|
Hello
and welcome to the
Centenary
Centre
’s very own in-house Theatre Company, Inspiration
(aka ITC).
Inspiration consists of 5 volunteers who act as
Directors and they each have a role to play when
producing amateur productions for the Centenary
Centre. They are all part of the Centenary Centre
and therefore part of a charity. All monies made
from ticket sales go back to the Centre and this
then is used to fund all of ITC’s
productions.
“There are no members in ITC, all our auditions are
open to anyone from anywhere on the island, no
matter what your theatrical abilities are. We are
always looking for volunteers to help out back stage
too. So please don’t be shy, be a part of
something creative, be a part of the best in the
west!
Contact me for more details.” - Jooles Morrison,
Artistic Director.
History
2004/5
~ The year Inspiration first hit the scene with
Willy Russell’s play version of Blood
Brothers. This production was
directed by Ben Hartley and featured players such as
Jooles Morrison, David Dawson, Nick Saunders and
Monica George, all of whom still take part in
ITC’s productions today. The play was so well
received that it was brought back two months later
for a second run.
Later
that year Ben Hartley moved away from the island and
Inspiration Theatre Company was left as a one hit
wonder.
2006
~ This was the year that Jooles Morrison (then
Newton) resurrected the company with the help of
John Elliott and
Siobhan Hill
for the production of Wizard
of Oz.
Funding was gratefully received from the Peel
Pantoloons for this one off production. It soon
became clear that Inspiration was a force to be
reckoned with and that there was definitely a hole
in the market for a new theatre company in Peel.
Jooles, Siobhan and John decided to approach the
Centenary Centre with a plan of
producing three different shows a year, shows that
would attract all ages and target key audiences.
2007
~
The year that re-lunched the “new look”
Inspiration Theatre Company with a lavish launch
party and a mission statement…
“Our
aim is to provide good quality popular theatre shows
and plays which will appeal to all walks of life and
to give an opportunity to up and coming talent in
all fields of entertainment.
But most importantly to show everyone, both
performers and audiences a good time.”
We
settled on a ‘songs from the shows’ spectacular,
A
Musical Inspiration,
a firm favorite musical, Oliver!
and
a comedy play, Five Blue
Haired Ladies Sitting on a Green
Park Bench.
During the production of Oliver it became clear that
they needed an extra pair of hands to deal with the
administration side of matters. ITC en-listed the
help of Cathy Lord and three became four.
2008
~ ITC opened using their winning formula from the
year before and they started with A
Musical Inspiration Part II again
they used all age ranges and picked songs from shows
that would appeal to the all their audience members.
The
summer production was, Ann
of Green Gables,
Ann was played by the outstanding young performer
Sarah Pearson. The cast were amazed when audience
members contacted them from
England
and informed them that they were coming across
especially to see this production as they follow it
all around the world. After the show they
congratulated ITC on the scenery, they’d had seen
this production many times but never scene the
scenery used or made the way ITC had.
This
year also saw the recruitment of Mike O’Neil as
our Technical Director.
ITC’s
third production of 2008 was the very popular Murdered to Death. This
production is still talked about around town today.
This hand picked cast had the audience on the edge
of their seat with suspense and high drama… who
did it?
2009
~ ITC’s 5th Birthday was celebrated
using their “musicals show” and by bringing back
Ben Hartley as the compare and re-naming the show A Musicality.
With a special 5 year medley put together by Jooles
Morrison it also featured a teaser from the forth
coming production
…Little Shop of Horrors.
In
the July of 2009 Inspiration started to abbreviate
its name to ITC and produced their best production
to date. Little Shop of Horrors reunited some of the
original cast members from Blood Brothers including
Nick Saunders, David Dawson and of course their very
own Jooles Morrison. The production was a massive
success with great reviews and really put ITC on the
map.
The
five directors were still buzzing from the high of
Little Shop when they started on their final
production for that year, an adult play, Evil
In Tents. This risqué production was well received and
featured some of ITC best known faces.
2010
~
The year of change. ITC decided to do only two
productions this year, well they’re not getting
any younger! The first production was their first
ever all kids production of The
Adventures of Mr Toad. This production
saw the biggest number of children attend an
audition in the history of ITC. The production its
self was wonderful and all the children performed
brilliantly.
Today
~
Right now ITC is in the thick of rehearsals for
their forthcoming production of Calamity
Jane. Staring Kerry Middleton (who also played Dorothy
in ITC’s production of Wizard of Oz) as Calam, and
Nigel Thijs as Wild Bill Hickcock. With all your
favorite sing-along ditties, dances and characters,
be sure not to miss this production. Tickets are on
sale at the usual outlets details on the home page
of this website.
Meet
the directors to ITC…
Jooles
Morrison ~ Artistic Director
Siobhan
Hill
~ Accounts
Cathy
Lord ~ Administration
John
Elliott ~ Musical
Mike
O’Neill ~ Stage Manager
|
|
|
This
is how each director became a part of
Inspiration Theatre Company.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Jooles
Morrison:
was asked to play the part of Linda in
Blood Brothers, ITC first production.
After this production the then director
Ben Hartley moved to
London
. Jooles later put the company back
together with a production of Wizard of
Oz. Jooles has directed and choreographed
most of ITC productions to date. She has
also played lead roles such as Audrey in
Little Shop and
Nancy
in Oliver! She likes to have cameo in all
her productions and as played parts such
as the murder hand and the voice of god
and can usually be heard at the start of
shows doing the introduction.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Siobhan
Hill
Siobhan, like John and Jooles, is one of the original
three who started the theatre group with
the success of Wizard of Oz.
At that time, she was approached by
Jooles to take on administration,
accounting and assisting directing for ITC
which she thoroughly enjoyed and has
continued to do so.
Siobhan has since gone on to star
in many of the plays and also directed
one. She
is often used an assistant director due to
her keen eye and her crowd control
abilities.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
John
Elliott
John
Elliott was approached by Jooles as she
knew he had possession of a script that
she wanted to use. When
she asked if the script and he said yes,
providing he does the music for the show!
Much to Jooles delight!
John has been with ITC ever since
and has played and conducted for every
musical
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Cathy
Lord: Cathy
got involved with Inspiration when she
turned up to auditions with her daughter
for the Wizard of Oz in 2006. Having
stayed and watched the auditions she
decided she would like to give it a go and
auditioned for a place in the chorus.
Later she was given a speaking part in
‘Five Blue Haired Ladies’ and has
played several parts since which have
included principal roles including her
recent role as Elaine in ’Evil in
Tents’. With her background in
administration she proved to be useful
with helping out with the paperwork for
Inspiration and became the Secretary in
2007. Later on in the year she was
asked to become a Director in charge of
the administration side of productions.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Mike O’Neill … by day
he is a theatre technician at
Nobles
Hospital
and in the evening he’s back in the
theatre here at the Centenary
centre. He first became
involved with inspiration when he took
his daughter to the auditions for Wizard
of Oz.
After watching the rehearsals he
became involved with helping to build the
scenery.
One thing led to another and
he was eventually asked to
become a director looking after the stage
side of Inspiration’s productions.
After many successful shows he
caught the acting bug and has since appeared
in several of our productions. |
Our productions to date…
2005/06
Blood Brothers
Wizard of Oz
2007
A Musical Inspiration
Oliver!
5 Blue Haired Ladies
Sitting on a
Green
Park
Bench
2008
A Musical Inspiration Part II
Anne of Green Gables
Murdered to Death
2009
Has Peel Got Talent (Fund raiser)
A Musicality
Little Shop of Horrors
Evil In Tents2010
Has Peel Got Anymore Talent? (Fund raiser)
The Adventures of Mr Toad
Calamity Jane
Hope
you enjoyed our webpage. Now you can have a nosey at
some of our past shows, just click on the photograph
links below or visit our Facebook page.
See you round!
With thanks to photographer Liam
Reynolds, we now have a picture gallery
of some of our recent productions. Click
on any of the following to
view
Musicality - Murdered
to Death -
Anne
of Green Gables
Evil
in Tents - Little
Shop of Horrors
|
