Back is the new back.

Several weeks to go.

I'm back once again. Like a renegade master. And if you're under 30 that'll mean nothing to you. Or if you don't don't recognise classic hiphop lyrics from the 80s. I does. Cos I is keepin' it reeeel for the streets. Y'hear me boooyz. Fo shizzle me nizzle.

Works kept me away from blogging I'm afraid, and she's a cruel and fickle b*tch of a mistress. But I promise I was thinkin' about you the whole time. Aw, baby don't be like that.

Before I forget do not miss John Gaylers blog posting below - for those who know him this is a miracle and must be praised and worshipped for the fact that it actually exists.

So lots on. My main priority is not to have a break down. Working flat out now to reach that end-of july deadline. But things seem to be chugging along  nicely. I've spent the last few evenings doing 3d work and storyboards to help with the overture and sorting out the pagination of the programme, and doing backgrounds for the show.

 We had a test custard pie fight on Thursday which went well, particularly as there wasn't a huge amount of mess after....but time will tell...

We have a production meeting this week, a props meeting this week and a costume thing this week. Ticket sales are going well but I won't be happy til we have that big red 'full house' sign on the door...

I promise I won't leave the next blog quite so long....

Anyways back to work.

Neil

LULU, the creation of a lassy with a ‘classy chassis and a great backside!’

Only a few weeks to opening night...

No, no your eyes aren't decieving you..John Gayler has, after an enormous amount of bulling by me, written a blog. And it's coherent. And the spelling is correct. This is a day to tell your grandchildren about. I must warn you though this blog contains several four letter words. Like 'weld' and 'apex'.

When Neil told me that I was going to be responsible for set construction the one item that presented the greatest challenge was the ‘observation platform’ / railway carriage that Mack and Mabel play their romantic scene on. It also revolves and doubles as the Roman scene that follows, has to be strong enough to safely carry the two leads, light (I do listen Mr M.) and mobile, and because of its’ size it has to live on stage in the scene dock. No problem.

A metal frame was essential and fortunately I had a supply of mild steel box section and sheet metal. Once cut to size and prepped it was welded up by Joe Dunwoody, a long standing friend and car body bodywork repair expert ( 01425 618055 ), who has happily risen to the challenge. There have been numerous design changes with health and safety in mind but I hope the end result will compliment the high standards of our “stars”.

Let’s start at the very beginning, a very good place to start. Joe ‘spots’ or ‘dobs ‘ in the first weld.

First castors are on with wooden platform, buffer board and lower backboard. Support for steps and handrails in place but not welded.Two empty paint cans, drainpipe and two ceiling plates for light for light fittings and you’ve got buffers , but don’t tell anyone.

Lulu is hoping to hook up with a good looking restaurant car after the show.

Redesign the steps because people get on and OFF the train. Picnics etc weren’t in my script and I only discovered this the day before the final welding was due. I sat in on the train scene rehearsal and watched as Lou, Frank and Lorraine climbed up and down. Size restrictions had meant that I originally designed the steps for climbing up and not descending and certainly not in a ladylike manner. Welding was hastily postponed !

New steel platform. Joe had commented that even with my slender figure the floor could do with reinforcing and I envisaged a nightmare scenario where Frank and Lou disappeared, so replaced wooden floor with steel and bracing.

Top rail from a wooden bed-head (skip) which was also going to make the main railing until I found vertical rails from a cot frame (skip). And then Lou climbed up the steps during the ‘Sopley Sort’ and nearly went base over apex across the rails, necessitating a 4” increase in top rail height and new vertical rails.

Now I’ve just got to add a carriage back with door, roof, wheels , springs and odd trim all finished in “indigo blue with old gold accessories”. My sincere thanks to Joe for his patience and advice.

John Gayler

Hey Mr Producer

Week something

Wow... what a week for Highcliffe Charity Players...... from Custard Pie fights while rehearsing for Mack & Mabel.... to performing in the Annual Christchurch Community Celebration and presenting another Charity Cheque to another great local cause!

The weather couldn't dampen the spirits of the Mack & Mabel cast, singing songs from our forthcoming show and the Christchurch Community Celebration in Saxon Square and Druit Gardens. We were also joined by other Highcliffe Charity Players members singing songs from previous shows.Well done to all involved in the event and thanks to everyone for coming to support us.... particularly Barnaby Smith (son of our Chairman, Georgina) who possibly gave us a snap-shot of the future by demonstrating his Directorial skills and a possible future Mack! (see picture below).

I'm looking forward to cracking on with rehearsals this week and also looking forward to taking a look at Neil's 'lengthy' prop list with the 'two ann's. Plus getting all technical with the Production Team and the Regent Centre guys for our Production Meeting.
Pete

A word from the Georgina Smith - Choreographer Extraordinaire

10 weeks to go

Ok soooo its all busy ... its always busy... we like busy.... really pleased with the numbers so far, tho i keep hounding people to learn words and go thro their dance routines in bed.... by far the best place to go thro them... sends you straight off to sleep!!

Apart from the dancing been busy ordering t shirts which has proved the hardest job so far! why dont people get back to you!!! so after lots of e mails we should finally receive them on thursday!! hooray! all ready for our first publicity event on saturday where we have a little selection of 5 songs.. been a bit cheeky and off loaded some music jobs to stephen ( thanks stevie baby) which has helped me immensly and i have asked people to learn some songs for this week which i know is pushing it but sure they are all more than capable.

I think i've finally cracked the whole laura/becky name issue... thank goodness so embarrassing when I can't get it right... so we'll see this week!!

BIG thanks to those that came and helped sort out our props storage... hateful job but we did have a laugh.... and I was shocked at how much we achieved , just shows how much you can do when you work as a team!

Think thats it from me.... hoping my friend Neil doesnt have a breakdown this week ... i need him to hang on in there til end of july.... he can have it then.

Still masses to do and everyone is working hard.... we are getting there and having fun at the same time.... i think.... i hope!!!!

Georgina

Valerie Gillard - Publicity Guru

10  weeks to go!!!! Book now!

Publicity. Without it there's no point in doing a show - and luckily we have genius publicity guru Valerie Gillard here to say a few words:

They say ‘a good picture is worth a thousand words’ and we certainly hope this will be the case now that Neil’s fab shots of the Mack & Mabel train and car has added weight to our publicity ‘push’. His amazing pics were sent out last week with our Press release to the monthly magazines and there has already been an enthusiastic response. Later they will also go to the local papers to encourage preview listings. Linda Kirkman popped round to deliver the June issue of Scene One on Saturday and, after a cup of tea and a cake in the sunshine on our patio, very kindly agreed to use Neil’s pictures in next month’s Scene One – a before and after story showing the original image alongside Neil’s final wizardry. Publicity – it’s a piece of cake!

We plan to ‘refresh’ the picture publicity with a ‘news’ photo just before we open – perhaps featuring our local ‘Bobby on the beat’ surrounded by HCP’s Keystone Kops. And we can no doubt get some mileage out of the superb vintage cars that Pete has brilliantly secured for the opening night.

The huge drop banner overlooking the Regent Centre’s car park has made a great impact and banners for Highcliffe and Christchurch - including one across Christchurch High Street – are planned. On the poster front, Rachel, Simon, Kate and myself will be trawling shops in the area soon – but it’s great that posters are already springing up all over the place courtesy of the cast.

Following 15,000 leaflets going out with the Regent Centre’s Diary mailing, more flyers will soon be available so that we can deluge houses, shops, offices, schools, clubs, etc. Meanwhile, Stephen is busy researching contacts for us to target.

It’s been fun handing out the M & M business cards – makes one feel quite the executive! And expect to place your drink on a Mack & Mabel beer mat soon.

The Pettengells display boards are still to come (suitable addresses willing) plus, of course, local radio coverage (if our dear modest Director can be bullied into being interviewed).

I still – even at my advanced age and after 30 years as an Arts PR – get a thrill when our publicity material appears in print. So, sad as I am, I really look forward to seeing what coverage we achieve. We’ve already had a great colour centre spread in the Highcliffe’s Residents’ Magazine (a piece on the company and M & M) which has hit 5,000 homes. Now if only this could translate to ticket sales we would need to do a two-week run……..!

Valerie Gillard

Weekly Poets Corner

10 weeks to go

On Thursday, without Ian, we all danced to Georges Phone.
With hand signals, George picked up guiding aircraft at Heathrow.
At one point she yelled “Balls Up” which was a trifle strong.
Jane was working overtime….3 parts in just one song.
The Olympic swimming team should be quite concerned.
They’ll struggle with the hard floor swimming strokes that we have learned.
It won’t be quite the same dancing to Ian’s gentle goading
But when we dance, there will be less chance of Georges Phone Exploding!

Polly

Paw show

One little side note of the photoshoot (see below) was the interruption by a small dog who decided that he was going to get in on the act - much to everyone's amooosment. How we laughed. 


Neil

Publicity Shots

10 weeks to go

We had a photoshoot for some PR shots at the weekend and these are the results.

If you want to see a large version of the train image click here

If you want to see a large version of the car image click here

So we'll send these photos out and see what..ahem...develops (photography joke there for you)

Neil

Who's who?

Week something something with something something to go

This is a new game we're going to play, devised by Jon Hall, called 'Becky or Laura'. Long story short: some people still confuse the two names because they joined the Mack & Mabel cast at the same time - despite the fact they don't look alike. So each week Jon is going to supply an image of either Becky or Laura disguised and you have to guess - there are no prizes because we're tight as a gnats chuff...

So here's what they actually look like.

We begin next week. We could have a 'Laura' laughs with this (...yes, yes I did go for a cheap pun. But I don't care.)

Neil

Mr Gillard Goes To Town

11 weeks to go

A few words from David Gillard (MBE) on the man and the myth that was Frank Capra:

The nice thing about catching up with classics is that the longer you leave them the greater the resonance. For instance, last weekend I saw for the first time the famous 1936 ‘feel-good’ movie ‘Mr Deeds Goes To Town’, in which Gary Cooper plays a hick, small-town poet (he writes homespun verses for greeting cards) who unexpectedly inherits a fortune and is condemned as mad by the Big City luminaries when he naively tries to do good ‘Deeds’ with the money. It’s a silly, sentimental wallow but done with enormous panache and cinematic flair. And the ‘resonances’ for me came because it was directed by Frank Capra, who won an Academy Award for for it. I’ve been rather involved with Capra of late, because he is, of course, one of the major characters in ‘Mack and Mabel’ - and splendidly played in our production by the enormously talented Stephen Hutt.

In ‘Mack and Mabel’ we first meet Capra as a 16-year-old ‘gofer’ on Mack’s Brooklyn set. Later, Sennett thrusts him into the spotlight by telling his potential financial backers, Kessel and Bauman, that Frank is ‘that jewel in the crown of American literary talent’ (he wasn’t, but they don’t know that). It’s implied that Sennett gives Frank his big breaks (which may or may not be true, though he certainly worked as a gag writer for Sennett in the 1920s). And by the end of the show Mack is lamenting his departure: ‘It really hurt when that sonofabitch Frank walked out. Suddenly he became “Frank Capra the big shot.” Quit me to write and direct comedies for Columbia Pictures.’ Big shot he certainly was, making his name with oddball romcoms like the Clark Gable/Claudette Colbert classic ‘It Happened One Night’ (1934) and winning a reputation as a humanitarian with a light touch through such wholesome movies as ‘Mr Deeds’, ‘You Can’t Take it With You’ (1938), ‘Mr. Smith Goes to Washington’ (1939) and, of course, the evergreen if schmaltzy Jimmy Stewart fable about a man prevented from committing suicide by an elderly angel, ‘It’s a Wonderful Life’ (1947) - ‘Every time you hear a bell ring, it means some angel just got his wings.’

So who was Frank Capra? He was born in Sicily in 1897 and came with his parents to America at the age of six. He began his career as a prop man in silent movies and he was to go on to win six Academy Awards (later successes included ‘Lost Horizon’ in 1937 and ‘Arsenic and Old Lace’ in 1944). He was widely perceived as an inspirational patriotic libertarian (he devoted much of the Second World War to making propaganda film). He was undoubtedly an anti-Communist Republican. Yet his reputation has not gone unblemished. As the excellent film critic David Thomson makes clear in his ‘A Biographical Dictionary of Film’, Capra’s biographer painted a warts-and-all portrait. Says Thomson: ‘Then there has been Joseph McBride’s careful and horrified biography. I say “horrified” because McBride was once a leading fan of the director. Yet in the research he did on Capra’s archive he found all kinds of flaws in the man: a hypocrite, a careerist and credit grabber, a rearranger of facts, a liar, a reactionary, a bogus liberal, an anti-Semite, a self-serving fabulist, and an informer. And a big admirer of Mussolini.’ Hmm.

Capra’s career declined in the 1950s and he made his last movie in 1961 - ‘A Pocketful of Miracles’ with Bette Davis and Glenn Ford, an overlong re-make of his own 1933 hit ‘Lady for a Day’. But Capra’s day had passed and it was savaged by the critics - ‘The effect is less one of whimsy than of being bludgeoned to death with a toffee apple’ and ‘The story has enough cracks in it for the syrup to leak through.’ It was his last cinematic gasp, though he lived for another 30 years and made a good living on the lecture tour, recalling those halcyon Hollywood days. He died peacefully in his sleep at his home in California at the age of 94. A wonderful life? You bet.


David Gillard

Polly's Poets Corner

It's May I know that - about 11 weeks to opening

Polly's weekly poem:

On Thursday, girls together, we did breaststroke and front crawl
We shuffled backwards in a line. We threw and caught the ball.
We frolicked. We Cavaulted. We did as Georgina bid.
The boys were in the other room.....We don't know what they did!
Polly

BBLOC The Producers - Crunch Time

Holy Frick

This isn't about Mack & Mabel, or HCP...but it is indirectly. BBLOC are putting on 'The Producers' at the Pavilion in Bournemouth, but tickets aren't as good as they were hoping and if they don't get another 800 tickets by Friday of next week their show will be cancelled - resulting in a big financial loss for them. Please support them if you are a theatre fan, it could so easily happen to any group at the moment - several groups are struggling and it's not a nice thing to hear about.

If you want tickets please get them from the BIC here.

Having said all that if you only see one show this year then see our 'Mack & Mabel'. If you see two, then go support BBLOC.

Neil

Hug a Hoodie

Week 8 of rehearsal 

I'm gonna be honest here - I can't remember what we did last week. So, sue me. Upheavals at work mean that last week is a bit of a distant memory, but I think I can bullet a few points:

•  Adam turned up so we officially have a Kessel
• 20,000 posters are now being distributed, the Pop Up stand is up and being moved to locations and business cards are arriving today. Banners and outdoor displays are being printed
• We did lots of acting, and lots of singing, and dancing
• Lulu (the train) is being built with loving care and attention by John G (he promises me a blog and pictures)

I'm not a big fan of copying other groups ideas  but a good idea is a good idea - we've several members of the Funky Little Choir in the cast and they've had some good quality Hoodies done and they looked great - so we asked them for their supplier and are getting some HCP hoodies and tshirts done.

I'm doing a lot of production stuff at home - free time is now a thing of the past - but I've got all the imagery done for Movies are Movies, and Look what happened to Mabel, Hundreds of Girls is nearly done and I'm using something similar in the programme - but it all takes time....

Things are chugging along nicely basically...but the clock is tickin'

Tick Tick Tick.

See. Did you hear that. 

Neil

Happy 1st Birthday Blog

Year 1
Ahhh, my little baby blog was 1 on Sunday. It only seems like yesterday that it was taking its first tentative steps into the cyberworld.... and now, now it's a fully grown, mature posting. I'm so proud.

Maybe it'll meet another blog and settle down soon. Fingers crossed we'll hear the tapping of tiny keyboards in the near future.

Happy Birthday Blog.

Neil

Neil teaches you how to fake it...Oh God, Yeeessss

Week 4 Million

So what do you do if you need some good shots of your leads in 1920s stuff but don't have the budget - answer you fake it like Meg Ryan in that film with the orgasm. Or rather you 'Photoshop' it. That way it looks like you paid money for a photoshoot but you didn't because you're a tightwad.

I'll bore you very quickly with a photoshop demo - but bear in mind I have abut 65 of these to do for the show. To start with you need two images both looking roughly in the same direction - you then cut the face off one (ooo Freddy Kreuger flashback) and resize it to the others proportions.

Then you over expose and blur the image to approximate the 1920s feel. Then a bit of glamour by adding some lipstick.

Add in some eye makeup and then some reflecting lights/twinkle in her eyes to give you that all important vasaline-over-the-lens studio portrait.

'Et Voila' as they say in Germany. All done.

Next week: How to fake a passport and photoshop your own counterfeit money...

Neil

Another Suitcase, Another Hall

Week something - a few weeks to opening night

The Stephen Hutt. Nuff said:

So, another week, and dancing with a suitcase is hard! Who knew? There was me, merrily thinking it was simple, but no, its far more complicated than that, got to have it in the right hand, (sometimes the left,) * Brilliant bit of Comedy there, inspired by Mr Neil* when to pick it up, when to put it down are all things to consider. In the cartoon of this blog my eyes would just fuzz out and my brain would become alphabeti Spaghetti.

With the terrible risk of sounding like a broken record Tuesday was singing with Ian, la la la la la la la. We did however have a Kessel, *Fanfares and celebratory songs begin in background* Then some dancing but before that there was cake as it was Valerie’s Birthday that day. Cake is something I love, I must be honest. As I say though, when the cake was over dancing began, but not only did we dance, we sang as well. Some call it crazy but we did it, and it sounded alright.

Then Thursday brought us one of those recap sessions, a chance to get the dances we had done looking perfect before we moved on, and I for one was very grateful for it. The whole rehearsal was very productive and left us with a clear majority of people knowing what they doing, Unlike the government *On fire with the comedy tonight, and for that I must apologise*

Furthermore (its been a crazy week full of things happening) flyers arrived, the publicity has begun. Our Publicity Queen Val was not there to see the historic moment, but she shall be there on Tuesday I hope, then the tasks began, if we do well in the tasks then appaz we could be Dorothy. Okay I made that up, but there is a prize for who sells the most tickets.

Another week over, but another one just around the corner, with more rehearsals and the excitement of going to support our leading man in Theatre 2000’s Pageant, which should be fabulous.

Tinkerty Tonk.

Stephen Hutt

Ode De Eater

Week Something Something

Ah, the weekly poem from Polly. Annnd she was on the radio yesterday because of her song writing. Nice to be surrounded by talented people. So, without further ado:

Rehearsals in the hall at Walkford just could not be rosier
But not a walk in the park outside in the dark – they’re suffering from exposure!
Ian’s put to the test, but doing his best with all Altos, Tenors, Basses
As he says “Don’t Tap, Try not to Chat or we’ll all be basket cases.
George is working on a mission that will come to fruition
To finish the Finale that we learned at the audition.
Adam’s here (“Hooray!” we cheer) He’ll be Playing Kessel!
But it was a bit tough to sing by himself at his very his first rehearsal!
It’s a privilege to have a part and this chance to do dramatic art.
But HELP! We’re Fretting, We’re all forgetting stuff we did at the start!

Polly Morris

Cake

Week Bladder - Dja see what I did there

Let's all pretend we have a time machine, huh? Let's all pretend that it's last week when Stephen sent me this blog originally (what? I've been busy?) So let's crank this posting up to 88mph and return to 7 days ago..

So, funny story, it is suddenly less than three months until we open. It's like we were merrily bumbling along and then BAM, suddenly we are working to a time limit!

It is also a time of birthdays amongst the cast. Every which way you turn it's candles and icing. More are on the way, our Lord and master, Mr Neil, celebrates his birthday on Monday, Val on tuesday. And more to come. It's a whirlwind.

Rehearsals this week have been fun fun fun, singing with Ian on Tuesday, coincidentally it would seem Jerry Herman has a thing against breathing, he just doesn't allow the time for it. Maybe it's a fiction he grew out of as a child. Then dance dance dancing with George and acting with Neil.

The week to come looks like it's going to be a busy one, Bank holiday Monday, elections on Thursday, and rehearsals just for funnsies.

Onward and upward!

Stephen Hutt

Week Seven Summary

Week 7 of rehearsal 

Do you know it was a year ago yesterday that we decided to do Mack & Mabel? And this Saturday I'll have been doing this blog for a year. A year. Part of me thinks it's been worth doing for a year and another part of me thinks I'm a loser for doing it for a year - you see my dilemma. I'm sticking with the 'worthwhile' tact if you don't mind.

Anyways, back to the matter in hand, and an update on the last week:

Publicity
Leaflets went to the printers on Monday, but because of the proofing stage and the Bank holiday it means we don't pick up until this Friday - but then we have 20,000 leaflets to get rid of and circulate. Plus a few 'other' things are at the printers which we'll be putting up around the area in the next few weeks. Tickets seem to be selling very well - which is amazing considering we only have a banner on the side of the Regent, a website and this...

Tuesday Rehearsal
Tuesday saw the splitting of the rooms - George and Ian in the Main room, with Frank, Loo and I in the corridor - yes the corridor - going through their scenes together and very good too. Had a quick meeting with John G who has started building the Train revolve and has decided to call it LuLu (I think it's more GaGa) but he seems as happy as pig in the proverbial. Dancing went well, as did the singing. Stephen has been cracking on with getting addresses together for a mail out - and very good too. The guys a real all-rounder.

Kessell
We managed to fill the role of Kessell finally and it all seems a bit fate-like in the way it's happened. We've tried several people for the part, but all are too busy, live too far away or are in other shows. One guy we didn't try was Adam Donoghue - great actor, and singer and can dance a little - who would have been perfect, as I've done many shows with him before, but unfortunately he was in a BBLOC (another local am dram group in the area) production of 'The Producers' so he wasn't on the list. But (**sound of eerie fate-like music**) that's when fate decided to play it's fate like hand of fate. Adam's job changed meaning his new hours wouldn't allow him to be in 'The Producers' anymore, so he drops out. (**SFX** ahhhhh). But then he got another job he'd applied for which meant his work hours went back to normal (**SFX** hurrah) so he went back to BBLOC but they'd already filled his part (**SFX** booo) , and then Pete asked him if he fancied a part in M&M and he said yes (**SFX** fanfare). So Hurrah, we're now fully cast again. We've let BBLOC know out of courtesy via Shelley that we haven't poached him just in case some members put two and two together to make a bitchy five. Having said all that it's Adams first night to night, so he might not turn up..... (no, of course he will)

Thursday Rehearsal
Like Tuesday we split. Acting in one room dancing in the other - Georgina taking the principals for one of their dances and allowing the chorus to come at 8:30pm. I then took the men into the side room to go through their shouty emotional bit - and by buggery it was good. Very pleased with them. Dale Waterworth (excellent singer/dancer) also popped in to pick up some software for his new (**sound of angels**) Apple Mac - he's going to help me do some graphics for the show, which will help him with a portfolio - so a win-win situation.

I'm sure I've forgotten loads about last week, but basically everyone is working their socks off. Nuff said.

Neil

He wants to be a producer...sing it girls

Week 7 of rehearsal
Ah, my right hand man. The back bone of the society. Ladies and Gentlemen, he once sang he 'wanted to be a producer' and now **fanfare** he is one. Mr Whitaker, the floor is yours:
 
From the moment I was asked by Neil (Director) to be the Producer for Mack & Mabel.... I was overwhelmed with a sense of, pride, excitement and fear!

Pride - because I know that everyone involved in Highcliffe Charity Players productions always give 100% both on and off the stage and the shows are always excellent. I knew I’d be proud to be part of this production.

Excitement – knowing that I will be working alongside a great production team and working on a show which I have always wanted to be involved with.

Fear – The fact that, as a Director, Neil oozes talent and demands excellence. I knew it would be a hell of a lot of hard work....... but knowing it will all be worth it!

The hard work began pretty quickly for Neil to try and chose a cast out of the many excellent auditionees, and he has chosen a great cast, although I am sure he will agree that he could have cast the show many different ways, which is testament to the standard of auditions!When the Mack & Mabel production wheels started turned, I was Directing and producing Panto and trying to juggler many balls in the air..... not including my own!
I then performed in a Drowsy Chaperone which was a great experience and a load of fun...... but always in the back of my mind was, Mack & Mabel!

I am pleased to say now that Mack & Mabel is firmly in the forefront of my mind and we are steaming ahead with Publicity, sponsorships, set build, props, costumes.... etc etc.
The rehearsals are starting to display wonderful performances, choreography and great musical direction. This show has the make-up of developing into a great event and it’s our job to ensure everyone knows about when the show is on, so that no-one misses it!

Pete
Producer