YvonneA couple of weeks back, our niece and her partner asked if we would like to purchase tickets for an event at the Wyvern Theatre, Swindon, Wiltshire
They explained that it was to be a performance of the stage show of Disney’s ‘Beauty And The Beast’, being performed by SALOS, in which, said partners mother is involved, SALOS being Swindon Amateur Light Operatic Society.
The group have put on a week long musical theatre production, annually, for many years.
Recent productions have included ‘My Fair Lady’ and ‘Thoroughly Modern Millie’, but this year was to be their most challenging production by far and our niece and partner, were to be involved in much of the back-stage work, mainly involving scenery changes.
We have seen the original stage show in the Westend of London a couple of times and a shortened Disney live stage show version in Disneyworld Florida, on numerous occasions, but to see such a challenging production, performed by a local amateur group, seemed to us, an almost impossibly difficult task.
Well, how wrong could we have been! We had great seats for only the second performance of the show, last night and came away totally amazed by the quality of the whole production.
The scenery changes were handled expertly, with only a couple of minor hiccups, which were dealt with quickly and without fuss. The costumes looked amazing and were carried off brilliantly by the performers, whilst the acting and singing talents of the SALOS cast were incredible, from the youngest child who looked hardly old enough to be performing, to the more senior members of the cast, who although unable to take to the stage, were seated off-stage in the wings, adding their voices to the chorus.
The cast received a well deserved standing ovation, at the conclusion of the performance and we came away with a wholly changed perception about the amazing local talent, there must be within our communities. We look forward to finding out what the 2011 show, which is already in the early stage planning, is to be.
Many of the cast have taken holiday entitlement to take part in the week long theatre production, with the children and young people giving up much of their half-term school holidays to participate. So, if you live in Swindon, or the surrounding areas and are looking for some fantastic family entertainment this half-term holiday, the cast of SALOS are waiting to welcome you to ‘Be Our Guest’ for ‘Beauty And The Beast’
The show has it’s closing performance on Saturday 30th October 2010 and is on nightly until then, with additional matinee performances on, Wednesday 27th October 2010 and Saturday 30th October 2010. Click here for more details.
