Treasure Island - Jan 2024

An Audience with Maureen – 2015

Pantos Maureen appeared in - 1977 to 2018

On Saturday 18th July 2015 we held a one off show “An audience with Maureen”, our longest serving active member to celebrate her 39 years with the group.

It was an enjoyable evening with several surprise guests along the way.

The profits from the show were shared equally between 3 charities (Caudwell Children, The Sick Children’s trust and The Hillside Animal sanctuary)

Here are just a few of the great audience comments we had.

  • “I went with my son and a friend to watch An Audience with Maureen and have to say it was the best night ever.

    My emotions were all over the place, from tears at seeing Maureen getting emotional, bless her, to tears of laughter.

    It was absolutely hilarious and I haven’t laughed so much in ages.

    My son couldn’t stop talking about it on our way home as he enjoyed it so much too.

    Thank you Loddon Players – especially Maureen and Titch who were absolutely hilarious and their energies bounced off each other as it always does.

    Great night thank you xxx”

  • “You were all fantastic guys, absolutely hilarious!! Well done all! Hope Maureen had a great time too xx”

     

  • A great evening of entertainment, Loddon Players did it again. How they come up with these ideas I never know xxx

     

  • A great night with Maureen, I laughed from the moment the show started. Well done everyone who was involved.

     

  • Maureen was on fire tonight at her show, laughed until I cried, what a fantastic idea….

     

  • An audience with Maureen, better than TV. Some lovely sketches, performed well. Perhaps there needs to be a new TV channel “Loddon Players TV”, I would watch it all the time!!!

     

Review – Beccles and Bungay Journal

Maureen Larkin’s contributions to pantomimes and other drama productions in Loddon was celebrated with a humourous and often emotional evening at the Hobart High School on Saturday evening.

An Evening with Maureen Larkin looked back over more than 40 years in which she has become a much-loved legend, particularly in the pantomimes in which she has starred since the middle 1970s.

She and other pantomime regulars re-created favourite hilarious sketches and jokes from some of them, and in between Anthony Bunting interviewed her about her life and work, and put questions from the audience to her.

She discussed her favourite pantomimes, sketches, characters and memorable moments in her life during the evening. And she also met friends who had been in the original pantomome productions, including Joan Evans and John Harris.

And Maureen was in tears of emotion when members of her family made a surprise appearance – son Ian, a professional entertainer, his wife Michele, and Maureen’s granddaughter Annie. Son Andrew was also there.

Ian, Michele and Annie all sang as part of the entertainment as super-trooper Maureen – and the audience – enjoyed a memorable evening, which included a finger buffet.

Afterwards Maureen said she had enjoyed the evening and thanked everyone involved in staging it.

But she said she was not yet ready to give up being involved with Loddon pantomimes, now in their fifth decade.

Proceeds from the event will go to Maureen’s chosen charities – Caudwell Children, which provides family support services and other needs for disabled children and their families; the Sick Children’s Trust, which help to keep families close to their children when they are sick; and Hillside Animal Sanctuary.

Terry Reeve