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Mar. 27th, 2007 10:56 pmTonight we were guests at the HMS Sultan theatre group's production of Oliver. We were met at the entrance by Jerry, who took us to a little refreshment room for a glass of wine and a chat before the performance. We were sat right behind the adjudicator, who's judging five different Naval theatre performances for an award ceremony in May. The play was rather jolly, and all the actors performed very well and with lots of enthusiasm. Young Oakley Evans was fantastic as Oliver, and Joanne Currie, as Nancy, was a stand-out. The only problem was that the microphones kept going on and off, so for large portions of quite a few of the songs, the actors' vocals were totally drowned by the band. So for Joanne's last number, the band played in a more muted volume and style, allowing her (superb) voice to carry the song. Stunning.
During the interval a guy said hello to us. It turned out he'd been involved in the production of Terry Pratchett's Maskerade we saw last summer. He told us "You'll be getting an invite to our next production, in July." We told him my mother'll no longer be Mayor then, so he said he'd send us personal invitations :) Then, at my admission that I've still never read Terry Pratchett, he exhorted me to read some of his books ASAP.
Being the last night, Jerry got up to say a few quick words and thank-yous at the end, then Oakley stepped forward, thanked Jenni the director on behalf of all the cast and crew and presented her with a bunch of flowers. Finally the adjudicator was called up and made a short speech. Of course nobody mentioned the microphones :) Then Jerry led us in walking across to the wardroom.
There Jerry bought us drinks. At that point lovely young Jay McInnes, who'd been playing Charlotte and who I remembered from the panto, swept by on her way to the room where the cast were to be addressed by the adjudicator. She said hello in reply to mine, but either didn't notice or ignored my outstretched hand - her boyfriend did shake hands with me though...
We got talking to the Commodore and some other Sultan staff. They started off asking us about how our mayoral year had gone so far. Talking about all the things we've done and places we've been was absolutely fine with me, as was discussing the play (they did mention the microphones; in reply to my mother's comment that everyone involved deserved a pat on the back, one guy said whoever did the microphones wanted shooting) and tomorrow's parade, but then the conversation moved on to subjects I knew very little or nothing about so I had to just stand there like a pudding while my mother enthusiastically chatted away.
As the time slipped by, and my mother continued to talk and drink very little of her drink, my spirits sank, as I'd really fancied watching ONE Life, about Ricky Tomlinson seeking to clear his name after being jailed for his part in a builders' strike in the 70s, but as it became clear that my mother wanted to hang around long enough to talk to the cast, who were still getting grilled by the adjudicator, my chances of getting home for it steadily fell to nil.
Eventually Jerry rejoined us. When my mother asked how long the adjudication had to go, Jerry said quite a while, so she asked if we could just poke our heads in the door and quickly say 'well done' to them. So Jerry led us back to the room where they were being debriefed (we noticed a massive fuck off buffet taking up several tables) and my mother made a brief congratulatory speech.
We said goodbye to Jerry, and I said I'd be keeping my fingers crossed for them for the awards. On the drive back, I mused how I was missing the programme I'd hoped to see. My mother explained that it hadn't been her being enthusiastic to talk, although she was hoping to meet the cast; it was just that Jerry, after buying us drinks, had disappeared to the cast debriefing, and we obviously couldn't go without saying goodbye to him so she'd had to hang on until he came back. I hadn't even noticed he'd left the wardroom...
During the interval a guy said hello to us. It turned out he'd been involved in the production of Terry Pratchett's Maskerade we saw last summer. He told us "You'll be getting an invite to our next production, in July." We told him my mother'll no longer be Mayor then, so he said he'd send us personal invitations :) Then, at my admission that I've still never read Terry Pratchett, he exhorted me to read some of his books ASAP.
Being the last night, Jerry got up to say a few quick words and thank-yous at the end, then Oakley stepped forward, thanked Jenni the director on behalf of all the cast and crew and presented her with a bunch of flowers. Finally the adjudicator was called up and made a short speech. Of course nobody mentioned the microphones :) Then Jerry led us in walking across to the wardroom.
There Jerry bought us drinks. At that point lovely young Jay McInnes, who'd been playing Charlotte and who I remembered from the panto, swept by on her way to the room where the cast were to be addressed by the adjudicator. She said hello in reply to mine, but either didn't notice or ignored my outstretched hand - her boyfriend did shake hands with me though...
We got talking to the Commodore and some other Sultan staff. They started off asking us about how our mayoral year had gone so far. Talking about all the things we've done and places we've been was absolutely fine with me, as was discussing the play (they did mention the microphones; in reply to my mother's comment that everyone involved deserved a pat on the back, one guy said whoever did the microphones wanted shooting) and tomorrow's parade, but then the conversation moved on to subjects I knew very little or nothing about so I had to just stand there like a pudding while my mother enthusiastically chatted away.
As the time slipped by, and my mother continued to talk and drink very little of her drink, my spirits sank, as I'd really fancied watching ONE Life, about Ricky Tomlinson seeking to clear his name after being jailed for his part in a builders' strike in the 70s, but as it became clear that my mother wanted to hang around long enough to talk to the cast, who were still getting grilled by the adjudicator, my chances of getting home for it steadily fell to nil.
Eventually Jerry rejoined us. When my mother asked how long the adjudication had to go, Jerry said quite a while, so she asked if we could just poke our heads in the door and quickly say 'well done' to them. So Jerry led us back to the room where they were being debriefed (we noticed a massive fuck off buffet taking up several tables) and my mother made a brief congratulatory speech.
We said goodbye to Jerry, and I said I'd be keeping my fingers crossed for them for the awards. On the drive back, I mused how I was missing the programme I'd hoped to see. My mother explained that it hadn't been her being enthusiastic to talk, although she was hoping to meet the cast; it was just that Jerry, after buying us drinks, had disappeared to the cast debriefing, and we obviously couldn't go without saying goodbye to him so she'd had to hang on until he came back. I hadn't even noticed he'd left the wardroom...
