Very sad news today to hear that our Vice President, Jill Lawes (or Jill Morgan as she was acknowledged in the Reading Operatic family) has passed away. Jill directed many of our shows up to 2009 and then went on to form the Mostly G&S group with husband John, also a ROS Vice President and former MD for the society of many years standing.
Jill also directed for Woodley Light Operatic Society and Starmaker among other companies and was a much loved dance teacher with the Linda Butler School of Dance, who are just about to present their bi-annual show at the Wilde this weekend. Rehearsals today were hard as a result of the news but everyone knew Jill would want the show to go on.
We know she would have adored the opportunity to direct Singin’ In The Rain, our next musical, so we’ll need to make that show all the more special again.
Jill, we’ll miss your calm hand, ready smile, generous spirit and unwavering sense of what is right in the theatre. You will continue to occupy a warm place in many hearts, for as long as we have feet to tap.
Our condolences and supportive wishes go to John and the family at this time.
Looks like the Easter Bunny will be with us all week at Legally Blonde. Book your tickets to find out more!
Thanks to Blast Radio for inviting us in for a little chat. They even had a pink microphone for our Elle!
ROS certainly helped kick off the christmas season in Woodley on Saturday. We were there in full force to help switch on the ‘Tree of Light’ and sing a few carols. It was a lovely occassion and hopefully the Lions Charity received lots of money to help the disadvantaged in the Reading area. Special mention to Sheridan Povey for her beautiful a Capella rendition of ‘Silent Night’, Sarah Werner helping us to ‘Rock Around the Christmas Tree’ and Ryan Stevens for his Buble-esque ‘Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas’. Over 800 people were at the cereomony so we were so lucky to have singers worthy of such a big audience. It was a great afternoon and a wonderful start to the festive season.
Reading Operatic Society has long-appreciated the many ways that Jean Theobald and our president, Barrie Theobald, have tirelessly worked on its behalf over many years. We were delighted to learn they had been nominated to receive the Services to Earley Award from Earley Town Council in recognition of their varied contributions to the Earley community.
They were each presented with certificates and plaques by the Mayor of Earley on 20 May 2015 to mark their efforts. The presentation was duly reported on the third page of the local press, accompanied by a photograph, and Jean was heard to say that she can finally claim to be a Page 3 Girl! The annual ROS fund-raising day in their garden on 23 May raised over £500 for the Society.
Read the report in The Reading Chronicle here.
Reading Operatic Society has unveiled its new logo following a design process by the society’s lighting designer Kim Hollamby, who works as a communication and marketing director by day.
The logo incorporates the full name, the familiar ROS initials and a quaver to provide a visual clue regarding the musical focus of the society.
“ROS had used various logos and related designs over the past few years,” Kim Hollamby explains. “But the brief was to provide a new design that would be used throughout all of the society’s material in the future. There were lots of ideas that were tried but the final version seems to summarise very well the society’s past and present.
