Albatross Musical Theatre Company
Entertaining in the Shoalhaven since 1975
In 2021 …
We are planning to finally stage Alice in Wonderland with the JAM next July in the school holidays. The timing of the JAM production is one term earlier than in the past, so our program will be a little different. JAM usually runs 3 terms and workshops theatre skills before starting on the show preparation. Next year we will launch straight into rehearsing Alice in Wonderland. Had 2020 been a little different JAM would have started in Term 4 to be ready for July 2021! There will be an information session regarding JAM 2021 early in the year. More details to come.
NOW …
Since it’s nearly Christmas, and pantomimes are traditional Christmas fare, we thought we’d explore this genre and teach the JAMdrama kids about this aspect of theatre. Julia and Paul have been preparing their scripts and casting roles. They are working on 2 short pantomimes (with no singing) and planning to perform the 2 plays live in front of an audience of JAM supporters. We will do this in conjunction with videos of other JAM kids performing songs from Christmas Musicals and then a covid safe kids party! Details were in a previous posting.
Then…
After the cancellation of Alice in Wonderland …. JAMpactMUSICALS! was our next plan to bring live theatre back to our lives. It was to be a concert for soloists, duets and ensemble items, all based around musical theatre items and intended to rehearse in Term 3 and 4 with a showcase in November. JAM had 3 weeks of fabulous auditions from dancers and soloists and duets. The JAM panel were amazed at the talent they saw, so much potential… and ONCE YOU ADDED SOME ENSEMBLE NUMBERS, #JAMpactMUSICALS! would be an amazing show! But then new restrictions came out for schools – no year groups mixing at school, no singing and no sport between kids from different regions. Unfortunately, after much discussion and proposing all possible scenarios, the production team had to make the call that although we have auditioned fabulous items, we could not feasibly start to rehearse our wonderful JAM Wednesdays and work toward an inclusive concert. SO, #JAMpactMUSICALS! did not happen. The production team made this decision with heavy hearts but we knew it was in the best interests of all to keep our JAM FAM safe.
BUT…
we couldn’t let the auditioned talent go to waste so we are reinstated our JAM online concerts and introducing #JAMZOOMusicals! The auditioned talent prepared videos of their songs and we invited the public to our zoom concerts.
Before that …
We had 5? Zoom concerts… which were AMAZING! …
Before that… we had Alice info night but lockdown stopped us the day before the first rehearsal in term 1.
Please read all of this… important link at the end.
ZooMusicalChristmas… without the Zoo… as restrictions have eased a little and the reality/difficulty of the promised combining of live performance and streaming/zooming has hit us… we are proposing a change to the original end of year plans for JAM. We have a limit on number of people in the School of Arts and a huge number are interested in attending our show. So we need 2 sessions; one from 4-5pm and the other 5-6pm on 28th Nov for watching the Christmas song videos on the big screen followed by the live pantomimes presented by the JAMdrama kids this term. This will be followed by an hour of party for the JAM kids, finishing at 7.
So many changes… sorry… this has been an evolution!
Tickets are free but everyone needs a ticket so we have the right numbers in the venue. 4-5 pm session is basically already subscribed by the parents of the performers. So the rest of the JAMfam will be invited to session 2 from 5-6pm. Then we hope some of the parents don’t mind leaving for an hour so that our performers can mingle with their JAM friends and still meet the requirements for the correct number of people in the hall. (When they are on stage, they aren’t counted as being in the hall!… oohhhh this is soooo complicated). There will be room for some parents to stay on if you want to.
Book your tickets here: https://www.trybooking.com/BMSMR
Kids staying for the party are asked to BYO “pandemic safe” party food to share. No bowls of chips, but a plate of single serve cupcakes or pre-cut slice/pizza/sausage rolls/mini quiche where someone can pick up a piece without touching other pieces is acceptable.
AND DON’T WORRY… ALL THE VIDEOS OF THE CHRISTMAS SONGS AND THE PANTO WILL BE AVAILABLE FOR WATCHING online somewhere… sometime.
You will also need to “check in” with our QR code – please have the SERVICE NSW app on your phone in readiness, you need to make a Service NSW account too but you might already have one of those. If you’ve ”checked in” anywhere else with this app its very straight forward.
Thanks, Julie Fraser, Producer
We were truly saddened to hear of the death of a very dear compatriot, Christa Leahmann. Christa was a star of Opera and Musical Theatre in Australia before she settled in the Shoalhaven with her dear friend David Foley. Christa will be remembered by many AMTC members as a gifted and engaging performer on stage, a generous mentor to younger and older fellow performers, and a friend and adviser to myself and other production team members.
Christa delighted audiences in two huge AMTC productions at the Shoalhaven Entertainment Centre – “Showtime” in 2011, and our mammoth celebration production of “Fabulous and Forty” in 2015. It was this performance of “Fabulous and Forty” that Christa declared to be her last, and we felt utterly privileged to be able to honour and farewell her by performing “Prima Donna” from “Phantom of the Opera”.
Christa was not averse to helping our productions in any way possible, including agreeing to be a Pit Singer in the “Wizard of Oz” in 2014. Even this role was taken very seriously by her, and we will all remember Christa’s presence at rehearsals, studying her music quietly in the corner while other activities took place around her – a true professional at all times. She was a wonderful role model to our less experienced cast members.
It was a joy for me to work as Musical Director for these productions and share many beautiful musical moments with such an experienced performer as Christa.
Thank you for supporting us and sharing many performing delights with us Christa. RIP.
Merrin Ross
Due to the ongoing issues created by the coronavirus, a number of changes for AMTC’s schedule of shows have been made.
JAM HAS BEEN POSTPONED FOR THIS TERM. In light of the current advice that NON-ESSENTIAL gatherings be put off, the AMTC committee met today and has decided that JAM should not meet for the time being. Our priority is for the health of our members and production team as well as the wider community. We are confident this is the best decision for all involved. The AMTC Management Committee will reassess after Easter, taking into account advice at that time.
The JAM team are are really disappointed and we want to encourage your child’s involvement in the Arts, we hope we will be back next term. We intend to upload the script and music tracks to be available for download. We need to figure out the best way to do this. Please keep checking emails and Facebook as the situation may change.
AMTC’s first production for 2020 will be Annie. Rehearsal’s are now in full swing, getting ready for show time. Show dates will be 26th – 28th June and 3rd – 5th July at the Shoalhaven Entertainment Centre. Tickets are available now from the Centre.
Some of our “orphans” rehearsing A Hard Knock Life