Music for Spring at the Vera Fletcher Hall
Newcomers to Thames Ditton and Weston Green are amazed to discover the "Theatre in Thames Ditton" at the Vera Fletcher Hall in Embercourt Road where the old Victorian Village Hall built in 1887 to commemorate Queen Victoria's Golden Jubilee has been restored into an intimate 126 seater theatre/concert hall/pocket opera house. The Hall has notably introduced many to opera, on a small scale but of high quality at affordable prices and, above all, accessible.
Not many such venues can boast of having international opera star Donald Maxwell as a regular visitor. Tiramisu Opera, who brought you 'Pirates of Penzance' and 'Trial by Jury,' returns on Sunday March 16 with Gilbert and Sullivan's 'H.M.S.Pinafore'. Donald invites us to a life on the ocean wave, to see love triumphant and civil servants wrong- footed, with old favourites 'For He is an Englishman', 'Dear Little Buttercup' and the 'Ruler of the Queen's Navee', reminding us of the time when we had a real navy! Donald Maxwell has sung major roles at opera houses such as La Scala and Welsh National Opera, including the title role of Falstaff at the Royal Opera House. The week after his appearance at the Vera Fletcher Hall he flies to New York to star in 'La Fille du Regiment' at the Metropolitan Opera House. We also welcome back Rebecca Rudge, soprano, who sings at the Buxton Festival and other major festivals.
Intrigue of a different sort is also the theme of Mozart's 'Cosi fan Tutte' (photo above right), on Friday April 18 brought to us by Charles Court Opera, whose 'Mikado' and 'Cinderella' pantomime gave so much pleasure. Lorenzo da Ponte's gloriously immoral tale of subterfuge and infidelity is brought to life with some of Mozart's most sublime music, to the accompaniment of the brilliant Eaton-Young piano duo.We have a treat on Friday 23rd May when Commedia Productions present Puccini's 'La Boheme', the story of the seamstress Mimi and her four friends living in poverty in a bohemian Parisian garret - her lover the poet Rodolpho, Marcello the painter, Schaunard the musician and Colline the philosopher. Singers from the major opera companies will be accompanied by Commedia's pioneering 'virtual orchestra'. Arias such as 'Your tiny hand is frozen' and 'O gentle maiden' make this one of the most performed of all operas around the world. The first performance in 1896 was conducted by the young Arturo Toscanini. All three opera productions are supported by R.C Sherriff Trust.
The Hall has gained a reputation for high quality chamber music and we welcome the Rivoli String Quartet on Friday 11 April. This group of talented young players were winners of the Prix Ravel at the Academie Internationale de Musique Maurice Ravel and have given concerts across Britain and in Australia and France. They will play works by Haydn, Debussy, Schubert and Bridge. They will be followed on Friday June 27 by a concert by Amy Tress and Friends, prizewinning young musicians from the Royal Academy and the Royal College of Music.
'The Boy Friend' has been a favourite of audiences for over 50 years with Sandy Wilson's evergreen hits 'It's Never Too Late To Fall In Love', 'Won't you Charleston With Me,' 'I Could be Happy With You' and 'Nicer in Nice'. It is set in the carefree world of the French Riviera in the era of the flappers in the 1920s when the girls in Madame Dubonnet's School for Young Ladies find love amid confusion and heartbreaks in this glorious pastiche of romantic musicals. Among its other claims to fame, this was the musical in which Julie Andrews was discovered. Molesey Musical Theatre brings 'The Boy Friend' to us on Wednesday to Saturday June 4th-7th.
For details of prices, times, and bookings, visit www.verafletcherhall.co.uk