Author: Alix Ashurst

WINNERS!!!

Posted on by Alix Ashurst

We’ve only gone and won both awards for our 2019 production of THE PRODUCERS!!

BEST MUSICAL and the Hincks-Cole trophy!! So, so proud of all of you! WELL DONE!! 🏆 Xx

3 NOMINATIONS!!!

Posted on by Alix Ashurst

THE PRODUCERS has also been nominated for The Hincks-Cole award and Tailby award!

3 NOMINATIONS!!!

We just keep getting better and better and that’s all down to teamwork!

We’re so blooming proud of each and everyone of you!
Fingers (and toes) firmly crossed 🤞
😘

So Long, Farewell

Posted on by Alix Ashurst

In fond memory of former LAOS members:

Cedric Hewitt

Cedric Hewitt was one of our resident jokers, he could always be relied on to get you chuckling. In our production of THE NEW MOON one cast member couldn’t remember an entrance, so he asked Ced who said “It’s now!” so on he went. I have to say the two actors on stage singing a duet at the spinet did look rather surprised! That was Ced all over, he will be remembered with fondness by his many friends at LAOS and sadly missed by us all.

Barry Pollard

It is with much sadness that we advise you that Barry Pollard passed away on 26th January. He was a loyal member of LAOS for many years; he always shone brightly when treading the boards here at the Town Hall, ever the entertainer. He will be sadly missed. Sincerest condolences to his family and friends. RIP Barry.

The Sound Of Music is Cast!

Posted on by Alix Ashurst

Congratulations to everyone who auditioned, the standard as always was very high and you should all be proud of yourselves.

Below is the cast list for The Sound Of Music:

 

Cast:

Maria – Sarah Hender

Captain Von Trapp– Jez Malpas

Mother Abbess – Kate King

Baroness Elsa – Alix Ashurst

Max– Cameron Sim

 

Frau Schmidt – Linda Adlam

Butler Franz -Richard York

Rolf – Oliver Halford

Zeller – Kevin Clarke

Von Schreiber – Adrian Dobson

 

Sister Sophia – Laura Woolley, Nun Berthe – Natalie Littlewood & Nun Margaretta – Nicole Ray

The Wedding Singer Review

Posted on by Alix Ashurst
Thank you to Carpe Diem Emmie for reviewing The Wedding Singer

The Wedding Singer
LAOS
★★★★★
LAOS is a well-established theatre company from Loughborough. They started performing in 1895 and have performed an impressive amount of musicals; both classic and modern. Their latest production is The Wedding Singer; mostly known for the hit movie from 1998 which starred Adam Sandler and Drew Barrymore.  It’s a musical full of fun, love and most importantly, 80’s vibes!
Time warp back to the year 1985, the year that was dominated by Madonna, Back to the Future, Super Mario Bros and where hair is big, greed was a good thing and the wedding singer was the coolest man in town. We follow Robbie (James Nelson), New Jersey’s favourite wedding singer. He’s the life of the party until his finance, Linda, leaves him at the altar. He allows his heartbreak to affect every wedding as disastrous as his own. He bumps into Julia (Erica Makin) and he falls madly in love with her. But it’s not that easy, she’s engaged to a Wall Street big shot named Glen (Cameron Sim).
LAOS has produced a production that delivers on an impressive standard and a fantastic night at the theatre.
Erica Makin is truly sublime as Julia and not only does she have a natural ability to portray the sweet, unassuming and caring character but she has west end qualities in how she delivers the vocals and more emotional numbers. I could feel how many eyes in the audience immediately took a liking to Makin and were with her throughout the entire production.
James Nelson too is impeccable as the leading man, Robbie. His traditional values for love ooze out from his performance, particularly in those moments when he needed to experience challenging moments for this character.
There was a heart stopping moment as we saw these two characters draw towards one another for Grow Old With You and it was one of the most gorgeous moments in theatre I have ever seen performed. I felt the emotion through every note of this number.
Collectively the entire cast of this production deliver a fantastic performance with well timed choreography (Jeanette Patrick – Cooper) and fill the spacious stage that Loughborough Town Hall has to offer. Some of my favourite numbers include Saturday Night in the City, It’s Your Wedding Day because of their slick choreography and impressive vocals. The standard of the vocals is a credit to the hard work and commitment behind LAOS. It was an enjoyable production from the very beginning.
Sammy (Oliver Halford) and George (Jack Phillips) provide fantastic accompaniment to Robbie and have fantastic comedic timing. Holly is a very uninhibited and forward character and Gemma Landers does a marvelous job at portraying her feisty character. Her big musical number Saturday Night in the City really showed what a fantastic performer Landers is and I hope to see more from her.
The Wedding Singer is a fun musical with fantastic elements of humor, unforgettable musical numbers and a gorgeous love story at its heart. You will probably want to book Robbie and his band for your wedding day after enjoying the production.
Don’t miss LAOS perform The Wedding Singer at Loughborough Town Hall until 14 September. Make sure you head over to the website to book your tickets or to see what future productions they will be putting up! 

Launch Of Molly’s Gift

Posted on by Alix Ashurst

LAURA FLETCHER has been busy helping out on the launch day of ‘Molly’s Gift’ – a fundraising trust set up in memory of her close friend Molly Webb who sadly passed away in January aged 25. The launch was a huge success and managed to raise over £3,000 for the trust. Well done Laura!

Charity Solent Swim

Posted on by Alix Ashurst

GEMMA LANDERS, who plays Holly in THE WEDDING SINGER, braved the cold waters to swim across the Solent from Gosport to the Isle Of Wight – a distance of 2.79 miles in 1hr 50 mins for Aspire charity! Well done Gemma!