Operatic is hothouse for young stage talent

* From left, Joanna Stallard, George Nelson, Laura Halliwell and Danielle Short.
  

LLANGOLLEN  Operatic Society has become a real hot-house for nurturing new theatrical talent.

A host of young members, past and present, have either already embarked on stage careers or are planning a future in the performing arts.

A magnificent seven rising young stars are appearing in the society’s latest production, the Cole Porter evergreen Anything Goes, which hits the stage for a five-night run at Llangollen Town Hall on Tuesday, April 16.

They are all studying performing arts at A Level or aiming to take the subject next year.

Laura Halliwell, who joined the society this year, is studying IT at Yale College in Wrexham but is applying to do the BTEC in Performing Arts next year.

Luke Meyers, who also joined the society this year, is studying for the BTEC in Performing Arts at Yale and aiming to go on to take the same subject at university next year.

He was part of the chorus in the debut of new musical entitled Ruby and the 13th Door performed by The Magical Opera Company in York last December.

Luke also performed with the Llangollen 20 Club in its recent production of Fawlty Towers.

 
Appearing alongside Luke in York was another Llangollen newcomer George Nelson who is also studying for the BTEC in Performing Arts at Yale.

George is looking to get some acting work next year before deciding whether to go on to further study.

Elysha Cookson, who was previously part of Llangollen’s junior stage group,  the Young ‘Uns, is currently studying for A Levels including drama at Ysgol Dinas Bran and hoping to go on to study it at Warwick University next year.

Joanna Stallard, who also cut her dramatic teeth in the Young ‘Uns, is taking A Levels including drama at Dinas Bran this year and also considering it as a possibility for university in two years.

Danielle Short is studying A Level Drama at Dinas Bran and hoping to go on to study Theatre at Derby University next year.

Aaron Davies has landed a place at the prestigious Central School of Speech and Drama in London to study Muscial Theatre next year.

He recently appeared in Llangollen 20 Club’s production of The Glass Menagerie.

Among the former society members who have moved on to become professional performers is Matthew Quinn who gained a first class degree in Performing Arts at the Liverpool Institute for Performing Arts and is currently playing Mike in new musical Carnaby Street after appearing in a number of professional productions such as Dreamboats and Petticoats and The Rocky Horror Show.

Ceri-Lyn Cissone moved on from Llangollen Operatic Society to appear in the Merry Wives of Windsor at Shakespeare’s Globe Theatre.  

A fine singer, she has also featured as a soloist in A Night of 1000 Voices at the Royal Albert Hall in London.  

Chrissie Ashworth, who is producing the society’s production of Anything Goes later this month, said: “Our society is a real hothouse for bringing on top-class stage talent of the future. 

“Many of our past young members have gone on to carve out professional careers for themselves and some of the large number of youngsters we have with us at the moment look set to do the same thing. 

“It’s fantastic to think that an initial grounding with the society has produced so many potential stars of tomorrow.” 

Tickets for Anything Goes, priced at £9 and £7.50 concessions, are available from Llangollen Tourist Information Centre, or Gwyn's the Butchers in Castle Street.  

Latest North Wales crime figures released

Latest figures show that North Wales Police is succeeding in making the region safer with significant reductions being made in a number of key crimes.

 

Figures for the end of the 2012-13 performance year show that:

 

·         Victim based crime is down 11.6%, with 4,381 fewer victims.

·         Violence with injury is down 7%, with 314 fewer victims.

·         Violence without injury is down 5%, with 217 fewer  victims.

·         Domestic burglary is down 16.2%, with a reduction of 304 victims.

·         Burglary other than dwelling is down 14.3%, with a reduction of 502 victims.

·         Robbery is down 8.8%, with 14 less victims.

·         Vehicle theft is down 17.3%, a reduction of 123 victims.

·         Anti Social Behaviour (ASB) is down 11.6%, a reduction of 3,550 incidents.

 

Assistant Chief Constable Gareth Pritchard said: "The year was a challenging one, with many serious incidents for the force to contend with, which makes these successes even more significant.  

I am grateful for all the hard work, commitment and application teams have put in to reducing crime and ASB, their efforts have made a real contribution to making North Wales safer. Everyone has contributed, it has been a real team effort from all operational areas and support departments."

 

On a national level North Wales has comparatively low levels of crime in terms of robbery, other theft and vehicle crime. But there are however high levels of crime in terms of violence against the person and there has been an increase in sexual offences, with rape up 27.9%.

 

ACC Pritchard added: "We recognise that there is still work to be done to reduce violent crimes and sexual offences and there are a number of initiatives underway across the Force to address this. For example, we will shortly have a dedicated rape and sexual assault team who will ensure that victims have a high standard of care and that investigations are thorough and detailed. Many of these crimes are historical in nature and it is good that victims have the confidence to report these serious offences."

 

The force says it will continue to work towards reducing violent crime across North Wales, focusing on all types of violence including domestic abuse and alcohol related violence.

 

The figures also suggest that preventative strategies and awareness raising campaigns are contributing towards changing attitudes and behaviour.

 

Calls into the force's control room were down 10% (55,165) and there were 289 fewer people injured in road traffic collisions.

Police appeal over missing man

North Wales Police are appealing for help in tracing a 69 year old man missing from the Trefynant Park area of Acrefair,  Wrexham. 

David Clwyd Davies has not been seen since the afternoon of Saturday 6^th April 2013 and a concerned neighbour made contact with police earlier today.

North Wales Police and the North East Wales Search and Rescue team are currently conducting enquiries in the immediate vicinity of Mr Davies’ home but they are asking the public’s help with any information on sightings.  

 

Mr Davies (pictured right) is described as 5’ 11” tall, heavy build and sporting a thick beard.  He ordinarily wears jeans, fleece top and woolly hat and is well known in the local community.

 

Inspector Alan Hughes of Wrexham Police, who is coordinating the search said; “Mr Davies was due to meet up with a neighbour last Saturday and he failed to keep that appointment.  

 

He hasn’t been seen since and this is out of character. We are concerned and are appealing for any person who has seen Mr Davies or knows of his whereabouts, to contact the police.”

 

Anyone with any information should contact North Wales police on 101 or alternatively Crimestoppers on 0800555111.

Quiz for Cancer Research at RAFA this Friday

Cancer Research UK is hosting a quiz night at the RAFA Club in Llangollen this Friday evening (April 12).

 

Teams of four are invited to enter the quiz, which starts at 8pm, at a cost of £2.50 per team member.

 

All are welcome.

County council workers poised for protest

The BBC North East Wales news website is reporting today that workers at Denbighshire County Council are to protest against changes which they say could mean employees being sacked for refusing new conditions of work.

See the full story at: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-north-east-wales-22069545

New book of Llangollen group pictures set for launch

* The new book is due for launch later this month.

* The Christmas Festival Committee pose for their picture.

 

Images of over 100 local groups have now been captured for a book recording the rich pattern of everyday life in Llangollen. 

The glossy 144-page work will be officially unveiled to members of the local public – many of whom are featured in it – at a launch ceremony later this month. 

Meanwhile, some of the pictures appearing in the book can be seen at an exhibition which is running at the town’s museum until May 3.  

The book, entitled Llangollen Community, is the brainchild of local man Simon Collinge who has directed the project while Llangollen-based cameraman Andrew Gale has taken the pictures. 

They have been working steadily away since late last year and the pictures have all been taken in the muted style of Old Masters painters such as Rembrandt and Frans Hals.  

Simon said: “We are producing the book as we felt it was about time that a documented pictorial history of these groups was recorded for posterity – it also seemed rather a fun idea.” 

He and Andrew thought originally that there would be about 50 groups from the area needing to be photographed but the final tally was over 100 groups, societies and organisations.  

These included outfits as diverse as Llangollen Silver Band and the Christmas Festival Committee. 

Simon added: “The book is now back from the printers - all on schedule for revised launch date of  Thursday, April 25 at Llangollen Town Hall, starting at 7.30pm. 

“We’ve invited Courtyard Books, Llangollen Library and the museum to bring along copies of their local Llangollen history books to make this a literary evening to remember.”

Llangollen stars in new fantasy thriller novel

Llangollen features prominently in a new e-book in which the villains are a breed of malevolent fairies intent on world domination.

And its author has explained how the idea for the fantasy thriller The Last Changeling came to her in a dream. 

Fiona Maher, who writes under the name of F R Maher, said: “We’ve had wizards and vampires, and I wondered what other supernatural beings would appeal to readers. 

“After a dream, I came up with the idea that it would be fairies - not the cutesy pink confections of modern cartoons, but the ancient malign creatures that haunted the forests, and stole children. 

“I called them metahominids - literally 'other men' - and I ask what if population pressure meant they started moving out of the country, and began invading our city spaces, like urban foxes? 

“What if we've been at war with them for centuries and the evidence was all around us? 

“If myxamatosis hadn't been developed for rabbits, but to spray on the barrows, the metahominid strongholds?”

Hero of the book is a young policeman named Watkin who gets caught up in a battle between a secret government department and metahominids in Kew Gardens.

In the melee, he is injured, and believes he has been involved in a UFO incident. 

However much he tries to find out what really happened, the government organisation, D9, evades all of his investigations. 

Dispirited, he gives up that line of research, and returns to his interest in UFOs. 

Watkin travels up from London to investigate the Beings of Bodfari, a legend that has been linked to UFO activity. 

En route, he stops off in Llangollen of which the author gives a vivid description taking in a number of well-known local sights and businesses such as Dinas Bran Castle, the Corn Mill, the station, the florists in Oak Steet and the Watkin Williams store in Regent Street. 

Coincidentally in Llangollen at the same time as Watkin is a D9 operative, travelling under the name of Sarah Deakin.

Her weapon of choice is a meaty survival knife, which she has brought to Llangollen to have its edges laced with silver - a lethal metal to all metahominids – at a local jewellers shop.

The author knows Llangollen well because although she lives on the Wirral, she works in the town and has been associated with the area for the past 30 years.  

The Last Changeling can be seen at http://www.amazon.co.uk/Last-Changeling-Enigma-Wars-ebook/dp/B00B90EIRQ/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1365110490&sr=8-1&keywords=the+last+changeling