WLOS Centenary Ball - 19th November

An evening of culinary and musical excellence is in store as Wexford Light Opera Society  put the final touches to the planning for their Centenary Ball, an event which will mark the end of the celebrations for this the Society's Centenary year.

The black tie Ball will take place in the Ferrycarrig Hotel on Saturday 19th November beginning with a reception at 7.30pm sharp followed by dinner then a fabulous display of fireworks before The Camembert Quartet (the Late Late Show house band) take to the stage to provide the musical entertainment for the evening. The Quartet, all five of them, were the band who Brian O'Driscoll and Amy Huberman choose to play at their wedding last year and have a set list to rival any band which they deliver to an exceptional standard.

Tickets are €50 and can now be booked by phoning Noel Butler on 087 2243028 or Yvonne McGuire on 086 6619258. Early booking is advisable as a great night is guaranteed. 

Diary of Centenary Year Events

recent:

• 31st October - 3rd November 2011 - 'Hits from the Musicals'
• 19th November 2011 - WLOS Centenary Ball
• 13th July 2011: WLOS Centenary Concert, Wexford Opera House
• 18th November 2010, 7.30pm: Centenary Mass of Celebration, Rowe Street Church, Wexford
• Christmas 2010 - Carol Singing for Local Charities
• 25th April - 30th April 2011: 'The Mikado', Wexford Opera House

Wexford Centenary Concert 13th July 2011 - Report

Tears of sadness and tears of joy flowed in abundance at the Wexford Light Opera Society's Centenary Concert in Wexford Opera House on 13th July last.

The concert, performed by a group of current and former members of the Society brought a capacity audience on a nostalgic trip down memory lane while performing songs from some of the most popular shows the Society has performed in its first 100 years.

Opening with five musical numbers from "The Pirates of Penzance", the first show ever staged by the Society, the old time (and not so old) favourites continued for nearly three hours in an action packed evenings entertainment.

The principal line up, the like of which would be hard to better included Caroline Daly Jones, Tony Brennan, Pat Lawlor, Michelle Thomas, Owen Brady, Des Whelan, Siobhan Meyler-Fawsitt, Clare Kavanagh, James McDermott, Tony Carty, Maggs Jacob and Larry Roche and were supported by a superb chorus of 40. They were joined by other Wexford favourite's like Theresa Kinsella who travelled from her home in Spain to perform, Fiona O'Reilly came from Cork and Paul Monaghan who starred in our all Ireland winning production of "Chess" travelled from London. Each and every one of them delivered performances befitting that of the number one musical society in the country.

The production team, who gave very generously of their time and many talents in helping to stage the concert included Noel McDonough, Fintan Cleary, Dex McGloughlin, Eanna McKenna, Paul Redmond, Anne Reck & Edel Quinlan.

There were many great moments in the concert and they were not exclusively musical ones, like when Ted Howlin and George Lawlor appeared on stage to give an introduction to a segment of music and to tell tales of times gone by, they realised that rehearsing and performing are different beasts altogether but their humour was infectious! Carmel Corish Wallace and her sister Helen Corish Wylde, in memory of their late father Des, also honoured the Society on the night by introducing another segment of music. If it had not been for Des we would not have had this fantastic occasion to celebrate. This Society is one big happy family and he would have been so proud to have seen his daughters on stage again. The hearts of everyone in the Wexford Opera House went out to them.

The Society's President and former Musical Director Fr John O'Brien was not going to be given the night off to sit and enjoy the concert, and his first appearance on stage to conduct the "Hail Poetry" was greeted by a spontaneous applause which left few, if any, dry eyes in the house. Fr. John also conducted "The Angelus Chorus" and the energy he expended in this was returned 100 fold by the chorus resulting in one of those hairs standing on the back of your neck moments.

Sean Meyler was another who was asked to make an introduction, which he did, but he was ambushed, because to his immense surprise he was joined on stage at first by Pat Lawlor and then by Fr. John who presented Sean, on behalf of the Society with Honorary Life Membership of the Society in recognition of all he has done for the Society. Sean started out as a member of the chorus before his talents led him to play many leading roles and, upon retiring from the stage he then went on to direct shows for the Society to critical acclaim. Sean also served on committee for many years. But on this night, with his wife and members of his family in the audience the spotlight was back on Sean Meyler. A more deserving recipient of this honour you will not find.

Catherine "Biddy" Walsh, who only a few years ago had to give up on a very promising career in ballet once again stepped into her tutu to team up with Emily Mason for a special performance which was as artistically creative as any performance by the Royal Ballet. It was hilarious, and brought the house down. Dawn French has a lot to answer for!!

The finale for the concert was Anthem from "Chess", which has for the past 14 years, been the Society's anthem, and sung by the full company, conducted by Fr. John, it was afforded a full and immediate standing ovation by the audience of 800 plus who were lucky enough to get a ticket. The audience thought that there was no more but Fr. John, at the end of an emotional address invited everyone to stand again, to link hands and join with the company on stage in singing Auld Lang Syne. This they did, in full voice and with heart felt enthusiasm.

This was a very special night in the history of Wexford Light Opera Society and it seems that all those present felt privileged to be there.

Aims Win for WLOS

WLOS' production of 'The Mikado' produced a win in the category Best Visual (Costumes, Props, Make-Up and Hair). The show was also nominated for best stage management Best Stage Management. Well done to all!

Centenary Calendar 2011

One of the many efforts the society is making to mark our centenary year is our 2011 Centenary Calendar. It's full of pictures of past shows through every decade of the society's existence, right back to and including our very first production of 'Pirates of Penzance' in 1912.

It also has the WLOS events planned for 2011 already marked in on the appropriate dates and so is ready to hang!

The calendar debuted during our "Hits from the Musicals" show and is available from The Wexford Book Centre, The Wicked Swan, Wexford Tile Centre, to name a few.

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