.

The Fringe includes music, comedy, theatre, dance and workshops.

Over the past two decades big names who have taken part include Lesley Garrett, Rhys Ifans, The Damned, Cerys Matthews,  Tracey Emin, Damien Hirst, Juan Martin, John Cooper Clark and Will Self.

Mr Timms said: “Denbighshire County Council and Llangollen Town Council are strangling the Fringe Festival by their inflexible attitude and the rigid enforcement of minor bylaws.

“We always try to make the town feel special during the festival with street art, banners and posters, but this year we have been told by Denbighshire that we cannot  attach anything to their  - or is it our - street furniture.

“This led to the near invisibility of our promotion in the town in the previous week, whilst the international eisteddfod was held, and a resulting loss of ticket sales.

“We were told that signage on the approach roads had to be placed in less prominent positions and attached to trees instead of street furniture.  

“For the last few years, whilst our festival has been growing, signs have been attached to lamp posts to promote the Fringe Festival. I understand that regulations are necessary, but in this instance it is strangling the fringe.”

Mr Timms added: “We ordered hundreds of pounds worth of publicity and signage and Llangollen Town Council told us that nothing was permitted to be attached to the outside of the town hall because it is a listed building.

“We’ve wasted money on publicity that cannot be used and we’ve lost vital income as a result.

“After the first day of this year’s festival we were contacted by Llangollen Town Council to remove our professionally installed lighting in an exhibition in the town hall entrance and replace it with fluorescent lighting and be charged for the privilege.

“Even though the four directors of the not-for-profit festival are financially liable for any losses and I personally feel that we are risking too much as individuals without getting any flexibility from the town hall, who see us just as an income stream or the county council who have to employ enforcement officers to check we haven’t put any signs up.”

Mr Timms went on: “The Fringe brings £150,000 into Llangollen’s economy, according to formal events impact calculations submitted to the Arts Council of Wales. Unless we get more support, I cannot see how we can survive.

“In its 18^th year, the Fringe currently has the most ambitious and expensive programme ever.

“I urge local people to come and support the huge range of events that are on in the town to ensure the festival’s continued success.”

Clerk to Llangollen Town Council, Gareth Thomas, said: "It is correct that the Town Council doesn’t allow fixed banners on the Town Hall as it’s a listed building, and this has been a policy approved by the Town Council in consultation with the Town Hall Management Group and the Friends of Llangollen Town Hall since June 2014. 

"The purpose was to stop the proliferation of banners that were being fixed to above the front entrance of the Town Hall which were detracting from the appearance of the listed building.

"However, the Friends of Llangollen Town Hall are looking at a new system of vertical banners to identify the main entrance of the building that will be available to other users.  Given the status of the building these have to be designed appropriately and must not detract from the quality of the listed façade.

"This has not prevented the weekly Country Market, the Twenty Club, The Llangollen Operatic Society or The International Musical Eisteddfod from adequately promoting events in the Town Hall, it is simply a matter of using appropriate banners that do not require permanent fixings attached to the walls of the Town Hall.

 

"In respect of the comment, `After the first day of this year’s festival we were contacted by Llangollen Town Council to remove our professionally installed lighting in an exhibition in the town hall entrance and replace it with fluorescent lighting and be charged for the privilege,' this is not the case.

"Contact was made with the fringe as somebody had placed plastic film over the Town Hall lights in the foyer and under the upstairs balcony and had disconnected one set of lights.  Hirers should not interfere with the fixtures of the Town Hall and the initial thought was it had been done by the technical team of the fringe. 

 

"This however has proved to be wrong as the works were undertaken by another user associated with the Fringe, who has rectified the situation and has apologise for interfering with the Town Hall's fixtures and fittings.

"The Town Council clearly supports the Llangollen Fringe, but equally it has a responsibility to manage its assets to ensure that the fabric of the building is maintained to a high standard given the significance of the Town Hall, and its designation as a listed building, in the centre of the town’s retail area."

A Denbighshire County Council spokesperson said: "The council understands that the fringe festival is important for Llangollen, and we are therefore happy to work with the organisers on an agreed signing layout.   However, the council also has a duty to make sure that road users and pedestrians can use the highway safely, and we these two objectives can sometimes be in conflict with each other.
 
"We are keen to support community events like Llangollen Fringe. We recognise that running an event is a very complex process and we need to make sure we are providing easy to access, clear guidance on publicising events.  We have therefore set up a toolkit to help advise event organisers to make sure the advice and guidance is crystal clear for people."

Play gives insight into the lives of Llan's Ladies

 

 

* Caroline Anthonisz, left, and Paula Sutton as Eleanor Butler and Sarah Ponsonby.

 

A PLAY specially written for the town’s Fringe Festival provides a fascinating and thoughtful insight into the lives of the famous Ladies of Llangollen.

The one-hour drama, penned by Wrexham playwright Peter Read, was given added poignancy as it was performed earlier this evening in the open air within the grounds at Plas Newydd where the couple lived together for over 50 years.

The exact nature of the relationship of Sarah Ponsonby and Lady Elizabeth Butler is central to the piece.

Were they living together as “lovers” in the sense of the term we accept today, or were they simply two women who loved each other for companionship and out of mutual admiration – a meeting of minds rather than bodies?

Thankfully, to help preserve the question mark which has hung over them for the past couple of centuries, the truth of the matter isn’t explored too deeply.

Instead, we see the frantic flight of this aristocratic duo from their native Ireland – where perhaps loveless marriages and a life of strict conventionality awaited them – to the Vale of Llangollen where their idyll was frequently buffeted by a lack of funds, untrustworthy servants and spats with the neighbours.

It is a credit to Peter Read’s dramatic abilities and a talented eight-strong cast that a decent-sized audience got a real flavour of what life was like for this rather odd couple.

Caroline Anthonisz and Paula Sutton were highly believable as Butler and Ponsonby respectively.

The fictitious modern-day couple – a playwright called James and a writer of coffee table books called Anna visiting Plas Newydd for research purposes - whom the author uses a device to tell the tale, are thoughtfully played by Joe Scatley and Megan Wroe.

And there are some neat cameos in various supporting from David Edgar, Andrew Welsh, Lizzie Clifford and John Clifford.

Sarah and Eleanor the Play will be performed again at Plas Newydd tomorrow (Wednesday) at 7pm.

* For tickets, see the Llangollen Fringe website at www.llangollenfringe.co.uk, or get them at the Fringe desk at the entrance to the Town Hall, or at Plas Newydd on the night.

 

Operatic's next show will be The Producers

* Producer Tracey Rawlinson, right, presents the John Evans Memorial Trophy to Elen-Haf Taylor.

Fresh from its recent success with Sister Act, Llangollen Operatic Society has announced that its 2016 production will be the internationally acclaimed musical The Producers by Mel Brooks.  

 

Originally a film starring Gene Wilder, the show first opened on Broadway in 2001 and has since won a staggering 12 Tony Awards in addition to three Olivier Awards.

 

It is currently on a UK national tour with the comedian Jason Manford playing the principal role of Leo Bloom and Ross Noble as Franz Liebkind. 

 

The show will be produced by Tracey Rawlinson, assisted by her daughter Alix Rawlinson, who has just graduated in drama and theatre studies from Aberystwyth University.

 

Elen Mair Roberts will once again take the helm as musical director and society stalwart Nia Pickering will make her debut as artistic director.  

 

Tracey said: “In the same vein as Sister Act, The Producers is quite unlike anything we have staged before.

 

"It will be a challenge but Elen, Nia and I have every confidence that the cast and crew will rise to the occasion as they always do and put on a unique and unforgettable production that our audiences will absolutely love.  

 

“The show has everything; it’s vibrant, outrageous, risqué and will have you aching with laughter. We really can’t wait."  

 

The production will run from April 12-16 next year, with a matinee performance on Saturday, April 16.

  

As ever, the group is keen to welcome new members for roles both on stage and off. In particular, they would like to hear from any men who are interested in joining as this show has a significant male cast.  

 

The new season will start with a musical theatre-themed get together on Saturday, September 5 in Llangollen’s RAFA club.

 

There will be a bar, nibbles, an opportunity to get the vocal chords working with karaoke and for potential or returning members to meet and chat with some of the current membership.  

 

Rehearsals will then start in earnest on Tuesday, September 8, at 7.30pm in the studio off Castle Street. 

 

If you would like to like to get involved or would like more information, contact Tracey on 07875639533/traceyrawlinson@btinternet.com or Nia 07766800272/ nia_heavens@hotmail.com   

 

* The society recently held its annual general meeting during which the winners of its 2015 awards were announced.

 

The John Evans Memorial Trophy, which is judged by an independent adjudicator and presented to the member who is deemed to have given the best all round performance in the annual production, was awarded to Elen-Haf Taylor for her spectacular performance as Deloris van Cartier in the society's recent production of Sister Act.  

 

 

 

* Paul Gay, left, presents the Diana Gay Rose Bowl to Tracey Rawlinson. 

 

Elen-Haf is leaving the society to pursue a degree course at the Liverpool Institute of Performing Arts.

 

Recipient of the Diana Gay Rose Bowl, which is presented by Paul Gay in memory of his late wife, who was the society’s wardrobe mistress for a number of years, was Tracey Rawlinson.

 

This award is voted for by the membership and is presented to the member who is considered to have done the most for the society over the year.

 

Having not only produced but also directed Sister Act as well as doing so much more, Tracey was the unanimous choice for this award.