Box Office :

01362 692784

Dereham News

8 Market Place

Dereham NR19 2AW

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Spring Play Tickets

Priority Bookings will be taken from Monday 6th February 2012

Bookings from the General Public will be available from Thursday 9th February 2012

Dereham Memorial Hall, where most of our productions are performed

Dereham Operatic Society is a charitable Trust and was formed in 1948 to offer the local community education and enlightenment in amateur dramatic arts. A very grand way of saying that DOS was formed to entertain the people of Dereham and Norfolk!

Our Shakespearian motto "Mere folk who give distraction are we" comes from Cole Porter's musical "Kiss Me Kate", which we first performed in 1970, and is based upon one of William Shakespeare's most famous plays "The Taming of the Shrew".

We at Dereham Operatic Society, or DOS as we are affectionately known, stage three productions a year (not including the productions of our youth group) including a major musical in the autumn, a pantomime over the Christmas period and a play in the spring. So, as you can see, there is something for everyone.

If you are looking to join one of the premier operatic and dramatic societies in Norfolk as either a performer (we actively encourage all whatever your ability or experience, whether you are a singer, an actor, dancer, or just enjoy being on stage), backstage helper, front of house staff or just looking to purchase some tickets for our next show ........ you need look no further than the Dereham Operatic Society.

Welcome to our website

Quick Contacts

Tickets: 01362 692784

Chairman
Martyn Rolfe

37 School Lane
Sprowston
Norwich NR7 8TG

e: martyn dot rolfe at ntlworld dot com
Tel : 01603 408017

Secretary

Julia Havis

e: julia dot havis at btinternet dot com
Tel : 07919 031598

Bookings
Dereham News

8 Market Place

Dereham NR19 2AW
Tel : 01362 692784

Rehearsal Studio
The Studio
Rear of Dereham Memorial Hall
61 Norwich Street
East Dereham
Norfolk, NR19 1AD

Next Play Readings

Our next Play Reading will be on 8th February 2012, 7:30pm at The Studio.

Our host, Tim Cara, hopes to offer us either "Dancing at Lughnasa", by Brian Friel, or "Lend Me A Tenor" by Ken Ludwig. We will tackle the alternative at the following reading on 22nd February.

Samuel French have described "Dancing at Lughnasa" as follows; “...this multi–award–winning play is about five impoverished spinsters in a remote part of County Donegal in 1936. With them live Michael, 7 year old son of the youngest sister, and Jack, the sisters’ elder brother, a missionary priest newly returned from Africa. The events of the summer are narrated in recall by the adult Michael, unfolding a tender study of these women’s lives”. (3m+5f)

Whilst "Lend Me A Tenor" is summarised as; “A concert in Ohio in 1934 is jeopardised when the lead Italian tenor falls into a drunken stupor. So the impressario’s diminuitive assistant blacks up and goes on as Othello. The tenor awakens, dons his costume”.. and farce ensues! (4m4f)

PLEASE NOTE, there will be no Play Reading on Weds 7th March, but we will continue with "Top Girls" by Caryl Churchill on 21st March.

"Top Girls" is a “rich, ambitious play – an exposition of the way in which top girls, like top men, often achieve success at the expense of their less able sisters”. It is brilliantly conceived with considerable wit to illuminate the underlying deep human seriousness of the theme.

Whilst prospective new members are very much welcome to attend, continued regular attendence must be by members only. It is easy to join! To become an acting or non-acting member simply contact the Secretary.

Dereham's Got Talent!

As part of Dereham Festival 2012, the Dereham Festival Committee are organizing a 'Dereham's Got Talent' competition with a cash prize and a final to be held at the Memorial Hall, Dereham on the evening of 15th June, 2012. This is for persons under 19 years at 30 June, 2012 and who live within a 10 mile radius of Dereham.

To download the registration form please click here.

Please note this event has not been organised by (nor has any connection with) Dereham Operatic Society.

AGM - provisional Diary Date

Please pencil the 2012 AGM in to your diaries for Monday 23rd April 2012. This will be confirmed in the usual way nearer the time.

Dereham Memorial Hall

DOS members were treated to a sneek preview of the brand new Dereham Memorial Hall after our EGM was concluded on Weds 7th December 2011. It was extremely impressive and we cannot wait to put it to good use when Mother Goose opens.

There are a small selection of photos from the evening on our Facebook page.

Old Time Music Hall DVDs

DVDs of our September 2011 production are now available to purchase for only £6.00 (plus £1.50 p&p if you require it to be posted to you).

If you wish to place an order please contact Dave Filer; email david.filer@tesco.net or telephone 07860 347578.

Show Choices

We always love to hear from our members with ideas for future productions, but unfortunately many suggestions have to be thrown out immediately on receipt simply because the licence isn't available for amateur groups. To help you out, NODA publish an A-Z list of all shows that are currently available in their Theatre Business Magazine; click here to view the current list (Spring 2011)

The abbreviations on the above-mentioned list refer to the rightsholders and they are as follows:

AWM - AWM Music	CW - Cecily Ware	MU - MusicScope	RUG - The Really Useful Group Ltd
BHMP - Boosey & Hawkes	DMS - Downfield Musical Society	NHB - Nick Hern Books	SSL - Stagescripts Ltd
BS - Below Stairs	EM - Eric Maschwitz Musicals	OIE - Operas In English	TWP - Thatched Well Publications
CL - Classic Presentations Ltd	FR - Samuel French Ltd	OTE - Out There Enterprises Ltd	WCM - Warner/Chappell Music Ltd
CP - Capricorn Productions	ITM - International Theatre & Music Ltd	PM - Pavilion Music	WE - Josef Weinberger Ltd