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The Early Days Southend-on-Sea Operatic and Dramatic Society (the SODS) was founded in 1890 and research concludes that only six societies in the whole of the country came into existence before that year and still survive. These are based in Brighton, Evesham, Paignton, Settle, Spalding and Tunbridge Wells and it can be no coincidence that these cover virtually the entire country, from Devon to Lincolnshire, from Kent to Worcestershire and from Sussex to North Yorkshire, probably as the result of mergers and amalgamations with other Societies. The final decade of the 19th century was a significant period in the development of Southend: the railway line from Liverpool Street had been completed in 1889, thirty-three years after the Fenchurch Street line had opened, and these transport systems contributed hugely to the four-fold increase in population in just over twenty years. By 1890, Southend had a population of about 12,000 and theatrical entertainment consisted mainly of charity concerts and shows provided by the large garrison based at Shoeburyness in their spacious purpose-built theatre where, subsequently, Gunner Frankie Howerd would start his entertainment career and form his own concert-party. There were also evenings of a less genteel nature known as "smokers" which were intended almost exclusively for male patronage! Professional shows, concerts and music-halls were frequent and took place at the Public Hall in Alexandra Street which had opened in 1872 at a cost of £3,000. Performances were also being given regularly by the Southend Choral Society, but a few enthusiastic members of this organisation desired a larger scope for their energies and so they held a special meeting in 1890. Mr. George Carter, a member of the church choir at Prittlewell St. Mary's, suggested that some special effort might be made to raise funds for the heating of the church and it was this which, ultimately, resulted in the formation of the Southend Operatic Society. The first production opened on Wednesday 19th April 1893 and was entitled Robin Hood. This was produced by Mr. Arthur J. Hadrill, directed, and subsidised, by Mr. William Boyce and was preceded on the opening night by a comedietta called A Happy Pair. The price of admission was the equivalent of 10 pence and a programme cost less than half a penny: the average monthly salary for a teacher was £11.38 at the time. Robin Hood was a popular comic opera in three acts written by Reginald De Koven, an American living in England. After the show had premiered in Chicago in June 1890, it had moved to New York's 33rd Street where it was presented at the Standard Theatre before it was demolished to make way for Gimbel's department store which subsequently became a shopping mall - nothing changes! It became one of the most successful comic operas of the 19th-century American musical theatre, and contained ditties such as "Song of Brown October Ale" and "Oh See the Lambkins Play"! It also included the first ever "hit" song which was entitled "Oh Promise Me" and this became a perennial favourite especially at weddings where it can still be heard, though predominantly in America. The Ohio Light Opera Company revived Robin Hood in 2004, with the final performance concluding their 26th Summer Season of operetta on 7th August. The SODS' opening performance took place in Alexandra Street in the Public Hall which was soon to become known as the Alexandra Theatre. It was built in 1872 at a cost of about £3,000 and contained a large hall with a tier of raised seating for 700, a stage for concerts and other entertainments, a club room, and the offices of Southend Local Board, the predecessor of the Borough Council. It also served as a court room for sittings of Rochford Petty Sessions. The venue was described in a local guidebook as being "chaste and elegant" - how appropriate for any Operatic Society! In 1894 the building was acquired by the impresario Frederick Marlow and converted into a theatre called the Empire, but this was destroyed by fire the following year. It was rebuilt in 1896, the seating capacity was doubled and the hall became known as the Empire Theatre to which name it reverted in 1998 with the prefix "New", after having spent the preceding 78 years as a cinema. Forced to seek a change of venue after only one production, the Society moved to the 450-seater Pier Pavilion, which had cost £6,000 to build when it opened in 1889. The SODS presented Rip Van Winkle there, a three-act French operetta written by Robert Planquette based on the character created by Washington Irving in 1819. This show had premiered on 14th October 1882 at London's Comedy Theatre, where it ran for almost a year and it then transferred back across the channel to be performed at the Folies-Dramatiques in Paris from 11th November 1884. The SODS performed it only twice, on the evenings of Monday 13th and Wednesday 15th November 1893, and the Council records show that the hire charge levied by them was three guineas per evening which implies that the Society only had to sell 31 seats for each performance to pay for the theatre hire - oh happy days! However, the facilities did not compare with those which we enjoy today and the local newspaper of the day enquired "would the Pier authorities be so good as to consider the advisability of heating the Pavilion in some way ere other winter entertainments are given therein". This was despite the fact that the Pavilion was advertised as being "heated by Ripplingilles scentless stoves, kindly supplied by Messrs. Lowe and Hoad, High Street, Southend". Besides the heating problems, the Pavilion had another major disadvantage because the dressing rooms were under the stage and, at very high tides, were often flooded by the sea. Despite these challenges, the Society remained on the Pier for nine further productions and the spring 1899 production of La Fille de Madame Angot was not only their last presentation there, but it was also the first time the Society ever performed a revival. They had previously presented the show only three years earlier. Madame Angot was the hit show of the time and a glance through the history of almost any long-established operatic society shows that they were all eager to perform what was yet another French comic opera. This one came from the pen of a Parisian Charles Lecocq, who had been a devoted follower of Jacques Offenbach and on whose style most of his works were based. After this, for the autumn 1899 production of H.M.S. Pinafore, the Society returned to their original base, but the Public Hall had by now been rebuilt and renamed and the SODS availed themselves of the splendour of the 1,500-seater Empire Theatre. The Society's funds were in a parlous state at this stage and it was decided to present what was considered to be a "money spinner" in an attempt to restore the coffers. This ploy has been used on several occasions in similar circumstances with varying degrees of success but on this occasion the move failed totally. This show, Les Cloches de Corneville, also by Robert Planquette, was the first presentation of the 20th century and pushed the Society to the brink of extinction after only thirteen productions: it was decided that it was impractical even to present an autumn show that year. However, four gentlemen of the Society were determined not to see the Society go under and they agreed to underwrite the next presentation, the three act comedy opera Doris, written by the English organist, conductor and composer Alfred Cellier. This had been first presented in April 1889 at London's Lyric Theatre where the star of the show had been the 25 year-old soprano Marie Tempest whose scandalous affair with her producer only added to the young actress's appeal as well as that of the show. The SODS' production proved to be a financial success and ensured its survival. It is a great shame that we are unable to trace the names of these gentlemen because our gratitude to them is enormous. Without their efforts, the flourishing organisation which the Society now is would have faded more than a century ago and we would most certainly not now be celebrating more than 200 productions. The very fact that operatic societies were able to present shows which had only recently been written is an indication of the shortcomings and loopholes in the Copyright Laws such as they were at that time. The Copyright Act introduced in 1911 give the author or owner of a work exclusive rights to it for his/her lifetime plus fifty years and its provisions still form the basis of much copyright law in the current day. This inevitably had huge implications for amateur societies - and still does! There has probably always been as much passion and melodrama off-stage as on it and the decision to present Leslie Stuart's musical comedy Florodora in 1906 did not meet with the approval of some members who considered this tale set in the Philippines too low-brow and frivolous! This group broke away and as a direct consequence were responsible for the formation of Westcliff ODS two years later. In December 1907, the Society's revival of the comedy opera Dorothy had as their musical director John Henry Maunder who was a distinguished organist and composer. After dabbling in operetta, he later devoted himself exclusively to sacred music and while his oratorio The Martyrs became a perennial favourite, his 1904 sacred cantata 'Olivet to Calvary' has retained its popularity and appeal through subsequent generations. An interesting insight into the era is indicated by a wistful entreaty in the programme for Dorothy which pleads "Ladies are requested to remove their Hats (sic), to allow those behind them to have an uninterrupted view of the stage". The SODS presented 23 shows at the Empire Theatre before a further change of venue became necessary in 1912 when they moved 500 yards up the High Street to perform at the Hippodrome Variety Theatre which stood in Southchurch Road approximately where the Slug and Lettuce pub is now. This venue hosted some of the best variety acts in the country and the previous year, on Friday 31st March 1911, had witnessed a successful attempt by the greatest escapologist of them all, Harry Houdini, when he managed to release himself from a wooden box as the result of a challenge by four local carpenters. This was part of a week he spent performing in Southend, the only time he ever appeared either in Essex or anywhere in East Anglia. The Hippodrome was a huge building with long mysterious corridors, galleries and stairs and the auditorium comprised dress and upper circles as well as the stalls and could comfortably accommodate 1,750. This theatre later became the magnificent Gaumont cinema which was one of the first buildings to be demolished, in 1958, to make way for the redevelopment of Victoria Circus. The Society's first production at their new home was The Cingalee, a somewhat bizarre 1904 musical by Lionel Monckton set on a tea plantation in the village of "Karagama" in Ceylon (Sri Lanka) in which one of the most popular songs was called simply "Tea, tea, tea"! Productions continued at the Hippodrome for a further two years until war interrupted. Between The Wars By the time hostilities had ceased in 1918 there was enough support, both of members and audiences, for Leigh ODS also to be formed to complete a trio of local Societies out of only five in the whole of Essex. Loughton and Brentwood operatic societies were founded in 1894 and 1905 respectively. The Society ended its association with the Hippodrome in 1921 by presenting another show by Monkton, this time the far more successful 1910 three-act musical The Quaker Girl and the following year they transferred their affections to the Palace Theatre which always had a rather beleaguered history and several different guises, finally closing on 22nd October 2005. It had originally opened 93 years earlier, on 21st October 1912, with a seating capacity of 1500 compared with 603 at the time of its closure and in its early years held regular local talent contests. In 1919 it was sold for £250,000 (about seven million pounds today) to be converted for use as a cinema, which required considerable conversion of the auditorium and back projection of the film from the stage. It did not prosper in this form and reverted to use as a live theatre after only two years. The venue now proved ideal for Southend Operatic Society's purposes and a long and happy relationship began with 35 shows being presented consecutively there until just before the second World War. The final production before the enforced break was, however, presented at the Regal Variety Theatre in Tylers Avenue, which had previously been known as the Ambassadors and where the popular Vivian Ellis musical Jill Darling in the spring of 1939 proved to be the SODS' last production for seven years. Another popular local theatrical venue of the time was the Floral Hall, which replaced the Happy Valley bandstand, located at the bottom of Southend's cliffs, almost opposite the current Westcliff Leisure Centre. This opened in 1920 and hosted typical seaside entertainment and concert parties up until it was destroyed by fire in 1937; parts of the foundations are still visible today. A Permanent Home At Last The Society's activities resumed in 1946, by which time the Palace Theatre had been acquired by Southend Corporation and it was there that, appropriately, Edward German's comic opera Merrie England was performed as the first post-war production. Spring and autumn shows were to be produced there for twenty-three more years including the Society's 100th production, Show Boat, in the spring of 1954. The SODS' membership, reputation and audience grew so steadily that it became necessary to move to a larger venue and in 1970 Annie Get Your Gun was presented at the SODS' current home, the magnificent Cliffs Pavilion, overlooking the Thames estuary and the famous pier. They returned to the "Palace" for the spring 1971 presentation of the Gilbert and Sullivan operetta, Ruddigore, but in the autumn, for Sigmund Romberg's The Student Prince, they were back at the "Cliffs" and were destined to stay there for 40 consecutive shows. Work on an original 500-seater Cliffs Pavilion had begun during the 1930's: the intention was that it should be hexagonal in shape and evidence of this can be seen in the sunken garden which precisely follows the original outline. However, work was halted at the outbreak of war until the fifties when it was agreed to modify previous ideas by building a far grander facility incorporating a theatre to hold 1,100 and this eventually opened in 1964. The building closed in the middle of 1991 to accommodate major expansion, the main feature of which was to increase the capacity to 1,600 by adding a balcony. Modern Times The Cliffs Pavilion re-opened its doors on 14th December 1992 for the pantomime Pied Piper of Hamelin which featured dancer Wayne Sleep and local actress Peggy Mount. During the year and a half of closure, the Society returned to the Palace Theatre for three productions which proved very nostalgic to the more mature members! Monday 22nd March 1993 saw the opening performance of SODS' Camelot at the enlarged Cliffs Pavilion and that show began the latest unbroken period of the Society's use of the venue. With the theatre expanding its size by almost 50%, the costs of production increased correspondingly. To perform for a whole week entailed setting up the stage on a Sunday and the cost of this was readily seen to be prohibitive and so Camelot was the last time that a run comprised eight performances. In terms of audience, the spring of 1995 saw the Society's most successful production ever when more than 9,000 came to see The King and I, averaging nearly 1,300 at each performance! For the 2000 production, the decision was reluctantly taken to reduce the run even further and since that spring's Guys and Dolls the Society's shows have begun with a Wednesday matinee and run for six performances. In recent years, the Society's activities have generally concentrated on the two annual productions. However, they have also given numerous concerts over the years, helping to raise thousands of pounds for local charities and the SODS were very regularly used as a chorus to support principals of the D'Oyly Carte Opera Company in their "Gilbert and Sullivan for All" presentations. In the summer of 2005, they combined with Leigh ODS to present a highly successful concert in aid of Little Havens' Children's Hospice and this raised several thousand pounds. There have been radio broadcasts, including Friday Night is Music Night and on Monday 24th January 1972 the Society achieved its highest ever audience, of about 18 million, when they appeared on Thames Television's Opportunity Knocks, hosted by the legendary Hughie Green, the programme having been recorded the previous Saturday at the studios in Teddington, Middlesex. They came first according to the "clapometer" which, ostensibly, gauged the studio audience's reaction but in the viewers' votes they came second to a yodelling milkman from Rayleigh! As with most similar organisations, Southend-on-Sea Operatic and Dramatic Society's name is misleading to the uninitiated. The term "operatic" has always been something of a misnomer and the word "dramatic" does not now imply the production of straight plays. None of the productions has been more highbrow than operetta, light opera or comic opera and thirty-three of the productions have been of Gilbert and Sullivan's works. The Society has survived, or even flourished, because of its willingness and ability to adapt to changing tastes. If the breakaway group of 1906 found Florodora too much to cope with, it hardly bears imagining how they would have reacted to the 2004 production, Mack and Mabel, in which most of the cast at one stage threw custard pies at each other! The Society has made enormous strides in the 21st century and they now have a young and vibrant membership which allows them to tackle productions which they would not have even dared contemplate a decade earlier. The 2008 production of West Side Story bears full testimony to this with the average age of the seventeen men comprising the gangs of Jets and Sharks being just 21. Similarly, the prospect of presenting, somewhat controversially, “The Producers” in 2010 was a clear indication that the SODS were at the vanguard of operatic societies in the whole country. The SODS have two paramount and parallel responsibilities: they have to provide the audiences with productions which are consistently of the highest possible standard and at the same time provide all the members with a hobby which is both rewarding and enjoyable. With so many demands being made on the time of audiences and members, it is essential that this balance be maintained. The Society's audiences and members are its most valuable and cherished assets and it is essential that these dual needs prevail. It is probably safe to assume that the turnover of members has remained fairly consistent over the years, in which case more than 900 members are likely to have represented the Society on stage in all the years of its existence and every one of them has contributed to its strength. However, every artistic aspect has always been firmly underpinned by strong organisational, financial and stage management and with each production now costing about £70,000 to present, the Society has now become a business - it is only "amateur" in as much as the cast are not paid! Accordingly, the continuing success of the Society in three centuries is every bit as much thanks to a succession of committed and unsung administrators as to its performers on stage. Most of their names have, regrettably, faded into oblivion but we owe them all an enormous debt of gratitude which we can only attempt to repay by constantly striving to present the best possible productions while still maintaining that indispensable element of fun in doing so. |
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