Welcome to our February 2025 Newsletter
Our latest pantomime The Pied Piper finished its run on 25th January.
We shall shortly be announcing our summer production – watch this space!
As we reported in our January edition, every performance of The Pied Piper was completely sold out. In all 756 seats were sold. Together with record receipts for 9 shows in respect of raffle tickets, programmes and ice creams sold, it has resulted in us being able to make significant donations to mainly local good causes.
We have now made donations of £500 each to:
The Nook (East Anglian Children’s Hospice)
Loddon Community Larder (Food Bank)
Funky Feet School of Dance & Performing Arts
World Cancer Research (the additional subject of our up coming Charity Quiz Night – see below).
Thank you all for your continued support allowing us to add another £2,000 of donations this year to add to over £80,000 of donations we have made since 1976.
How far have we come since the end of COVID?
In September 2022, we met for our AGM. The outlook for The Loddon Players was bleak.
Having been unable to undertake any productions since our last pantomime in 2020, frankly we had no money, indeed, not enough to cover our annual bills. Hazel, who ran our box office for many years had retired.
Those at that meeting had no illusions. We had to either take a risk and put on a pantomime in 2023 or we would fold. We knew we were not in a position to put one on at our traditional time in January. We did not know if there was still an audience and whether they would support a pantomime in March.
Decisions were made by some members – they know who they are – to take on a significant risk of, if necessary, bankrolling the production, the website, and the online box office arrangements that needed to be built.
Our amazing Producer Steve Burton came up with a brilliant script for Mother Goose. Jackie Bingham with so much experience over many decades, took on the role of Director.
A superb cast – led by the inimitable Anthony Bunting – in the lead role with a number of stalwart performers but also some talented newbies to pantomime were selected.
We were again so lucky to have the awesome Funky Feet dancers – marshalled by the brilliant Miss Vicky
Alan Cant once again put his stellar musical talents at our disposal.
Pauline Mason and her sewing team produced sensational costumes on a tiny budget.
We could not afford lighting and sound equipment that in past productions had cost a minimum of £1,000 to hire. With the amazing help of our lighting “guru” Matt Day, and the resourceful Miss Vicky from Funky Feet – who not only lent us a lighting and sound console, but also plotted all the cues, and with our own static lighting, they made a huge silk purse out of a sow’s ear. It cost a mere £100.
It was an outstanding team effort from all including stage management and Front of House.
We had decided on 5 performances only. Even selling out those seats was a risk. In the end the seats sold out in just over a week!
The result – we made enough money not only to cover our costs, but to replenish our coffers allowing us to invest in more sound and lighting equipment.
The great news was we were able to make donations to good causes, but the best news was – we were back!
To our absolute delight, we were nominated for and won NODA’s best Panto Award Mother Goose.
Thank you, our audience for your incredible support!
Looking forward to next year
Our pantomime in 2026 will mark 50 years since our first – Cinderella in 1976. Except in 2004 when we had to cancel, and during COVID, where both our planned productions in 2021 and 2022 could not go ahead, we have put on a panto each year.
Here is a link to our pantomime archive
Pantomimes 1976 to 2025 – Loddon Players
Our Pantomime Treasure Island has now been nominated for the Best Panto award for 2024. The award ceremony will be held in May.
Fund-raising
On the 5th April, at the Hollies in Loddon High Street, we are holding a charity quiz night in aid of World Cancer Research.
7.15pm for 7.30pm
Teams max 6 people
Just Giving for donations here
Tickets £7.50
Cash prizes
Funky Feet School of Dance & Performing Arts have been forced to find new premises and have moved a new location at Langley School.
They have to raise at least £10,000 to cover the cost of a new dance floor. There is a crowd funding page which we are very pleased to support.
As mentioned earlier we are also making them one of our nominated good causes.
Latest PANTOMIME
The Pied Piper
Written and produced by Steve Burton, directed by Jackie Bingham, with musical direction from Alan Cant and choreography for the Funky Feet dancers by Miss Vicky Codling.
Here are a few more images:
More details including reviews and lots of photos from the production
Review
Sarah Meers – District 6 Representative, NODA East
Feb 2025
A very warm welcome greeted me at the Loddon Players pantomime The Pied Piper from everyone involved in this annual production and there was a lovely touch to this in giving the audience, on arrival, a handmade cookie to reinforce this a heartwarming gift for everyone. Thank you.
The cast of this entertainment had without exception, the right characteristic approach in fact, the baddies were bad, and the goodies were good. Everyone working well together as individuals, duos, groups and ensemble, the addition of the Funky Feet Dancers as ever added to this whole creation of tradition with style. This ethos put in motion the important link with the audience, so essential in this style of performance. The whole production was funny and engaging throughout.
The director and production team worked hard to make this panto a credit to all concerned. The show was written by scratch by Steve Burton, the props, sets and costumes all hand made and appreciation in the amount of time and effort put in is evident in all it’s aspects.
There was great attention to detail and the sausage theme continued in every scene, down to Frank and Furters’ socks with the monogram F and repetition gag of Frankfurter. I particularly liked the little girl as a hot dog being cooked with a change of costume on stage and being then put in a bun, very cleverly executed. The sausage theme continued in audience participation, split audience in half to sing 10 fat sausages sizzling in a pan and was handled with competence. The toy rats on stage and rat masks were apt and the close to your song with birds and stars suddenly appearing was very amusing.
The genre of pantomime, for me, is the old ones are the best and this has this in abundance. The shout outs on the rats list, the sweets given to all children in the audience and the pie gag in its entirety, great. However, I felt maybe a little more movement /dance in some places would be lovely. Think about individual characters reacting on stage to a funny situation just to ensure the audience can see and understand the significance and be careful with prompts.
What a wonderful evening I spent with the Loddon Players in the Bavarian alps watching The Pied Piper. Congratulations to everyone for a traditional pantomime in the old style, the fun laughs and enjoyment for us all.
Last Summer Show
Spotlight Express - 28 & 29 June 2024
Building on the success of last years Variety Show, we returned to variety again this year. Compered again by Maureen Larkin and Anthony Bunting. (Jackie Bingham stepped in on 29th).
Spotlight Express was in two Acts.
Act One – an hilarious play called “The Last Bread Pudding”. Written by Nick Warburton
The committee of an amateur dramatic group are meeting to discuss a new play written by one of its members. What could possibly go wrong?
Act Two was a variety show packed full of music, dance and comedic skits, some familiar, some new ones.
The show was extremely well received by the packed audiences.
We were also able to make a collection for hospice care on the nights amounting to £68. We will be donating that plus more to Priscilla Bacon Lodge.
Local Theatre
Theatre Royal
including
Matthew Bourne’s Swan Lake – Ballet 18th to 22nd March Tickets here
The Maddermarket Theatre
Whats on
Lowestoft
Wisbech - The Secret Garden
Gorleston Pavillion
NODA
The National Scene
Loddon Players have been members of NODA for many years. We get support for many issues including legal and welfare matters.
NODA nationally run events such as summer schools and training workshops.
NODA in the EAST
NODA has a regional structure and we fall into that area in NODA East Region 6.
Our representatives normally visit us to watch and report on our performances – here is their report for Mother Goose which has just won their Best Panto Award 2023!
Their latest review is of Treasure Island 2024
This has now been nominated for Best Panto Award 2024! Announcement will be in May.
Here is their recently published review of The Pied Piper on our web page
Maureen's Moments
Previous productions & players
Our oldest and most celebrated active member – Maureen Larkin pays tribute to Beryl Carver – who very sadly passed away recently and reflects on the last pantomime in which Beryl appeared – Goldilocks and the Three Bears – 2008.
This time I want to pay tribute to the wonderful Beryl (Carver), who passed away two weeks ago.
Not only was Beryl an excellent pianist/accompanist for all the Pantomimes from 1976 to 2009 but she always “rewrote the dots” on the music to suit all our voices.
I couldn’t sing, but Beryl always helped to make me sound as if I could. She used to say, “I’ll play the black and white notes, and you can sing in the cracks in between!”
The Panto, which was her swan song, after 31 years, was “Goldilocks & the Three Bears”. I have so many fond memories of that. Anth (Bunting) was Director, and he was also Clara Clump, the Guide leader. He, Matty Moore and myself re- enacted the Nature Trail that was so popular in the 1989 “Goldilocks”, when Derek (Loyd), Mel (Frankland) and I caused so much mayhem and laughter searching for wildlife, and clues to its whereabouts. Derek, ahead of us, picked up a feather and shouted “duck down” so Mel and I ducked down and Derek then fell over us!
It is also very memorable for me because Anth & I had to be disguised as trees, and Matty was a big sunflower. The baddies (Graham & Luke) had to knock a nail into my tree to tie up a trap for Baby Bear. My grandson Billy, aged 4 was sitting on the front row, and he ran to the front of the stage and shouted “You horrid old man. You can’t knock a nail in that tree, cos my Nanny is in there!” Before that, every time I came on to the stage he shouted, “Hello Nanny, I’m here!” Ian Taylor was on the lights at the time, and he said Billy stole the show!
It was Beryl who introduced us to The St. Raphael Club, and her husband Colin, who was also a committee member, used to take various props and scenery up to the Vauxhall Centre, Norwich in his van, so that we could perform the Panto there. We did that until they were able to come to the Lecture Hall for a Sunday matinee and afternoon tea for many years.
I am happy that my path crossed with Beryl’s, thanks to the Loddon Pantomime, and I value the friendship it brought. I admired her from the moment I heard her play “The Legend of the Glass Mountain” in the first “Sleeping Beauty” in 1978. It was simply beautiful.
Beryl has now joined a long line of past Panto Legends, who have left footprints on my heart. x
Latest News
Recent activities of our dancers and performers
Some pictures from The Pied Piper
How to join
Classes – Timetable
Announcements
We need to raise £10,000 as we have been forced to find a new home at Langley School.
Please support our crowd fundraiser
After years of fund raising and getting the dance school to a great centre for performing arts, we are now sadly having to start again. When we took over the industrial unit everything we had raised previously was put into making the space into what we have today. 3 dance studios, a reception room, waiting room and toilets. The dance studio also doubles up as a performance space which has become pivotal in raising extra funds. It is not possible for us to take up our flooring and move it to Langley School, and we will be without as much storage room for all of our costumes/ props and scenery, so will need to fund raise again, we will be looking at around £10,000 just to lay new flooring appropriate to dance on. The storage spaces we have been looking at are out of the budget we have so we may have to look at reducing what we hold which will impact the children as they will now have to purchase costumes rather than hire them and many local schools that we provide with costumes for their productions.
Upcoming Events
Over the coming months our Social Secretary Sam Bailey will be organising various events. Most will be open to members and their accompanying partners and some will be open for younger family members as well. (see note below).
We will be holding regular monthly social meets ups around the area.
All current members will receive an email each month with a link to the newsletter. It will also be available to read on our website.
Up coming events in March and April 2025
Sam has organised a bowling evening at Richardson’s in Lowestoft on 15th March. If you wish to attend, please let Sam know by email
As mentioned earlier, there is a Charity Quiz Night on 5th April at the Hollies.
Social Diary