THE GOOD OLD DAYS!
Here is your chance to be taken back to the good old days of Music Hall! In a collaboration between Ward Baker and Boxford Drama Group, we invite you to come and join us for an evening of songs, new and old, melodrama, sketches, comedy and fun! All compèred with flawless perfection by our experienced Master of Ceremonies, David Phillips!
You are welcome to enter into the spirit of the evening by dressing up in costume if you so desire, but this is purely optional – sometimes just a funny hat is all you need to put you in the mood for a sing-a-long!! There will be full audience participation with words printed in the programme to sing along to.
The show is on Friday 16th and Saturday 17th June at 7:30pm. Tickets are £16, including supper served in the interval by the excellent Dawn Mace and her team. And of course there will be a bar!
Tickets are available from Boxford Post Office from mid-May. Tickets also available online for those further afield from
www.boxfordshows.uk/tickets If you have any dietary requirements, please contact us at catering@boxfordshows.uk and we will ensure your needs are met.
We look forward to seeing you there for a for a feelgood, fun evening, full of laughter!
BOX RIVER NEWS REVIEW
THE GOOD OLD DAYS
Once again Boxford Drama Group triumphed with Ward Baker’s production of ‘The Good Old days’.
For those of you old enough to remember (and there may still be a few) it was a reminder of the BBC entertainnent series that graced our television screens for 30 years between 1953 and 1983 – and we all took a step back to a gentler time.
The show was opened by a splendiferous MC, the Drama Group’s very own David Phillips looking magically resplendent in a red tail coat and brandishing his gavel, never once stumbling over a superfluity of adjectives he used to describe the forthcom- ing performances.
In front of the stage looking amazingly professional, which indeed they are, tail-coated (well, two of them) and freshly scrubbed up for the occasion, was the mini-orchestra, comprising Ward Baker with Gareth and Sue Price. Throughout the evening they played with complete authority and were magnificent.
The assembled company looked splendid and colourful, singing songs old and new with great gusto. Each section was interspersed with a plethora of puns, jokes and sketches which were greeted with laughs and groans in equal measure.
Lenka Netopilikova bemoaned the fact her pater refused to pur-chase a canine for her, and she had to be satisfied with a feline, a truly lamentable tale we can all identify with.
Emily Barlow delighted us with her powerful, yet sweet pitch- perfect voice on more than one occasion, initially singing about a certain ‘Mrs Moore’ who never knew when she’s had enough, of anything it would seem.
Monica Murphy charmed us with a recitation of a poem where she was going to kill her husband (although Tony had apparently escaped well enough to appear onstage later and make everyone laugh) and the next minute bemoaning the fact that she had been left waiting at the church.
Jeremy Morgan tried to convince us his name was Charlie and he only drank champagne (pull the other one, Jeremy), Alison Barlow had been following a vehicle containing all her worldly goods but had somehow dawdled and was completely lost along with her caged feathered friend.
Frances Korabik gave a glorious rendition of the dangers of sur- rendering to the Oom-pah-pah, whilst Pete Korabik reminisced about the folly of owning an unnamed musical instrument which made a curious ding-a-ling sound.
James and Angela Tolputt, complete with necklaces of onions sang a humorous ditty in Franglaise, indeed a pièce de résistance.
Joe Barrett exceeded the boundaries of innuendo, indeed risked offending those of us in polite society, with his delivery of the comical cock.
Denise Gribben having had an unfortunate encounter with a pig in the first half, recovered sufficiently to give a splendid perfor- mance in the second half playlet as the formidable Mrs Cake.
It was a marvellous evening, each member of the company per- forming many roles and the audience were encouraged to join in with the singing. It promised to be a lively, fun evening, full of jokes and risqué double entendre and that’s exactly what it was. Complete with an amazing 2-course supper for everyone, prepared by the always-dependably talented Dawn Mace in the interval, and a bar to loosen up the vocal chords, it was amazing value for money.
So felicitations must go to Ward Baker for writing and direct- ing, to David Phillips for ensuring the show ran smoothly with his excellent, effervescent performance as MC and to Elaine Carpenter who not only sang in the chorus but organised the cos- tumes and pulled the whole production together – no mean feat. We congratulate you all!