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Sponsored by
Chris Boot on Iolanthe
More money in the budget and a huge intake of members, meant that we were well underway for what looked like a cracking show! Money still posed a problem, so we decided to try and economise as much as we could as well as trying to raise money from other sources that we hadn't tried before. A major letter writing campaign was started, trying to get advertising for the programme as well as sponsors for the show. Well over two hundred letters were written to companies all over the area, and these were delivered by hand by willing members. It seemed like a lot of work, but we had to increase the size of the programme to eight pages and we got the Midland Bank to sponsor us for one hundred pounds - I know this doesn't sound a lot, but it paid for all our printing costs!
The plans for the scenery required a number of stage weights - something beyond our capacity. With a bit of 'phoning around, we managed to get the Army to donate some empty sandbags. A trip to Scarborough in the minibus with an empty dustbin provided us with the sand, which after the show was tipped into the lake near Central Hall, creating a beach which remained for several years.
The scenery in Act I took fairyland directly to the countryside of The Magic Roundabout, with lollipop shaped trees, enormous magic mushrooms and bright green, yellow and blue bushes. Act II was more conventional, being set on the Embankment overlooking Parliament.
Costumes came from "Homburgs" in Leeds, and were definitely worth the money, even though some of the fairies costumes were slightly too fluorescent.
The committee had the wonderful idea of parading around the streets of York a week before the production (the first time this was done), much to the delight of several American tourists who were convinced that the male chorus really were members of the House of Lords.
The performances were not without their mishaps: one night the pounding feet of the 30-strong female chorus vibrated the stageblocks apart resulting in the disappearance of three fairies during the opening song. Once again the snickersnee appeared, this time when the Fairy Queen decided to kill Iolanthe.
