LONELY Mountain Music is to present an evening of contemporary folk music at The Thame Players Theatre in Nelson Street, Thame, on Saturday, January 25.
Musician, Ed Prosek
The show will feature three artists, the headline act being Ed Prosek, a 22 year old Californian, now living in Bridgton, who brings a modern authenticity, passion and originality to the British Singer-Songwriting scene and is quickly establishing himself.
On the bill too are Jameson, also from the USA and British group, Whiskey for the Wounded. The fourth artist on the bill is Joe Keelan, former front man of Liverpool’s leading folk collective, The Random Family, Joe has struck out on his own since the band hung up their instruments for the last time. “His songs are beautiful, heartfelt and sung with a truly original voice bringing together the traditions of British folk music with contemporary songwriting values.”
The event will begin at 7.45pm – Tickets: £12.50 – ONLY available from www.wegottickets.com or follow the link on Thame Players’ website www.thameplayers.co.uk. They are NOT available through Tickets Anywhere or by telephone.
A woman from Towersey who is going to run exercise classes in the village for older and/or disabled people during January, would like to know whether a similar scheme would be welcomed in Thame.
Barbara Jordan has been running these sessions in Princes Risborough at Churchill Court for over a year. “The people that take part seem to really enjoy themselves and, it helps to keep me fit as well!” said Barbara. Here are the details:
“Now is the time to make a new year’s resolution to improve your fitness. Extend tutors have been teaching exercise to music for older adults and people with disabilities for over 30 years. If you have any physical restrictions you just need to let us know. We are trained to ensure that you exercise within your limits. We can provide easier, alternative or seated exercises whenever appropriate. We help and encourage people of all shapes and sizes to improve their general health and maintain independence and mobility in an enjoyable atmosphere.
“Just look at these benefits of our Extend exercise classes –
· Improvement in quality of life through keeping active
· Improvement in balance and agility
· Greater movement and mobility
· Better posture and co-ordination
· Support from qualified exercise professionals
· Enjoyable and worthwhile social activity
· Fun and friendship
“Come and give us a try. EXTEND may be right up your street! When? – Tuesday afternoon at 2.30 pm to 3.30 pm Where? – Towersey memorial Hall To find out more visit the Extend website – www.extend.org.uk Or ring Barbara on 01844 212195″
THE local community choir, Village Voices, is now over four years old and is thriving. Based in Towersey, the choir’s members come from all round the surrounding area including Chinnor, Thame, Princes Risborough, Monks Risborough, Haddenham and further afield. Village Voices meets on Friday evenings in term-time at Towersey Memorial Hall between 7.30 and 9.30 p.m. The weekly cost is £5, or £1 for students, and it doesn’t matter if you can’t come every week.
Village Voices singing in Thame town centre at Christmas
Choir Organiser, Ruth Ruddock explained: “We sing all types of songs from all over the world – traditional, folk, pop, ballads, gospel, jazz, blues…you name it, we try it! We learn these songs by listening and copying, from simple rounds and chants to glorious harmony singing, songs from a wide range of musical traditions.
“You don’t have to audition for our choir and you don’t need to read music – you just need to like singing, or want to have a go at singing even if you haven’t done so for a long time. There have been many reports recently about how good singing is for you, both mentally and physically, but basically community choirs are all about having fun – no-one is excluded, no-one is asked to sing solo, no-one is made to feel bad if they can’t quite get that note; everyone is welcome.
“Very occasionally we perform in public, with the emphasis being on having fun rather than being perfect! Over the last few years we’ve sung at the Towersey Festival, Towersey Village Fete, Music in the Park in Thame, Chinnor Village Centre Christmas Fayre and, most recently, at the St. Andrew’s Chinnor Christmas Tree Festival and at Thame Market. Some of our members also joined the Oxford Community Choir in the Christmas Light Festival Day of Song, singing in the Clarendon Centre, the Jam Factory and onstage in St. Giles – all great fun.
In October 2012 we organised the first Chiltern Community Choir Festival at Mill Lane School in Chinnor, when over 150 singers from various community choirs in the area joined us for a day of workshops and joyous massed singing, directed by renowned community choir leaders. Given an enormously enthusiastic response, the second CCCF took place – again at Mill Lane School – in October 2013 and we are now planning the third for October 2014.
New members are always welcome, so please do have a look at our website www.villagevoicestowersey.com for further information, call Madeleine on 01844 352468 or Ruth on 01844 352894, or email villagevoices.towersey@gmail.com. We start up again in the New Year on Friday 10 January, and look forward to hearing from you.
THE film GRAVITY, Starring Sandra Bullock, George Clooney, will be screened at Thame Cinema 4 All, at the Players Theatre, Nelson Street, Thame, on Saturday, January 11, 2014. USA 2013, 91 minutes, 12A certificate – Directed by Alphonso Cuaron.
Cuaron’s staggering, visually breathtaking film is an edge-of-your-seat thriller set in present day space. Bullock is Dr Ryan Stone, sent to install a monitoring device on the Hubble telescope under the watchful eye of Clooney’s Matt Kowalski, a cavalier old timer perfectly at home in the deep and endless silent blackness, and the strange white structures that are home to the communities that live and work there.
As the film opens the two are at work, bobbing about in (zero) gravity, tethered to their station like foetuses with long, snaking umbilical cords, Matt trading humorous anecdotes with Mission Control back in Houston. But disaster soon strikes: a collision with the debris from an exploded satellite hurtling through space like vast bullets means that Ryan and Matt are at risk of being killed or being permanently cast adrift into the lifeless nothing-ness. What ensues is an hour and a half of almost unbearable tension. But for all its nods to the classics of the space movie genre (2001: A Space Odyssey, Solaris…) this is not science fiction but an old-fashioned action thriller – the will they / won’t they make it storyline – that happens to be set in the magnificent blackness of space, with the glory of planet earth ever present in the background, the place and the life and the future that might never be returned to. Gripping and heartbreakingly moving in equal measure – a real roller coaster of a movie.
WONDERING how to keep the family entertained over the Christmas holidays without spending too much? Need to burn off those festive calories? Why not pull on your boots and Christmas jumper and get out into the Chilterns countryside? There are many great walks to be enjoyed through fabulous scenery, and the Chilterns Conservation Board has selected 12 of the best – one for each day of Christmas!
Dunstable Downs
The ’12 Walks of Christmas’ range from an easy 1 mile stroll above Watlington in the lovely Aston Rowant National Nature Reserve to a four mile walk along the banks of the River Thames from Goring-on-Thames. There’s also a walk from Christmas Common, the most festive-sounding village in the UK! There are spectacular views from all the walks and quite often a pub or two along the way to pop into for some refreshment. Keep an eye out for red kites soaring overhead too.
Don’t get caught up in traffic jams this Christmas – stay local and enjoy the beautiful countryside on your doorstep, and look after yourself and your wallet!
THAME Choral Society’s Christmas concert, the first to be conducted by the Society’s new Choral Director, Helen Swift, opened with a rousing performance of Gaudete, the 16th century carol made popular by the electric folk group Steeleye Span, but the main work in the first half was a performance of Benjamin Britten’s exciting choral show piece, A Ceremony of Carols, sung on this occasion in the arrangement for mixed choir.
Helen Swift
Continuing with the celebration of the centenary of the composer’s birth, the choir was joined by the young soprano, Jessica Wise and local harpist Sarah Goss.
The concert also included carols old and new, several of which the audience were invited to join in with. St Mary’s church in Thame, where the concert was staged on Saturday (08/12), has fine acoustics for choral singing and the choir and audience singing together, with the ladies of the choir singing descant, produced a glorious sound. The carols and songs were accompanied by organist and pianist, Geoffrey Heath, who has a long association with the Society.
Seasonal refreshments of hot mulled wine and mince pies added extra spice to the second half, a highlight of which was a solo performance by Sarah Goss of settings for harp of Debussy’s First Arabesque, Clare de Lune and an arrangement of Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas. The choral items were punctuated with readings by members of the choir from Genesis and Luke, and amusing monologues by Gervase Phinn of A Yorkshire Nativity and by John Julius Norwich of The Twelve Days of Christmas. The concert ended with a plea by the gentlemen for the ladies to stay, in a setting of Baby’s it’s Cold Outside, which composer Frank Loesser premiered with his wife, Lynn Garland, at a 1944 housewarming party.
Thame Choral Society’s Chair, Judith Newenham, said: ” It was clear that our varied, seasonal programme brought a refreshing change, and was greatly enjoyed by our loyal audience. Our singing was excellent throughout under our new, confident and talented Musical Director, Helen Swift.”
Thame Choral Society, founded in 1961, is an informal, friendly, non audition choir committed to the enjoyment of music. It has performed a wide range of choral works from baroque through the classical and romantic composers, to modern pieces by Britten and Poulenc, performing two major concerts each year at St Mary’s Church. Rehearsals for next year’s Spring concert, which takes the theme The Spirit of England , begin on January 8, 2014. New and former singers are always welcome. This, and subsequent rehearsals will be at the Methodist Church, Haddenham on Wednesday evenings from 7.30 to 9.30pm.
More information about the choir can be found on their website www.thamechoralsociety.co.uk and by sending an email to thamechoralsociety@hotmail.co.uk.
Attached photograph shows members of Thame Choral Society with from left to right at the front, Helen Swift ‐ choral director, Jessica Wise – Soprano and Sarah Goss – harp.
FOR the first time ever, Thame’s senior citizens were lead in a Karaoke session at their annual Christmas tea party, by the Mayor of Thame, Peter Lambert.
This year’s Christmas Tea was jointly organised by the Rotary and Inner Wheel Clubs of Thame in collaboration with the Mayor of Thame and Thame Town Council. The traditional annual event took place on Friday, December 13, at the Thame Football Club.
The choir of John Hampden School, Thame
Almost 100 senior citizens were sung to by the choir of John Hampden Primary School in Thame, and then joined Peter Lambert, the Mayor in singing a variety of seasonal songs with the words projected onto a large screen.
Tyrell Gillman, Community and Vocational Chairman at the Thame Rotary Club, said: “The school’s children, staff and parents did an outstanding job leading a most wonderful show. The generosity of the three Thame supermarkets who provided most of the food, made it possible for the members from the Rotary, Inner Wheel, Thame Town Council and other local volunteers to prepare and serve a veritable feast. A big ‘thank you’ must go out to everyone involved.”
The President of Rotary, Jeannette Matelot Green, commented: “We have to thank Frank Thompson and his staff for creating a lovely, Christmassy ambience at the Football Club. And as well as those mentioned above, the chauffeurs from Rotary, Thame Town Council and the Day Centre who ferried all our guests to and from the party. And thank you to Tyrell Gillman for organising a smashing Christmas Party !”
For more information about volunteer and membership opportunities with the Rotary Club of Thame, visit: www.thame.rotaryweb.org
THE Carnegie Trust and Novello Publishing are supporting choirs in the UK by sponsoring the purchase of a new collection of Christmas music, specially arranged for children and adults to sing together – Carols for All. Thame Children’s Choir and Thame Chamber Choir are joining forces under Musical Director Duncan Aspden in one of the first ever performances of this brand new music.
Thame Chamber Choir has been awarded a grant from the Carnegie UK Trust to help them stage this special carol concert with Thame Children’s Choir. The grant has been used to purchase 45 copies of Carols for Everyone. The choir will be performing pieces from the collection at St Mary’s Church, Thame, on Saturday December 21. Doors open at 7pm for 7.30pm. Tickets: £12 (Concessions £10), children under 16 FREE, from CAAOS Computers, Buttermarket, Thame, on the door or from the website www.thamechamberchoir.org
IT”S been half a century since Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy died. There is good reason why they are the best-loved comedy duo of all time. They were the pioneers of modern comedy and their movies have delighted generation after generation for almost 100 years.
‘Hats Off to Laurel and Hardy’ is a brand new play about the lives of Stan and Ollie. It will guide you through their early years, their steady rise to international stardom, the decline of their movie careers and their phoenix-like revival on the stages of Europe. It details their commitment to their work, the love of their wives and – most enduring – their unerring devotion to each other.
Expect recreated highlights from their huge canon of work, accompanied by a little singing and some questionable dancing.
Performed by Lucky Dog Theatre Productions – Saturday February 8, 2014, at 7.45pm
Tickets: £10 and £9 with £1 off for concessions; Tickets online from www.thameplayers.co.uk (10% booking fee applies) or Tickets Anywhere, Greyhound Walk, Thame – 01844 217228
FUND raising for Aston Rowant Primary School’s new hall was given a boost after its charity movie premiere, organised by BBC Sport presenter, Lizzie Greenwood-Hughes, made just over £3000.
Members of the dance group, White Star Performers, with Amit Gupta, Ray Panthaki and Lizzie Greenwood-Hughes
In a pop-up style cinema, Kingston Blount Village Hall was packed with movie goers to watch the DVD premiere of the British feature film, Jadoo, followed by ‘an audience with’ the Director – Amit Gupta’ afterwards.
Delighted with the success of the evening, Lizzie said: “The night was everything I’d hoped it would be. It had a proper ‘movie premiere’ feel with the red carpet and dancers. Everyone loved the film and we had so much local support with free canapés from DuoChef, to the wine and beer from a local wholesaler who wants to remain anonymous. Kingfisher lager and Majestic Wine were also very generous and the popcorn was donated from Waitrose. It was just like a real cinema!”
The film’s Director, Amit Gupta, lives locally and his daughter attends Aston Rowant School. He explained how the event came about: “I was asked by Lizzie, whose daughter is in the same class as mine, if I would mind the film being screened to raise money for the new hall. You don’t say ‘no’ to Lizzie and the school clearly needs a hall. The kids can’t do PE if it’s raining and they need somewhere to stage plays and performances.”
Amit’s close friend and one of the film’s stars, Ray Panthaki, also attended the premiere. The former Eastenders actor joined in the question and answer session and pulled the raffle.
Aston Rowant’s Head Teacher, Judith Lawson, thanked the audience for their support afterwards adding: “This is just the beginning. We were given planning permission this week to build the new classroom so we can convert the old hall back into a hall for sport and assemblies, and for the children to eat their lunch. We need to raise over a quarter of a million pounds to complete the building project. Aston Rowant is a great little school and together we can make it greater.”
As well as the film screening, the red carpet event featured a specially choreographed dance routine from White Star Performers who provide dance tuition to school’s in the Oxford area. Tanya White, Director of White Star Performers, said: “We felt strongly about supporting this event because the new hall will enable the pupils to do dance classes at school. It was wonderful that so many of the guests were delighted with our dancers as they came onto the red carpet, even to see some joining in with us! We’d like to thank Linda Mace who provided our costumes for this fantastic event.”
The cinema experience was made all the more genuine by Kandya Limited who provided their professional screening services free of charge. The company’s Director, Graham Southgate, is friends with the event’s co-organiser Phil Archer, whose children recently attended Aston Rowant Primary School. “Because I know Phil, when Lizzie asked, I wanted to help,” he explained. “The end result looked and sounded really good. It’s incredible how you can turn a village hall into a proper cinema. They even had my friend’s children as ushers with torches!”
ABOUT JADOO
Co-starring Madhur Jaffrey, Jadoo is a British-made comedy about two feuding brothers and their curry restaurants in Leicester (a bit like East is East.) The film has just finished its UK general release following its world premiere at the Berlin Film Festival.
The Express – “Buoyant and beautifully shot, the picture is a celebration of food and family life that adroitly sidesteps many cultural clichés”
The BBC’s Mark Kermode – “I watched the whole thing with a big smile on my face.”
Jadoo’s classification is 12a, running time – 84 minutes.
