The HSAP Christmas Party was held on 3rd December at the Pavilions of Harrogate and was a superb event to kick start the festive season!

Your committee planned a fantastic evening’s entertainment with party games, a Christmas buffet, singing, dancing and a charity auction!

We are delighted to announce that the auction raised £300 and would like to thank everyone for their generosity, both in bidding for the fantastic prizes on offer and also for donating the prizes themselves.

Everyone agreed that it was a fantastic night and we are hoping that this will become an annual event! Our thanks must also go to Colin for providing his DJ services for the evening – a party is simply not an HSAP party without Colin and his karaoke!

Merry Christmas to all HSAP Members and Friends!

Leeds Amateur Operatic Society are staging Disney’s Beauty and the Beast from 16-20 November at the Leeds Grand Theatre.

With Louise and Jim at the helm, and many of HSAP’s members in the cast, the show is sure to be spectacular and well worth our support!

Footloose is soon to explode onto the Harrogate Theatre stage with classic ‘80s anthems including HOLDING OUT FOR A HERO, ALMOST PARADISE, LET’S HEAR IT FOR THE BOY, and of course the title track, FOOTLOOSE!

Life in small-town Bomont is peaceful until city boy, Ren, arrives.  Breaking every taboo, Ren brings dance back to the heart of a town held back by the memory of a tragedy.

Based on the hit ‘80s movie (which launched the careers of Kevin Bacon, Sarah Jessica Parker and Jon Lithgow), FOOTLOOSE has become a stage musical phenomenon.  From Broadway to the West End and touring across the UK, there is just no stopping the music!

With our award winning production team of LOUISE DENISON and JIM LUNT, FOOTLOOSE is sure to bring the house down!  Don’t miss it! 

Be sure to order your tickets online at www.harrogatetheatre.co.uk or phone the Box Office on 01423 502116.

As some of you may know, we had some unexpected drop outs from the cast of ‘Footloose’ recently…most out of character for the two ladies involved!  However, for those of you who haven’t heard, I can reveal the real reason behind it all…

It is with great pleasure that I can announce that Alex ‘Darby’ Carey and Jacqueline ‘Hogg’ Bell are both pregnant!  I’m sure you will join me in wishing them both well for the future!  And on the subject of baby news – long standing committee members Isobel Thompson and Sue Kelley have both recently become grandmothers again!  
Congratulations to you all!

Congratulations to everyone involved in HSAP’s latest production of High School Musical!

Moving away from Harrogate Theatre was not without its difficulties, but the cast and crew rose admirably to the challenge and presented an energetic and fun packed show to high critical acclaim.  Sadly, the audience numbers were lower than we had hoped for but those that made the journey to Ashville College all commented on what a high standard the young people involved had achieved!

Congratulations to everyone who was involved in producing another fabulous HSAP production!

Following the AGM, here are your new committee for 2010-2011:

President - John Hopkins
Chairman - Alex Hogg
Treasurer - Andrew Walker
Secretary - Laura Jackson
Business Manager - Emma Hogg
Membership Manager - Kay Hogg
Membership Secretary / Social and Fundraising - Niki Morton
Press & Publicity Manager - Mick Britton
Press Officer - Susannah Todd
Website Manager / Publicity Officer - Richard Burnley
Librarian / Publicity Officer - Debra Marriott
Programme Editor / Vice Chairman - Jennifer Cowling
Social and Fundraising Manager - Vicky Garbett
Rehearsals Co-ordinator - Vicky Bee
Assistant Treasurer - Isobel Thompson
Corporate Sponsorship - Rob Ellis

Moving a production to a venue without its own box office has proved a little tricky – however, we are delighted to announce that tickets for High School Musical are now available!  HSAP now has an online ticketing system whereby tickets can be purchased for this slick Disney production, which is being staged at Ashville College in July 2010.

For full details of the production, plus a link to the online ticket booking system, please visit our website at www.hsap.co.uk

HSAP took Bridlington by storm when they performed excerpts from “Fabulous at 40” at the NODA North East weekend.  The company rose to the challenge and received critical acclaim!  And not only did they wow audiences on stage, their off-stage antics leading the dancing at the Ball will go down in HSAP folklore.

Our NODA NE regional representative sent us a lovely e-mail congratulating the society on our performances – here is a small portion of what he said:

“I don’t need to say how well your two performances went down; the audience reaction said it all!  While you’re playing to your peers, and they can of course be the most critical, they are at the same time willing you to succeed.  And succeed you most certainly did.  It was just brilliant; a delightfully balanced programme, expertly executed.

Please convey to Louise, Jim and the whole company, both on and off stage, my warmest congratulations on a superb production and my sincere thanks for accepting my invitation to Bridlington.  I was SO very proud of you all.”

And here is an extract from the NODA NE Weekend Co-ordinator:

“Just a brief personal note from me to thank.....all those from HSAP who contributed towards a tremendously successful Cabaret on Saturday evening at Bridlington.

All of your hard work in building up to the Weekend was rewarded with two terrific performances, which were much appreciated by the audiences.  The standard was so high in everything that you did on stage and I have received many messages of congratulations from people who obviously enjoyed what they saw.

Thanks again and with best wishes for all of your future Productions – I shall certainly be in the audience to enjoy them.”

Well done to everyone involved!

Throughout 2009, our 40th Anniversary year, we distributed our newsletter, Staples, to all Members and Friends both past and present.   We hope you enjoyed receiving news from HSAP and would like to continue in 2010!

Those of you who are not paid up Performers or Friends and wish to keep in touch with the society may wish to consider becoming a Friend of HSAP!  Not only will you receive our Newsletter but you also get a free programme at every show, discounts on all social events and a host of other benefits!  You are also supporting the society and we’ll even mention you in our main show programme – all for the incredibly low price of £15 a year.  If you would like to become a Friend please contact Kay on membership@hsap.co.uk.

We are still looking for guys to be part of the company for High School Musical.  Extra auditions have been scheduled for Tuesday 9th February – if you are interested please e-mail membership@hsap.co.uk for more details.

Auditions for the adult roles are also being held that night – if you would like to audition please contact membership@hsap.co.uk to obtain the audition material you will need!