Just because there are no shows in the auditorium for a month does not mean there is nothing going on at The Playhouse. The green room bar will be open on those nights when readings and auditions are taking place (see previous posting) and the contractors are going through the snagging list – those small tweaks that need making as we get used to the new layout and facilities in both new areas of the building.
With school holidays now underway, CCTA have started rehearsals during the day for their production of Beauty & The Beast (19-23 August). CCTA – the convenient acronym for Cheltenham Children’s Theatre Association – was founded by members of The Playhouse 50 years ago, and a production has been staged here every summer since then. Even when the auditorium was out of bounds due to the collapsing foyer, the show still went ahead in the green room!
All members of CCTA have to be aged 18 or under and they handle every aspect of the production – acting, directing, lighting and set building. Many members have gone on to become performers in the various ‘adult’ companies here and, occasionally, into the professional theatre industry.
We are very proud to have formed this company - which we believe is still the only company of its kind in the UK – and with this being its Golden Anniversary Production, we would love to have as many ex-members attend the performance on Friday 22 August and meet up with old friends in the green room afterwards. Tickets are on sale from the box office now priced £7 for adults with concessions at £5 for all performances.
Wednesday 23 July 2008
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2 comments:
WOW Golden Jubilee!
Quite amazing, i was a member in the 70's, and I know a lot of adults secretly prayed we wouldn't last another day let alone 30 years!
But with Mowgli, Mary Poppins and the Wizard of Oz to play with how could we fail.
I hope you have as much fun as i did and Good Luck!
Lou Pounder
Well as at least 30 years have passed since i trod the boards with the CCTA, i think the official secrets act allows now allows some secrets to be told, so here goes!Cheltenham Children’s Theatre
I thought I would try and add a brief history of the CCTA from the late 1970s – 1980s, as I know the present group has changed slightly since we were a part of it!
It was originally formed by Pat Grogan, and as we celebrated the 25th anniversary around about, hmmm. 1979ish, that makes it about 54 years and still going strong. Actually it is 50 years old this year! Who would have thought it?
When I joined there were about 30 members all ranging from 8-18 years old. We met at The Playhouse Theatre in Cheltenham every 4th Sunday and then as we neared production time every Sunday. My first visit was under pressure from mum, Pauline Pounder, I think she wanted me to get out more (being 8, and a wee bit shy and all that). I went, not happily and sat in “the dungeon”, completely shy by then! After two weeks I was hooked and spent the next 8 years living there. I think on various occasions mum rued the day she introduced me to the land of theatre.
On my arrival they had had just performed “Oliver” and the next production was to be, “Where the Rainbow Ends”. A dated play with music telling a story, which included such patriotic, characters as St. George no less. (How times have changed) Each production was staged for a week in August and all components, set; lighting, acting and more were done by the children. We did have Aunties and Uncles to reign us in, or at least try to! I remember Uncle George and Aunty Shirley trying there hardest to stop the visits through the Theatre & Arts Club and explaining to various committee members, especially Joan Cross that we were “just kids” and meant no harm!
We saw the history of the Playhouse close up and personal. I personally built a set whilst the old workshop was being pulled down, and had a mad crush on one of the builders. We saw the dungeon go from a dark and smelly cellar to a beautiful space. Funnily enough we were never aloud in this “beautiful space” after its transformation. What sticks out in my mind most is that one-year the auditorium was painted red and yellow during our rehearsals. To us kids it was great that they used the paint from pillar-boxes and yellow road line paint, the adults were not so amused to our findings! Looking back it is amazing to think that, then we still had to light the gas run emergency lights prior to each performance, I guess it’s more amazing that there was never a fire.
We had the usual dramatic moments during my first show. St George locking himself in the 1920’s toilet with stage fright, the newspaper headline (Gloucestershire Echo) of the next day, “Stage Boy Clive Saves the Day” proclaiming how a stage hand took over the part, with lines scrawled on everything, including his sword. I played a dragon; it took me ten years to fully realize what my part was all about, and ten minutes to realize that I hated acting.
After this year we lost a good bulk of the older members and a new committee was formed.
Unfortunately my acting career was not over and I was cast as the Munchkin Farmer in the Wizard of Oz. My memory is a little hazy but I believe Dorothy made it back to Kansas every night. Luckily for me all I had to do was follow the Munchkin Mayor around and nod my head and say “weeee” a lot. I do remember that one cast member was nearly black balled by Cheltenham Ladies College, I think that The Playhouse was out of bounds, in hind sight, I wonder if they had infiltrated the last night parties and seen how the CCTA could indeed produce a new and different “Lady” to Cheltenham.
Our next show was I think, “Mary Poppins”. Luckily after my performance in “Oz” I was promoted to stagehand. I still partook of the Sunday classes, and still, today remember how to be a tree but now I was aloud to use the tools! The Playhouse was very gracious after my initial using of a jigsaw and in hindsight I think were happy that it was only a bar table that got cut in half and not Adrian!
We did 7 shows, one a night for a week, and got pretty good houses. We had money in the bank and were really starting to do well. Even as kids we tried to do it right, we had a big kid committee of treasurer, chairman and others who guided the group as a whole. We had last night parties that rivaled the adults. (Hmmm, our parents, god bless them all, will be pleased to hear that, especially as a lot were in the adult groups and thought theirs were pretty funky!).
“Mowgli” took us to new heights! We used the Disney music as if it was our own, shortly to be told by Disney themselves that it wasn’t! We had a few other little moments, boys in loincloths were apparently appreciated by some who should not be appreciating, they were quickly removed and all went well. Actually, the elephants, of whom I was one, (yes I had been black balled again) held a small revolt over costumes, was it too much to ask that the glue be dried and the eyeholes be at our eyes and not our mouths?
A very exciting costume making day had been held earlier when the giggles of children were so much heard that the parent of the house was drawn to peep with happiness at the scene, until realizing everyone was high on glue fumes, oh for those lazy hazy days of summer!
Around about this time The Playhouse got the Alarm System, and around this time that a group of us thought it would be really cool to have a sleep over at the Theatre. There was, may still be a 4’ by 4’ storage hole above the corridor from the dressing rooms to the bar. Actually it is above the aforementioned toilet of St George. The plan was simple all 8 of us would hide until the theatre was locked for the night and then, well. As with a 12 year olds mind that foreword planning was rather lacking, still it would be fun whatever. So like sardines we hid. The lock up happened and we slowly opened the hutch like door. What was that little red light merrily flashing by the door to the alley? By some stroke of luck one of us had some knowledge, Matthew I think and informed us in a very educated way that yes it was an alarm and yes it would go off if we moved. Being always willing to believe in our elders, he was at least all of 15 we sat for the rest of the night not daring to leave. By 2am the thoughts of fun had left and the sad ness at knowing how close, yet far the bathroom was, was sadly overtaking our minds. Of course since, I have realized that we could indeed have left so long as we did not open a door.
I would like to believe that no one knew of our exploits, but I fear the eagle eyes of Aunty Shirley, not so much Uncle George may have had to yet again become defense lawyers on our behalf.
We now moved into the hey day of the CCTA for me. I became a committee member and I suppose with others guiding lights of the company. We took our positions very seriously as kids do in these matters; the checkbook was guarded with ferocity of a pit bull in heat.
For our next show we chose, again please correct me if my memory has jumped, those thirty-five pence ½ pints of cider at the Bell may have skewered my brain! Not mentioning the lazy days at the beer gardens, I think it was Alice in Wonderland. OOPS, I forgot Peter Pan somewhere along the way, now that was a show. Full of love and happiness, “heart to hearts”, remember those, both on stage and off. I think this was the show when The Playhouse had taken the great leap in to computer lighting, but were extremely upset at realizing that a bunch of kids would be the first to try it out! Un beknownst to them the kids had a much better knowledge of it’s working than a lot of the adults and were called upon in time to show them the inner workings. This was a great advance from the “pee in the pot” board with the crank handles, and the age of disco, though a tad late had arrived with tinker bell.
I believe we only had one hospital visit this show, Adrian’s head who shall remain nameless, came swiftly in contact with a scaffolding bar with the result that, a trip to Cheltenham General ensued. It seems to my memory that the worst part was that his lifeblood stained the car of the Good Samaritan who took him. But as with good old show business, the show continued with out much to do.
Well I guess I need some more history tidbits as this is supposed to be a history section.
By we had realized that if any work was going to be done to the building then it would be in the summer recess, as kids, we did not rate highly on the show list. The dressing rooms which were very reminiscent of a setting for a Gothic novel had been on the list for a refurb for a while. The smell of paint, old skeletons of mice and past members were being brushed away as we arrived. It was kind of sad, the cupboards of old props had gone, the one ring electric stove had been hastily removed and all looked clean. There was even a rumor that smoking was to be banned, but that thank god turned out to be just a rumor, I think Uncle George and his roll ups helped on that accord.
The Playhouse has a trap, no not one of the many rat traps that were lying around but a stage trap, this was a fantastic finding for us, the possibilities were endless, of course Alice could appear from the rabbit hole, she would be fine crawling through the tunnel under the stage. In fact at one point every one was going to appear as if by magic. The trouble was you needed a hammer two strong men and about five minutes of banging and grunting before you could stagger up and crawl onto stage. Not quite the entrance required to keep the magic of theatre alive. This brings me to other magical effect we used within our performances. The homemade pyros, that did or did not go off at there allotted time. The snow seen which used immense quantities of soap flake falling from a tumbler that looked beautiful under UV light but stung like hell when you got them in your eyes. My favorite was the dry ice, in our day it cost a fortune for block and could not be stored longer than a day, nor bought for less than a block. Now to use a complete block would have enveloped the stage plus Bath Road for a month so with the usual brain power it was decided the remainder should be put it in the toilet, wow, that got attention, we had forgotten that members of the T&A also frequented the stage WCs when the call of nature was strong!
Again Aunty Shirley and Uncle George saved us from extinction, though if truth were known I think George just thought his fag was smoking badly.
I finished my time with CCTA by stage managing “Alice in Wonderland”. I have fond memories of being told that the “caterpillar” should not follow the method school of acting to such a point that joints actually touched his lips, gosh was the actor upset! I remember running (a rare occurrence in it’s self) to catch a large plastic mushroom playpen that was being transported to the first of many kiddies’ areas in a pub. It was quickly diverted to The Playhouse.
I still to this day can see Vanessa singing “I Give Myself Very Good Advice but Very Seldom Follow It” and Erica as the White Witch strutting her stuff.
The CCTA gave me a career which I followed for 20 years, it in fact got me into Drama School in London, but more than that it gave a chubby little kid a chance to see that dreams can indeed come true, thank you!
Lou Pounder, now aboding in the USA
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