Curtain Call Award Nominations Many local actors, directors and shows have been nominated for the Southern Daily Echo's annual Curtain Call Awards. Click here to find out more! Posted 08/12/2016 Welcome two new groups to PAD Please extend a warm welcome to The Lavant Players and The Solent Male Voice Choir, the latest two groups to join the Amateur Diary. Both have shows coming up in the near future: Solent Male Voice Choir: An Evening of Christmas Music - 20th December (click here) Lavant Players: Shiver Me Timbers - 25th-28th January (click here) Posted 07/12/2016 Musicians Wanted for Portsmouth Light Orchestra Portsmouth Light Orchestra is a thriving group of 32 amateur musicians. We recently celebrated our 80th Anniversary with a concert at Admiral Lord Nelson School (on October 16th), supported by a few guest players who enhanced the performance greatly. We were also recently featured in The News (Click here) to read the article). We have a number of vacancies in the orchestra for viola and trombone players especially, but would also welcome some more strings players. We play a variety of genres of music - the clue is in our name "Light Orchestra" - from well-known pieces from television and radio to classical music, including movements from concerti as well as instrumental solos. Subscriptions are £45 per annum (not bad - that's a little over £1 an evening). We meet on Tuesday evenings at 7.30pm (for a 7.45pm start) at the Buckland Community Centre, Malins Road, Portsmouth PO2 7BB. Please contact Val Loft on  023 9237 1135 or Ed McDermott on 023 9260 2460 if you'd like to try us out. Posted 28/10/2016 Show Reviews Linked on Website If reviews of a show are published during the run, we now provide links to them as part of the show's listing. As shown in the screenshot below, you will see the word "Reviews" followed by a list of the places where reviews of your show have been published - in this case the CurtainUp South website. Just click on the name to read the review. Member groups please note: linking the reviews is a manual process - please let me know if there is a review you would like publicised. Posted 8/09/2016 Actors Wanted for Murder Mysteries Murder Mystery UK is a Hampshire-based events company specialising in Murder Mystery Dinners and Weekends. They are looking for new actors to join them and perform in their events - the work is paid and you nearly always get to enjoy a 3-course meal as well. You do not need to be a professional actor, but a sense of fun and enthusiasm is a must - however, murder mystery acting is unlike any other form. Murder Mystery UK are holding a FREE workshop in Portsmouth at the end of September 2016 for anyone aged 18+ who is interested in finding out more and considering joining them. If you would like to attend, please email your details, including a little bit about yourself and your acting experience, to enquiries@murder-mystery-uk.com. If you have family or friends who might also be interested, please pass these details on to them. Please note that only workshop attendees will be considered for participation in events. More information about their events can be found at: murder-mystery-uk.com. Posted 25/07/2016 Costumes for Sale Hilary Westbrook is winding up her costume hire business - Fancy That - and has a large number of costumes she would like to sell on to ensure they go to a good home, rather than sitting in her attic. She has:   - Victorian/Edwardian outfits   - Victorian tailored coats   - Victorian mens' morning coats   - Mediaeval outfits   - Jane Austen dresses (only a couple left)   - 1920's dresses   - Set of saloon girls' outfits (see photos)   - Set of ballet-length dancers' dresses in pale taffeta Plus accessores and many more outfits. Please contact Hilary on 01329 234994 to find out more, or arrange to go round (to Fareham) and have a good rummage! Costs are minimal, depending on the outfits involved and Hilary will negotiate, depending on volume. Some examples of the costumes available are shown below. Posted 12/07/2016 Welcome to The Chichester Players Please extend a warm welcome to The Chichester Players, the latest group to join the Amateur Diary. To find out more about them, visit their website: http://www.chichesterplayers.org.uk/ Posted 22/06/2016 50% Off NODA Membership The National Operatic and Dramatic Association - NODA - is offering 18 months' membership for the price of  12 for first time members and those who have not been paid members for 3 years or more. Click here to find out more. Posted 24/05/2016 New Scenery and Props Company Launched SouthScenery is a new and innovative company, based in Havant, which will provide bespoke sets and props to amateur companies putting on productions at the smaller venues in Hampshire and the surrounding area. SouthScenery has been created by Jason Christopher and Adrian Godfrey who both have many years' experience working behind the scenes at large and small venues. They have both designed and built sets for Portsmouth Players, and Jason did the same in Gloucestershire before moving to Southsea. Their offerings can include: Designing a set with your director and creating a finished product Creating a set that you have already designed, whether it be on paper or in your head Providing bespoke set additions to something you already have Producing bespoke props for your production that you may not otherwise be able to source Their finished set would be ideal for those of you not able to accommodate sets provided by the large hire companies and they will guarantee their personal attention from start to finish. Their first showcase set can be seen in Portsmouth Players' production of Hi De Hi at Players' Studio Theatre, The Barn, Milton Park, Portsmouth. Click here for further details. Contact SouthScenery by email on southscenery@gmail.com or by calling Jason Christopher on 07900 492712 or Adrian Godfrey on 07740 471210 or go to their website: www.SouthScenery.com   Posted 16/04/2016 Happy New Year to all our readers! May I wish all PAD readers a very happy and prosperous New Year. Let's hope 2016 brings great success and full houses for all of our productions. A gentle reminder to member groups - your annual subscription is now due for renewal. For information on how to do this, please go to the Contact Us page.     Posted 31/12/2015 New Contact for the Portsmouth Amateur Diary i would like to than John Thomas for the sterling job he has done administering the Portsmouth Amateur Diary for the last seven years. He has recently moved to Yorkshire to enjoy retirement closer to his family and so I am taking over the administration of the diary as well as maintaining the website, which I have done for more years than I care to remember! My name is Mark Donalds and I am now your contact for all matters relating to the diary. For details of how to contact me, please click here to go to our Contact Us page. Posted 04/06/2015 Guided Tours Around Groundlings Theatre Come and experience a Groundlings Theatre historical tour and learn about the history of The Old Beneficial School in Kent Street, Portsea. The guided tours feature illustrated talks by professional costumed actors and have been organised to raise money for a new lighting system in the theatre. For more information and on-line booking, click here. Posted 31/05/2015 Curtain Up on a New Name for Denmead Operatic Society After 82 years of music making, Denmead Operatic Society is making a dramatic change by rebranding themselves Curtain Up! Productions. Over the last ten years they have developed the range of theatre work that they present to include plays, Broadway musicals, comedies, pantomimes and their very own Murder Mystery dinner plays. With membership drawn from a wide area stretching from Pagham in the East to Fareham in the West and staging performances all over Hampshire and Sussex, they are no longer the small village group that they once were and are now based in Horndean rather than Denmead. With all these changes, it seemed the right time to rebrand themselves and take on a new name for a new chapter in the society's history - one that encompasses the joy or performing and a name that isn't bound by a particular place or preconception of who they are and what they do. A name without boundaries. Their first show under the new banner is Acorn Antiques - so look out for the new logo and exciting forthcoming events. Posted 20/05/2015 Reports of NODA Societies' Shows If your Society is affiliated to NODA (National Operatic and Dramatic Association), you can read John E. Thomas's reports of your shows very easily on the NODA website. You don't need a password and the website contains reports going back four years. Here's how to do it: Go to the NODA  website: https://www.noda.org.uk Click "Regions". Scroll down the list of Regions and click on "South East". Click "Show Reports". Click the "View & Search All Show Reports" button. You will see a list of the current month's reports. You can either scroll through the pages of show reports to find the one you are interested in, or use the search fields on the right-hand side of the page. Note: it can help to select District 10 from the District selection box. Posted 28/04/2015 Tell Us About Your Shows Please don't forget to tell us about your forthcoming shows! On several occasions recently we have found out about member groups' shows well before they have sent us the details. Please make use of PAD - it is a valuable publicity tool and only costs you £10 a year (so very nearly FREE).   As well as our website (which gets lots of hits each month), we send out paper listings to numerous local organisations, including the local press, radio, tourist information centres and libraries. Your show will also be included in the programmes of other member groups. PAD is also a useful way of avoiding clashes of production dates with other local groups - check our listings before you book that venue! It couldn't be simpler to tell us about your forthcoming production - just click this button:  Show Details   We also like to display posters for your shows - to send us a poster, just click this button:  Show Poster   Click here for more details about how to get in touch with us. Posted 05/03/2015 Financial Lifeline for New Theatre Royal

Portsmouth City Council has handed the New Theatre Royal a £150,000 lifeline to enable it to complete its £4 million revamp. Council Leader Donna Jones said that the probject was at a "do or die" point and could not have been completed without the grant. Chief Executive of the theatre, Caroline Sharman said she was thrilled with the council's decision. Click here for further information. Posted 11/02/2015

Daily Echo Curtain Call Award Winners Announced

A sold-out crowd of 500 thespians, crew and theatre lovers gathered on Friday 30th January for a glitzy event at the Southampton Grand Harbour Hotel to hear who had won the 2014 Curtain Call Awards. A number of local groups and actors were among the winners: Best Supporting Actress in a Musical Charlene Hammer as Rizzo in Portsmouth Players' production of Grease. Best Supporting Actor in a Shakespeare Play Danny Carter as Macduff in Southsea Shakespeare Actors' production of Macbeth. Best Supporting Actress in a Shakespeare Play Charlotte Thomas as Helena in CCADS production of A Midsummer Night's Dream. Best Lighting, Sound and Effects Rob King and team. Woyzeck. Titchfield Festival Theatre. Best Musical Director Daf Hughes for CCADS production of Tommy. Best Actress in a Comedy or Comic Drama Lin Warner as Helen / Rosemary in Humdrum's production of Deckchairs. Best Actor in a Youth Production Matt Fisher as Billy Crocker in Stage One's production of Anything Goes. Best Actress in a Youth Production Ellie Jones as Reno Sweeney in Stage One's production of Anything Goes. Best Actor in a Shakespeare Play Matt Gibbons as Mercutio in Southsea Shakespeare Actors' production of Romeo and Juliet. Best Actress in a Shakespeare Play Zia Wheeldon as Goneril in Titchfield Festival Theatre's production of King Lear. Best Pantomime Peter Pan the Panto by Collingwood RSC. Best Director of a Shakespeare Play Neil Gregory-Reader for Southsea Shakespeare Actors' production of Macbeth. For further details of all the winners, click here. Posted 03/02/2015

NEWS Guide Award Winners Announced

The winners of the 2014 Portsmouth News Guide Awards were announced on Monday night (26th January) in a "celebration of true talent", at the Kings Theatre in Southsea. The winners and runners up in the drama and music categories were: Best Professional Production Winner: Gypsy at Chichester Festival Theatre Runner up: The Lion King at the Mayflower Best Amateur Drama Production Winner: Birdsong by CCADS Runner up: The Three Musketeers by Interalia Theatre Best Amateur Musical Production Winner: South Pacific by South Downe Musical Society Runner up: Tommy by CCADS Best Amateur Actor Winner: Aaron Holdaway in Comedy of Errors by Southsea Shakespeare Actors Runner up: Stuart Frank in The Three Musketeers by Interalia Theatre Best Amateur Actress Winner: Alexandra Maclean in The Sound of Music by Fareham Musical Society Runner up: Lauren Kempton in South Pacific by South Downe Musical Society Best Classical Music Act Winner: Renaissace Choir Runner up: Portsmouth Baroque Choir   Posted 28/01/2015

Daily Echo Curtain Call Award Nominations Announced

The Southampton Daily Echo's team of impartial judges have been scouring amateur theatre productions throughout Hampshire and found them to be alive and well and thriving. Many productions by PAD groups, actors and directors have been included in their nominations for the prestigious Curtain Call Awards. For more details, click here.

News Guide Award Nominations Announced

The nominations for the 2014 Portsmouth News Guide Awards have been announced, with many PAD members featuring prominently and there's still plenty of time to vote - or nominate a contender of your own. December 14th is the deadline. The nominations are: Best Professional Production Best Amateur Musical Production 1. Gypsy - Chichester Festival Theatre 1. Grease - The Portsmouth Players 2. The Lion King - Mayflower Theatre, Southampton 2. The Sound of Music - Fareham Musical Society 3. Avenue Q - King's Theatre 3. The Mikado - Humdrum 4. Taken at Midnight - The Minerva, Chichester 4. South Pacific - South Downe Musical Society 5. Wicked - Mayflower Theatre, Southampton 5. White Christmas - South Downe Musical Society 6. Stevie - The Minerva, Chichester 6. Sister Act - The Portsmouth Players 7. Singin' In The Rain - Mayflower Theatre, Southampton 7. A Little Night Music - The Portsmouth Players 8. King Lear - The Globe at Portsmouth City Museum 8. Avenue Q - South Downe Musical Society 9. Amadeus - Chichester Festival Theatre 9. Tommy - CCADS   Best Amateur Actress Best Amateur Drama 1. Sue Rourke - Tommy, CCADS 1. Dealer's Choice - Bench Theatre 2. Alexandra Maclean - The Sound of Music, Fareham Musical Soc. 2. George's Marvellous Medicine - Humdrum 3. Caz Gilmore - Enchanted April, Humdrum 3. Birdsong - CCADS 4. Lauren Kempton - South Pacific, South Downe Musical Society 4. Macbeth - Southsea Shakespeare Actors 5. Gemma Valler - Enchanted April, Humdrum 5. Pride and Prejudice - One Off Productions 6. Sheila Elsdon - Sister Act, Portsmouth Players 6. The Comedy of Errors - Southsea Shakespeare Actors 7. Georgie Gulliford - The Trojan Women, Titchfield Festival Theatre 7. Enchanted April - Humdrum 8. Kim Seagrove - Sister Act, Portsmouth Players 8. The Three Musketeers - Interalia Theatre 9. Kirsty Terry - Little Women, Bench Theatre 9. The Talking Cure - CCADS     Best Amateur Actor   1. David Penrose - Dealer's Choice, Bench Theatre   2. Ben Counter - Anorak of Fire, Humdrum   3. Paul Denney - Blackadder Rides Again, Interalia Theatre   4. Sean Ridley - A Midsummernight's Dream, CCADS   5. Aaron Holdaway - The Comedy of Errors, SSA   6. George Summers - George's Marvellous  Medicine, Humdrum   7. Jonathan Redwood - The Sound of Music, FMS   8. Stuart Frank - The Three Musketeers, Interalia Theatre   9. John-Paul McCrohan - Birdsong, CCADS       Posted 25/11/2014

Producer Wanted Urgently for "Goodnight Mr Tom"

CAOS Musical Productions in Chichester are looking for a Producer for their Spring 2015 production of "Goodnight Mr Tom", which will run from 26th to 31st May 2015 at The Westbourne House School, Oving, Chichester. The company rehearses at 7.30pm on Fridays and Tuesdays (for principals) at St Wilfrid's Church Hall, Sherborne Road, Chichester.

If you are interested, please contact CAOS Musical Productions via their website: http://www.caos-chichester.com/

Posted 31/10/2014

Bring Your Own Poetry Evening

Thursday October 2nd, 2014 at The Dolphin, High Street, Old Portsmouth, from 7.00pm onwards

To celebrate National Poetry Day, please come and read your own poetry and enjoy a glass of wine, beer or whatever! The theme is 'Remember' - the length ideally not more than thirty five lines.

Free entry. Snacks and meals available.

For further information, please contact Katy Hounsell-Robert on 023 9283 7064 or The Dolphin on 023 9282 3595.

Posted 05/08/2014

Theatres of War - Phoenix Players

Join The Phoenix Players in celebrating the centenary of World War I.

"The Way to Mandalay" is a one-act play set in a field hospital somewhere on the Western Front during the First World War. A soldier struggles to regain his memory after being found shell-shocked and with no identification tag. The soldier, Horace, had been and actor and entertainer in the music halls and his identity is confused with many characters, real and imaginary - Harry Lauder, Vesta Tilley and Stan Jefferson (later known as Stan Laurel). The play is loosely based on the real-life experiences of Horace Hillerby, who trod the boards with many famous names in the early 1900s.

The show continues with songs, poems and letters regarding the Christmas Truce of WWI. Also included are songs and poems from World War II and a short play about the women's Land Army, called "Mum's Army".

Performances are from 8th-9th August at 7.45pm and take place at the Portsmouth Deaf Centre, 279 Arundel Street, Portsmouth PO1 1LX. Tel. 0845 676462 for further details and tickets (at £6, concessions £5).

Posted 27/7/2014

John Pearce's Funeral

We are sad to announce that John Pearce passed away recently at the age of 83. As well as being a friend and mentor to many people locally, John was for many years the NODA rep for Area 10. He also performed with and directed many local societies and will be remembered fondly by all the people he came in contact with.

John's funeral will take place at 10:30am on Friday 25th July at Portchester Crematorium, followed by refreshments at The Cormorant, near Portchester Castle (181 Castle Street, Portchester). To help with the arrangements, if you wish to attend the funeral service, say a few words at the service or go to The Cormorant afterwards, please contact John E. Thomas on 023 9225 6443 or 077 1194 6489.

Posted 17/7/2014

Groundlings Theatre Hosts "Brit Flick Film Festival"

For the third year running, Groundlings Theatre, in Kent Street Portsmouth, is hosting the "Brit Flick Film Festival". This event showcases the best in local film-making talent, featuring short films, features and documentaries. The event will be held on Sunday 11th May.

Groundlings has confirmed that one of Portsmouth's much loved acting stars, Brett Fancy, who was raised in Portsmouth and Horndean, will be coming back to his home town to attend the festival. He will be giving a talk about his acting career at 2pm, followed by a question and answer session.

The day provides an industry insight with guest speakers from the film industry including casting directors, producers, film and TV directors and actors. Films run from 11am to 10pm. Industry Insight with the professionals is from 2pm to 4pm. Tickets for the day and access to all films and Industry Insight sessions are available from Groundlings Theatre priced at £10 adults, £8 concessions, students and Equity members and £6 children.

For more information contact Groundlings Theatre on 023 9273 9496. Click here to visit their website.

Posted 18/4/2014

Changes to the PAD website

Check out our brand new selection options at the top of the Listings page of the PAD website. Use them to find out what's on right now, or in the next week or month; which entries have been changed or added recently, what's on during July, or what's on at your local theatre. Just make your choices from the drop-down boxes and press the Go button.

For example - choose "What's on this week" and the listing changes to show just the shows that are on in the current week (Monday to Sunday). Just press the Reset button to bring back the full listing.

Posted 19/3/2014

New Theatre Royal Tour - A New Stage in Time

Come along and enjoy an illustrated talk about the fascinating history of this beautiful theatre from 1856 to the present day, including the devastating fire of 1972. Get a glimpse of the current building work and learn what the future holds for the NTR. Saturday 29th March at 12:30 and 15:00 (tours limited to 20 people). For full details: http://tinyurl.com/NTRTour

Posted 19/2/2014

Daily Echo Curtain Call Award Winners Announced

The "Oscars of the South", otherwise known as the Daily Echo's annual Curtain Call Awards, returned to the De Vere Grand Hotel in Southampton on Friday 31st January and, once again, included awards for some of our local actors and groups - including Production of the Year - AIDA by CCADS. Click here for the full story.

Posted 2/2/2014

News Guide Award Winners Announced

Monday 20th January proved to be a lively evening at the King's Theatre, Southsea as the 2013 News Guide Award winners were announced. The winners of interest to PAD members are as follows:

Best Professional Production

Winner - Joseph And The Technicolour Dreamcoat (King's Theatre)
Runner up - Barnum (Chichester Festival Theatre)

Best Amateur Drama Production

Winner - Anne Frank (One-Off Productions at the King's Theatre)
Runner up - Hamlet (Southsea Shakespeare Actors at The Pyramids)

Best Amateur Musical

Winner - Little Shop of Horrors (Portsmouth Plays at City of Portsmouth Boys School)
Runner up - Whistle Down the Wind (CCADS at The Ferneham Hall)

Best Amateur Actor

Winner - Lewis Bailey as Doctor Watson in Hound Of The Baskervilles, HumDrum
Runner up - Lewis Robinson as Hamlet, Southsea Shakespeare Actors

Best Amateur Actress

Winner - Samantha Kelly, Evita, South Downe Musical Society
Runner up - Georgia Hamorak as Anne Frank, One Off Productions

Click here for full details and pictures of the evening.

Posted 21/01/2014

Costumes for Sale

Hilary Westbrook is selling off a number of costume items which are surplus to requirements, including:

1.       Suit of Armour – used for Me and My Girl

2.       Ladies “Jane Austen “ style dresses, jackets and bonnets

3.       Victorian bathing suits – ladies and gents

4.       Victorian tailed coats with white tie and waistcoat and trousers

5.       Victorian morning coats with stripe or black trousers

6.       Boat cloak , long evening capes and shorter capes

7.       small red capes suitable for children

8.       red “bum freezer” jackets – used for waiters in Hello Dolly

9.       Ladies Victorian/Edwardian suits and dresses

10.   Stripe/check blazers Edwardian/20’s

11.   Gangster single and double breasted suits

12.   Set of Havanna/Carmen Miranda style dancers dresses

13.   Medieval costumes for both ladies and gents

14.   White sailor costumes (large sizes) suitable for HMS Pinafore

15.   20’s style day and evening dresses

16.   40’s 50’s and 60’s dresses, skirts etc

and a election of waistcoats, hats, ladies blouses and skirts.

This list is not exhaustive, so if you would like to find out more, contact Hilary on 01329 234994 or by email on johnhils@madasafish.com

Posted 21/01/2014

Chichester Festival Theatre Hard Hat Tours

Another way to generate publicity for your show - get the poster for your show displayed on the PAD website for FREE!!!

We now have the facility to display posters for forthcoming shows down the right-hand side of all pages of the PAD website - when you move your mouse over the poster, it is instantly enlarged so that you can see all the details.

How do you get your posters displayed? It's simple - all you have to do is send an image of your poster (preferably as a jpeg or png file) to us and we'll do the rest. Your poster will be displayed from one month before the date of the first performance, right up to and including the last performance.

All you have to do is go to the Contact Us page and click the button to submit your poster.

While you are there, don't forget to update us with the details of all of your planned productions. The sooner we put them in the diary, the sooner you will start getting publicity for your show. Click here to update us with your production details.

Posted 21/11/2013

Check out this website featuring independent reviews of theatre in the South - Sitting in the Cheap Seats.

It is the internet repository for the inane ramblings of Matt Merritt. Matt is a long time theatre lover from Portsmouth, who has appeared in a number of shows ranging from musical theatre to comedies and heavy drama. When not prancing about on stage, Matt has garnered a reputation as an independent music journalist and has finally decided to put two and two together and start writing about his first love,

Posted 18/11/2013

New Web Address - but same website

You may have noticed that although the PAD website looks exactly the same, we've become a "dot com" with a new web address that we hope will be much easier to remember. The new address is: http://www.portsamdiary.com

We still have exactly the same useful information about all the best local amateur productions, but the new server we are running on gives us much more flexibility to do some exciting things with the website in the future - so watch this space!

In the meantime, please add the new web address to your favourites/bookmarks by pressing the button below. Note that if you are using Google Chrome as your browser, you will need to press the star button on the browser's toolbar.

Posted 09/11/2013

Refurbishment of Two Local Theatres

The New Theatre Royal, Portsmouth

Chichester Festival Theatre

The Festival Theatre in Chichester is celebrating its fiftieth anniversary by undergoing an equally extensive refurbishment programme with its ReNew project. The time lapse video (above) shows the process of stripping out the interior of the theatre revealing the huge space beneath the main stage.

More information about these exciting projects can be found on the theatres' own websites - follow the links below:

New Theatre Royal Portsmouth

Chichester Festival Theatre