Bolsover Drama Group

Members, family and guests of the group had an enjoyable time as the group held it’s 23rd Annual Dinner at the Angel & Harlequin at Spinkhill on Saturday 1st June 2019. Following a lovely three course meal the evening saw presentations of long service awards to Nicky Constable (10 years), Paul Holland (20 years) and founder member Janet Koszegi (35 years). Janet Koszegi receives her 35 year award Paul Holland receives his 20 year award Nicky Constable receives his 10 year award Phillip receives his “service award”. As way of a joke at Nicky’s expense (he’s been wanting a service award since he first joined the group) a special five year service award was also presented to “Phillip”, who some of you may remember as the masseurs dummy in our 2014 play ‘Who Goes Bare’. We will be looking forward to returning to The Angel & Harlequin on Saturday 13th June 2020 for our 24th Annual Dinner.

On Sunday 23rd June 2019 we attended the NODA East Midlands regional day at the Concordia Theatre in Hinckley, where we were proud to receive the award for best pantomime in District 2 for our production of ‘Mother Goose’, as well as receive a nomination for our Youth Section production of ‘Oliver!’ in the District 2 youth category. The chance to be nominated for awards such as these is one benefit we gain from being affiliated to NODA, the National Operatic and Dramatic Association, who also offer advice, information and workshops to amateur dramatics groups throughout the country.  It is also a testament to the cast and the production teams that the hard work they put into our productions is being recognised.

Following our 3rd Annual Steve Sowerby Celebratory Showcase Evening, ‘One Night Around the World’, which took place in March 2019 we were proud to announce that we raised a total of £340.31 from the evening for the NGS Macmillan Unit at Chesterfield’s Royal Hospital.  Our chairman, Mick Whitehouse, had the pleasure of presenting the donation during the summer. We are preparing for next year’s showcase evening themed around famous “jukebox” musicals, to be performed on Saturday 28th March 2020, and will be announcing the local good cause we will be working with shortly. A note of thanks from Macmillan

It was with great sadness that we learnt of the passing of our former secretary and honorary member Janet Atkinson earlier this year. Janet had been a member of the group since the 1980s until 2013 when she retired from the group to move to Cornwall with her family. While she had performed on stage in the ‘80s and into the ‘90s, Janet will be fondly remembered for the tireless work she put into the group behind the scenes – as group secretary, prompt and an ever-present member of the backstage team; always a helping hand at rehearsals and when organising props – her legacy certainly lives on with a little black box she left with the group, which contains a collection of small items which may be required during the run of the show, and which is still, to this day, lovingly referred to as “Janet’s box”. Even after retiring to Cornwall Janet still found time to help out with the local community theatre group in Senen, and still kept an active interest in the activities of Bolso...

We’re pleased to announce that we have been nominated for awards in our district of the East Midlands for our 2018 productions of ‘Mother Goose’ and ‘Oliver!’ by NODA. The chance to be nominated for awards such as these is one benefit we gain from being affiliated to NODA, the National Operatic and Dramatic Association, who also offer advice, information and workshops to amateur dramatics groups throughout the country. The winners will be announced at the NODA East Midlands Regional Day on Sunday 23rd June – keep an eye on our website, Facebook page and Twitter account to find out how we do.

Our recent 3rd Annual Steve Sowerby Celebratory Showcase Evening saw us jetting off across the globe as our theme ‘One Night Around the World’ took the audience on a world tour without having to leave their seats! Showcasing songs from musicals based in the UK, Europe, Asia, Africa and the USA, the evening also helped to raise funds for the Macmillan Unit at the Royal Hospital, Chesterfield. The full figure raised will be posted on our website, Facebook page and Twitter account, as well as appearing in a future programme.

Following on from our successful Race Night in November 2017 where Bolsover Drama Group and the Rotary Club of Bolsover joined forces to raise funds for the group and the charities of the Rotary Club of Bolsover, it was decided to nominate the Rotary’s charities would be the beneficiary of half the profits from the 2018 showcase night, One Night to Celebrate, and our sponsored walk. We were able to present a cheque of almost £800 for the Rotary’s charities at a recent meeting, and we look forward to working alongside the Rotary again this year, with another Race Night planned for November. In addition we have been able to name the Derbyshire Macmillan Unit at the Royal Hospital, Chesterfield as our nominated charity fund for this year’s showcase evening, ‘One Night Around the World’, which will take place on Saturday 23rd March at the Assembly Rooms.

The 22nd Bolsover Drama Group Annual Dinner and Dance took place on Saturday 16th June at The Angel at Spinkhill, which saw an enjoyable evening consisting of a three-course meal and music, during which long-service awards were presented to our members. 15 year awards were presented to Derrick Hulett, Donna Knowles, Michelle Shaw and James Sheppard, while Barbara Booth was presented with her award for 30 years service. At the group’s AGM in August another 30-year award was presented to Pam Mosley, who was unable to attend the Annual Dinner. Pam Mosley receives her 30-year service award from Mick Whitehouse at the group’s AGM

Following on from our successful collaboration at last November’s Race Night the group again teamed up with the Rotary Club of Bolsover earlier this year to raise funds to be split between the Rotary Club’s their local charities and Bolsover Drama Group. In March our 2nd Annual Steve Sowerby Celebratory Showcase Evening – ‘One Night to Celebrate’ took place, which was followed by members of the group and the Rotary undertaking a 10 mile sponsored walk in April. Following the collection of sponsorship money and income received at the showcase night we are pleased to announce that we raised £1563.12 from the two events, to be divided equally between the two organisations. We are in the process of developing a partnership with a local organisation for our 2019 showcase evening – ‘ One Night Around The World ’, which will take place on Saturday 23rd March.

On Sunday 24th June the group held a stall at the Bolsover Gala on Hornscroft Park to promote the group’s forthcoming productions and raise funds for the group by holding a sweet tombola, which was well received. Many thanks to Wendy Blunt, Rachel Johnson, Chris Peck and Mick Whitehouse who helped to run the stall on the day

We were honoured to be named as recipients of a brace of awards at the recent NODA East Midlands regional awards day at the Town Hall, Loughborough. Our 2017 pantomime, ‘ Cinderella ’, was named as the best pantomime within District 2 of the East Midlands, and our Youth Section production of ‘ The Wizard of Oz ’ was named best youth production in the same district – making it a hat-trick of wins for our Youth Section in that category over the past three years. Being nominated for the awards is a fantastic achievement for the group, and a testament to the hard work put in by the casts and production teams who can celebrate their achievements. The chance to be nominated for awards such as these is one benefit we gain from being affiliated to NODA, the National Operatic and Dramatic Association, who also offer advice, information and workshops to amateur dramatics groups throughout the country. A full list of our awards can be found on our ‘About Us’ page

We are proud to learn that we have been nominated in the NODA East Midlands regional awards for 2017. The awards ceremony, which takes place at the NODA East Midlands Regional Day at Loughborough Town Hall Theatre on Sunday 10th June 2018, sees us up for nominations in the best pantomime category for district 2 for our production of ‘ Cinderella ‘ and best youth production for district 2 for our Youth Section production of ‘ The Wizard of Oz ‘ The outcome from the award ceremony will be published here after the event, and you can see all our past awards on our about us pages . We would like to thank all who have been involved in making these shows a success worthy of nomination.

To celebrate the group’s production of ‘Sister Act’ a special beer named ‘Ale Mary’ was put on sale at the Blue Bell, Bolsover, with a portion of proceeds from the sale of the ale donated to the group.  Deloris and a few of the sisters from the Queen of Angels convent couldn’t help but visit to give the beer a taste! We would like to thank Blue Bell landlord Frank Lancaster for his support.

Saturday 4th November saw Bolsover Drama Group and the Rotary Club of Bolsover team up for an enjoyable race night with a difference to raise funds for the group and the Rotary’s local charities. Rotary and drama group members enjoy themselves at the Race Night Rotary and drama group members enjoy themselves at the Race Night Rotary and drama group members enjoy themselves at the Race Night Over the course of eight races those in attendance took part rolling dice to first move model horses along a marked-out table-top racecourse, before, after a delicious pie and pea supper, donning jockey silks and mounting hobby-horses and mops as the jockeys themselves. From the proceeds of ticket sales, bets placed, a raffle, refreshments – including real ale provided by the Blue Bell – and an auction of “horses” in the final race over £1200 was raised to be split between the two organisations. We woul...

The casting committee met on Thursday 12th October to cast the group’s pantomime ‘Mother Goose’.  The group are pleased to announce following have been cast: Mother Goose Derrick Hulett Jill Lianne Brunt Billy James Sheppard The Squire Chris Nussey Colin Dale Shaw Bill Paul Holland Ben Wendy Blunt Demon Ray Hall Fairy Lyndsey Ashley Pricilla Janet Koszegi King Istvan Koszegi Queen Sue Hilton The casting committee consisted of Lisa Brunt, Leanne Collins, Pam Mosley, Ken Radmore, Michelle Shaw, Mick Whitehouse, with independent observer Chris Peck. Mother Goose will take place from Wednesday 24th – Saturday 27th January 2018, Nightly at 7:15pm (Saturday matinee at 2:00pm) at the Assembly Rooms, Bolsover. Tickets are on sale now, priced £8.00 (concessions £7.00), available from TicketSource .

Members of the group have been hard at work over the past few months helping to organise the group’s costume and props storage areas at the Bannister Chapel in Shuttlewood. The chapel is the group’s largest asset, and acts as both a storage facility for scenery, props and costumes, and as a venue to allow items of scenery to be built and painted prior to relocation to the Assembly Rooms ahead of the group’s shows. Hats and garments labelled and boxed ready for future shows Dawn Blackburn, Lesley Seaston and Angela Mitchell have been busy organising, sizing, cataloguing and cleaning the costumes, hats and other garments owned by the group to enable these to be identifiable for use in the group’s productions, while a donation of cupboards has allowed the props storage area to be extended to allow small props (especially china, bottles, glasses and ornaments used in plays) to be safely stored for ease of discovery. The hard work being undertaken allows the group’s assets to be used to the...

We were proud to be recognised at the recent NODA East Midlands regional day, where we scooped a brace of awards for our 2016 productions. Our pantomime, ‘Robin Hood and Babes in the Wood’, was winner in the best pantomime category for district 2 – the eighth time we have picked up the award, and for the second year in a row we were successful in the district 2 best youth production award, for last year’s Youth Section production of ‘Annie’. Being nominated for the awards is a fantastic achievement for the group, and a testament to the hard work put in by the casts and production teams who can celebrate their achievements. The chance to be nominated for awards such as these is one benefit we gain from being affiliated to NODA, the National Operatic and Dramatic Association, who also offer advice, information and workshops to amateur dramatics groups throughout the country.

The auditions for our production of Sister Act took place on Sunday 4th and Tuesday 6th June, and the production has been cast: Deloris Van Cartier Sarah Coupe Mother Superior Louise Sutton Sister Mary Robert Tara Foster Sister Mary Patrick Michelle Shaw Sister Mary Lazarus Chrissy Smith Monsignor O’Hara Istvan Koszegi Curtis Nicky Constable Eddie Chris Peck Joey Chris Nussey The audition committee would like to thank all who participated in the auditions. ‘Sister Act’ will take place from Wednesday 4th to Saturday 7th October at the Assembly Rooms, Bolsover.

It was with great sadness that Bolsover Drama Group learnt of the passing of John Blood in December, who had been part of the group since 1991. He played a number of parts, including Nachum in ‘Fiddler on the Roof’, Radio Operator Bob McCaffrey in our 2000 production of ‘South Pacific’ and Pete, the scout, in ‘Calamity Jane’, and he also helped support the group and its members – including being involved with the building of the set and making items of scenery for our productions. He always brought his infectious laughter (and a pork pie or two for the cast) when attending the group’s shows as part of the audience, and provided many happy and fond memories. Our thoughts are with Maureen and his family.

Seven members of the group took part in a weigh-in challenge between January and March to lose weight and raise funds for the group. The 12 week challenge saw the members raise lose a total of 46lb between them (that’s 23 bags of sugar) and raise £85 for the group. Well done to all who took part, and congratulations to our winners – in 3rd place Mick, in 2nd place Ken and in 1st place Dale.