What a great show

Well as the week on stage finally draws to a close and all of the set, props, scenery and costumes are packed back into boxes and bags and returned to their rightful homes, it's the point at which the blues start to kick in again.
Thankfully this year the feedback and reaction from our audiences looks like it will keep us going for a few days longer - and I for one am glad to lock Gerald up, fairly securely, and not to allow him to take centre stage. Is it strange to play a part that you don't like do you think?
One of my work colleagues sent me this email which I thought I would share:

"Hi Matthew
Wow! What a good show! I loved the real orchestra (Larry's panto music was all taped, you know) and there were some very good performances. Fay, Mike, Amanda and I laughed like drains at the bit (not featuring you) with the portraits of the ancestors - like Kind Hearts and Coronets meets Monty Python!! You were so good, my dear. Chanelling Julian Clary at times, which was a revelation! And those vowels - you got them just right. And how you enjoyed it! It was obvious you were having a really good time!
Thank you. And congratulations to all in the Society.
See you soon, I hope.
Ann"

I was pleased with that, especially as Ann works in the Drama School here at the University of Manchester. Not bad at all.

But one of the things that really jumped out at me from her email was her delight in the real orchestra that we use. It was smaller this year, but no less impressive for that. But it's also one of the big cost areas for our show and one of the things that we always have heated discussions about sticking with. We could save a lot of money if we used recorded music - but at what cost?

It seems this year that overall we had about 65% of seats occupied over the six shows, and that means that we may not have lost too much money - tiny chance of possibly breaking even!

I know that before the show I blogged a couple of times on how we could promote our shows more effectively - get people to try it on the Wednesday or Thursday night, rather than finding we are full by the Saturday. If any of you have any more ideas on this one, then I would love to hear them. And in the meantime, please tell all of your friends how good this show was.

From me, for now, thank you to everyone who played any part at all in getting this show up and running and so fantastic. And that includes the audiences.