We had a great time on Saturday night!  An enthusiastic audience had a great sing and raised £740 for our charities.  Thank you to everyone who came along, participated so willingly and donated so generously.

And thanks too, on your behalf to the wonderful cast, musicians and crew.  And to all the people who helped behind the scenes (we raised £70 selling mini knitted Hops!).

If you would like to see some pictures of the evening click here:  https://www.flickr.com/photos/123988951@N03/

And I’ve had a moment of inspiration!  Singsational Nottingham! is not a sing-a-long, it is a Community Musical.

Why?

• A Singsation event has a story
• A Singsation event has a cast, a script and is staged (complete with props, sound and lighting)
• A Singsation event is accompanied by live music
• A Singsation event has a lot of singing
• A Singsation event involves as many aspects of the local community as possible
• A Singsation event is fun!

So watch this space to see what the next Singsation community musical will be!

In exactly one week from now Singsational Nottingham! 2014 will be starting.  And, in the company of ‘Hop’ the Pigeon, we will be singing our way through the story of WW1.

There will be a lot of singing!

But you don’t have to do all the singing yourselves.  You will also be able to listen to the children of the WHP Federation School Choir and the chamber choir, “Harlequin”.

You will be able to buy your very own souvenir hand-knitted ‘Hop’ .

You will be able to study a display about Beeston during WW1 which has been prepared by the local history society and to see the work of the school children during the interval.

You can show off your “Edwardian” flat cap or shawl if you decide to come in contemporary costume!

And you will be able to give generously to our three charities:  Hope Nottingham; the Friary and Help for Heroes

SEE YOU NEXT SATURDAY!

Singsational Nottingham! will commence at 7.30pm on SaturdayMay 17th at Chilwell Road Methodist Church, Beeston, Nottingham, NG9 1EH. Tickets will cost £5.00 (£2.00 for children) and are available on the door or in advance by contacting 0115 943 1164

(If you do not know the area well, park in “Foster Avenue” car park, because the tram works are making it hard to get to the church by car at the moment).

I hope that you are all continuing to “warm up” your voices ready for lots of singing in three Saturdays time.  We’ve had a technical discussion this evening, so that we know that we have all the lighting, sound and projection equipment that will be needed – so things are progressing nicely!

If you are able to join us on the evening, why not add to the authenticity of the event by coming in Edwardian garb?  At its simplest, this could be a flat cap for the gents and a woollen shawl for the ladies.  If you fancy going to town a bit more, I’ve collected together a few ideas on this document which you can download.  Costumes – suggestions

We are also fortunate enough to have a small display about Beeston during WW1 which has been prepared by the local history society.  It will be available for you to take a look at during the interval.

Singsational Nottingham! will commence at 7.30pm on SaturdayMay 17th at Chilwell Road Methodist Church, Beeston, Nottingham, NG9 1EH. Tickets will cost £5.00 (£2.00 for children) and are available on the door or in advance by contacting 0115 943 1164

As you will have noticed by now, Singsational Nottingham! is subtitled ‘”Hop” the Pigeon’ on this occasion.  And for good reason because our WW1 sing-a-long will indeed feature a pigeon called “Hop”

I’m delighted to say that there will be some miniature “Hop”‘s for sale during the interval on May 17th – all proceeds will go to the three charities that we are supporting – The Friary; Help for Heroes and Hope Nottingham.

If  you would like to do your bit to raise funds and  you can knit, why not make a (few) “Hop”‘s to sell?  Please download the pattern and bring them along to the evening – you can donate them to the stall before we start.  Don’t worry if you do not have the correct coloured wool – I think a flock of rainbow coloured pigeons would look very nice!

Hop the Pigeon knitting pattern

Singsational Nottingham! will commence at 7.30pm on SaturdayMay 17th at Chilwell Road Methodist Church, Beeston, Nottingham, NG9 1EH. Tickets will cost £5.00 (£2.00 for children) and are available on the door or in advance by contacting 0115 943 1164

I’m delighted to announce that the WHP Federation of Schools Choir, featuring children and staff from Alderman White and Bramcote Hills Schools will be taking part in “Singsational Nottingham! 2014 – Hop the Pigeon – a WW1 sing-a-long”.  The young people will sing us some songs from their repertoire as the story progresses and help make the evening into a true community event.

In addition, there will be a display of their school work – Newspaper front pages, inspired by the men of Bramcote village who went away to war – for you to look at during the interval.

Singsational Nottingham! will commence at 7.30pm on SaturdayMay 17th at Chilwell Road Methodist Church, Beeston, Nottingham, NG9 1EH. Tickets will cost £5.00 (£2.00 for children) and are available on the door or in advance by contacting 0115 943 1164

I’m pleased to be able to tell you that “Singsational Nottingham! 2014 – Hop the Pigeon – a WW1 sing-a-long” has been accepted as part of the Nottingham City and County Council “Trent to Trenches” series of events commemorative events.  You can find more details of all the events and other activities here:  http://www.experiencenottinghamshire.com/trent-to-trenches

This means that the event was listed in the Nottingham Post yesterday evening, so hopefully that will lead to an even bigger audience.

If anyone thinks they can help with the organisation of this year’s Singsation! over the next ten weeks, please let me know.  If you can help with publicity, props etc. I’d be delighted to hear from you!

Singsational Nottingham! will commence at 7.30pm on SaturdayMay 17th at Chilwell Road Methodist Church, Beeston, Nottingham, NG9 1EH. Tickets will cost £5.00 (£2.00 for children) and are available on the door or in advance by contacting 0115 943 1164