April 2024 Rehearsal and Concert Arrangements
Saturday Rehearsal
Our first orchestral rehearsal will take place in Hillside Parish Church from 2.00 – 5.00 p.m. Please arrive at the church by 1.40 p.m. and be ready to start singing at 2 p.m. The church will be opened up at 1 p.m. so anyone arriving early may be asked to help set up chairs or music stands. A few extra hands would be appreciated, thank you. Please handle chairs carefully! We will try to mimic the Music Hall layout as much as possible on Saturday. Please refer to the seating plan for the Music Hall below and try to sit in a similar formation at Hillside. Music stands will need to be disassembled and the church restored to normal at the end.
Concert Dress Etc
Men: Dinner suit, white shirt and black bow tie. Women: Long black dress, long black skirt or evening trousers with a black evening blouse or top. If your skirt is not full length, please wear opaque black tights. Sleeves must be at least elbow length. We have a few spare dinner suits and ladies clothing items if anyone is short. Please contact Kate Mason on 01224 647821 if you are in need.
Please do not apply perfume and use deodorants sparingly as the chemicals can disrupt the breathing of anyone who suffers from hypersensitivity.
Jewellery: No bling please. Please be mindful of stage etiquette - no talking on stage, stand and sit as directed.
Sunday Rehearsal
The final rehearsal with the orchestra and all the soloists will take place at the Music Hall and will run from 2.00 – 5.00 p.m. Please arrive at the MH by 1.30 p.m. to locate your allocated dressing room and be in your seats as directed ready to start rehearsing at 2 p.m. Please allow yourself plenty of time to find somewhere to park. Chapel Street car park is relatively near and is not usually busy. Charges apply on Sunday afternoons without many exceptions but is free after 5 p.m. Entrance to the Music Hall is via the stage door on Golden Square. Should the doors be closed when you arrive you may key in 9974# to gain entry. Alternatively you may alert Music Hall staff by ringing the buzzer. If you have a heavy item to unload from your car, this may be done via the stage doors but please do not park in the stage door area. If your arrival coincides with Isabel and her timps please offer her a hand if you are able to!
Before The Performance
Please can you be back in the MH by 7.00 p.m. at the latest. The Music Hall bar will be open to the public before the performance and during the interval. Please note that payments at the bar are by card only. APA have informed us that you cannot consume your own refreshments in the bar.Tthe dressing rooms will be available from 5.00 p.m. for this purpose.
The dressing rooms will be tight for space. They can obviously be used for changing but there probably won't be enough room for everyone to change at once, so please allow enough time. Coats, bags etc may be left in the dressing rooms during the rehearsal and performance.
Dressing Room Allocation
The dressing room allocation (behind the stage area, accessed via doors on either side of the stage) will be as follows:
- Lower ground floor Room 1: Stage right ladies (S1 + S2)
- Lower ground floor Room 2: Stage left ladies (A1 + A2)
- Ground Floor Green Room: Soloists + David Gerrard.
- 1st Floor Room 3: Paul T.
- 1st Floor Room 4: Lady tenors.
- 1st floor Room 5 (beside room 3): All gents.
We have reserved the Big Sky Studio (opposite the Coda Cafe Bar) for the orchestra.
Processing On
Processing on to the stage will commence promptly at 7.20 p.m. It is estimated that choir processing in will take around 5 minutes. There are four rows of choir seating, tiered at heights 3ft, 2ft, 1ft, 6”. All will be 4ft deep. Access to the rows will be from the stage left and stage right ends. We will fill the rows simultaneously from each end, starting with the back row and working forwards. Steps will be available for access to the higher levels. Between the rear tiered staging levels, the raise is 1ft; please ask one of your neighbours for help if required.
As normal, please make a note of the person who will be processing in before you and make sure you are in line behind them before processing in commences. Seats will be allocated at the start of the rehearsal and any surplus chairs due to last minute dropouts will be taken away. As the dressing rooms will be busy, please be prepared to line up for processing in the corridor leading to the stage.
The orchestra will be at stage level with the exception of the 2 flutes and 2 oboes d'amore who will be on a 6” riser centred in front of the first sopranos and first altos. Please take every precaution to avoid walking near any orchestral instruments.
Performance Interval
There will be an interval of approximately 20 minutes. Given the time taken to process off and on the stage, as well as the size of the building and the audience, we do not recommend making arrangements to meet your guests during the interval. As processing off and on the stage could take up to 10 minutes, the purpose of the break is mainly to visit the toilet and have a drink of water as necessary.
The whole choir will be seated on tiered staging which should have passing room. It will be acceptable for those seated on the tiered staging to remain in position during the interval should they so wish. If remaining on the tiered staging, a water bottle for use only during the interval may be placed under your chair before the performance (but not carried on during processing in).
Photographs
We plan to have some photographs taken during the rehearsal and performance. They won't interrupt the proceedings and are being taken on an informal basis, but we hope they may provide us with us some useful shots for future publicity. On this occasion it won't be possible to exclude yourself but any photographs will be taken at a respectful distance. If you have any queries please speak to Angela Slater.
Programmes
Music Hall staff will be selling programmes for £2.00 each. They can accept cash or card payments. In order to minimise waste we will print only the quantity of programmes we estimate we can sell. Any surplus will made available in the bar after the performance.
After The Performance
Please process off as before. Remember to take away your water bottle if you had one. If you have hired a score please place it in the boxes provided for the purpose in the dressing rooms behind the stage. Becky would like some help transferring the boxes of music to her car directly outside. Please offer to help her before rushing away if you can.
The bar will be open after the performance until 11 p.m. We hope you will take some time to relax with fellow performers. Friends and family in the audience are welcome to you join you. Please note that the bar accepts only card payments.
