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A scandal in sandals coming to the stage in Fintry
FADS show
INNUENDO, double entendre, comedy, tragedy and musical innovation will all be in evidence in Fintry on and around the ‘Ides of March’ as the Romans make their first recorded visit to the village.
Fifty years after the farcical musical ‘A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum’ was staged for the first time on Broadway, the Fintry Amateur Dramatic Society (FADS) is staging its own production of the hugely-entertaining comedy, from March 12 to 16 in the Menzies Hall.
Producer Martin Turner said: “Because of the complexities of the musical score, this is a very challenging piece for an amateur club to take on and with most of our musicians tied up on other – more lucrative – projects, we’ve had to find an innovative solution.
“We’ve located a brilliant computer programme which allows us to add a whole host of instruments, from violins to drums, trumpets to triangles, to a lead melody performed by our keyboards player.
“That means our audiences will be treated to a full orchestra sound, which has never been possible in Fintry, because if we were to seat an orchestra in the hall we’d have no room left for the public.”
The original stage show of ‘Forum’ was turned into a successful film starring Zero Mostel, who won the lead role when Phil Silvers (‘Sgt Bilko’) turned it down.
Martin explained: “Silvers allegedly turned down the part as he would have been required to remove his specs on stage and he was worried, given his terrible eyesight, he might fall into the orchestra pit.
“Art is definitely imitating art in our production as our leading man, Andy Barr, has equally poor eyesight. However, he is somewhat braver than Silvers, and he WILL be performing without his glasses, although I suppose, for reasons I’ve explained, he won’t have to worry about plunging into the orchestra pit.”
Although the Romans were very busy in West Stirlingshire from AD 79, there’s no record of them having visited Fintry.
FADS is about to change that as the ‘Ides of March’ approach and all roads (Roman and otherwise) lead to the Menzies Hall and the drama club’s latest innovative production.
Tickets cost £8.50, £6 concession (for Tuesday and Wednesday performances only) and are on sale now at Fintry Sports Club, Balfron Library, Killearn Pharmacy and Drymen Library or from Liz Brown by phoning 01360 860078.
Members of the society are pictured above.
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Weather for Milngavie
Wednesday 22 May 2013
Today
Sunny spells
Temperature: 4 C to 13 C
Wind Speed: 23 mph
Wind direction: North west
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Sunny spells
Temperature: 4 C to 12 C
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