100 Years of CHAOS
Cradley Heath, Old Hill and District Amateur Operatic Society was formed on Thursday 21st May 1908 at a meeting in the Band Room in Meredith Street, Cradley Heath. This makes us the longest organised operatic society in the Black Country and the first to reach its Centenary. In 1964 the Management Committee decided to shorten the Society's name to Cradley Heath Amateur Operatic Society which resulted in our humorous acronym - CHAOS. Maybe it's the humour of the Black Country, but successive Management Committees, Production Teams and Members on stage, back stage and front of house have meant we don't live down to our name but continue to live up to our reputation. And all that on what must be the lowest Membership Fee in the area!
The first Show to be produced in Cradley Heath in the Spring of 1909 was a successful Production of HMS Pinafore at the Empire Theatre, which became a cinema, then a car park and is now part of a Tesco store. Gilbert and Sullivan shows followed until the 1912 Production of Les Cloches de Cornville. The Society was reformed but was unable to put on a show until 1924, one of the main reasons being the shortage of men after the First World War. The choice of the first post-war Show was a repeat of Les Cloches de Cornville . This was obviously a good choice as it was still being talked about four decades later. The success of the Show was due much to the splendid acting of Bert Newbury. His daughter, Madeleine Newbury who was perruquier for the Society for a short while, became a professional actress. She has appeared with Lenny Henry on television and in the long-running Agatha Christie play The Mousetrap . She was also Mrs. Bedwin in the West End Première of a certain musical called Oliver! In 1925 the Show presented was another famous English musical, Merrie England by Edward German. A member of the dance troupe, Mabel Cox, hung up her dancing shoes and become Secretary; a position she held until 1972, thereby creating a record.
1928 saw us perform The Marriage Market for the first time. A copy of the brightly-coloured poster was found, slightly torn, in a skip by Ron Moss who loaned it for reproduction.
The Society was not in a sound financial position at the beginning of the Thirties, but local business man Benjamin P Priest came to the rescue as President. He was the owner of the Grand Theatre, Old Hill (nowadays a bingo hall, which stands in front of the Springmeadow Social Club where we now rehearse) and offered it to the Society rent-free. Under his generous patronage we took on a new lease of life. The Shows were of a very high standard, partly due to the engagement of HM Band of the Royal Artillery as the orchestra.
With the Second World War the Society had to be disbanded yet again. But it was restarted after a break of seven years with a repeat of Wild Violets which we had put on in 1939 as the Midland Première. The County Express was full of praise; “The production presents many difficulties with its 11 scenes, but these were successfully overcome, due in no small measure to the experienced and expert producer, Mr Bert Dewberry [sic]”. This, though, was the last Show at the Grand.
Mr Cinders had been playing in London with Bobby Howes and Binnie Hale. Some members went to see this production on tour and met Bobby Howes who explained much of the comic business. One gag was the leading man's entrance - being rolled across stage in a barrel. Howard Lee bought the Royal Theatre in Cradley Heath High Street and made it available to the Society. It boasted as big a stage as any in Birmingham - there was no problem in driving a car on stage let alone a barrel! The band of HM Royal Marines was engaged as the orchestra. Unfortunately, 1948's Rose Marie was the last Show at the Royal as Cinemascope was installed to woo patrons away from TV and the screen was too large to be taken down and re-erected.
The next move was to the Majestic, the newest cinema in Cradley Heath. The seating was superb, but being a cinema it had no dressing rooms. The 1949 Show was The Desert Song and the Riffs had to dress in the 3d queue corridor. The ladies were under the stage in the chamber where the cinema organ disappeared to. The conversion from a cinema to a theatre for one week only was a marathon job involving members staying behind after the last showing on the Saturday night. The Desert Song was well received and the County Express printed the headline “A Star is Born”. Betty Shaw, who had hitherto only played small parts, scored a great success as Margot. Ernest ‘Ernie' Webb was hilarious as Benny. He had all the attributes of a fine comedian; bulging eyes, bow legs and an exaggerated walk. He would run across stage and appear to run up the scenery!”
As soon as Curley sang “Oh, What a Beautiful Mornin'” the face of the musical was changed for ever. In 1954 we broke new ground with Annie Get Your Gun and 1955 saw another Midland Première, Zip Goes a Million .
When the Majestic decided to install wide screen, the Society had to find yet another new home. With television making an ever greater impact, Variety was dying. This was an ideal time to move back to a professional theatre - Dudley Hippodrome - and many operatic societies did the same. But musicals had to be sandwiched between strip shows. One society had difficulty in presenting Naughty Marietta as some members of the audience got the wrong idea! Cradley Heath's first effort there was Mr Cinders and Geoff Hodgetts, another long-standing Secretary, had the honour of being the first amateur to speak on this large professional stage with the line, “Anyone for tennis?” In spite of greatly increased expenses, the next Show, another Midland Première - Love From Judy - meant we were able to distribute £280 to charities making almost £5,000 since the founding of the Society.
1958 was our Golden Jubilee and the choice of show fell on The Dancing Years by Ivor Novello. Rehearsals commenced, but a blow fell when it was announced that Dudley Hippodrome was closing, making the Society homeless for the second time in three years. The proprietor of the Windsor Theatre, Bearwood, was approached. The cast and chorus, to say nothing of the patrons, had to be transported there by a fleet of coaches.
In the best-organised productions (amateur or professional) unintentional things happen. Flower arrangements fall over and get the biggest laugh of the week. During Free as Air , when Ernie Webb insulted Lily Smith, she not only let a steady stream of water go into his face, she spat her false teeth out at him as well!
Dudley Hippodrome had been refurbished and was available in 1960 for White Horse Inn . The entrance of Emperor Franz Josef was accompanied by the Quarry Bank Prize Band marching down the aisle. Opulent sets were possible such as the palace in The Vagabond King , Hareford Hall in Me and My Girl and the cathedral for the Coronation Scene in King's Rhapsody which was the last Show at Dudley when the great interest of the public turned to bingo. The Coronation Scene in King's Rhapsody is still spoken about with great awe even today. The spotlight started by picking up a single white rose and grew and grew to show the royals, then the peasants at the gate and finally the whole Cathedral.
In 1964 Cradley Heath Amateur Operatic Society moved to the Civic Hall, Brierley Hill for Bob's Your Uncle where we have remained to this day. There is an abundance of excellent amateur operatic societies in the Black Country so it becomes increasingly difficult to pick a show each year. Whilst shows such as Show Boat , The Desert Song and My Fair Lady have been repeated, we have managed to present many Civic Hall Premières including The Sound of Music (which sold out over a month before the week of production), Hans Andersen (which saw a new Production Team, many new Members and two new leading men) , even Rose Marie (when not only was J. Paul Murdock as Hard-Boiled Herman upstaged by that flower arrangement, but was a “technical hitch” for 15 minutes as he had had to travel back up from appearing as a witness for his company in court in Portsmouth to make the Tuesday night's performance) . We have also presented Dudley Area Premières such as the new version of Me and My Girl , for CHAOS's 90th Anniversary, and 2007's Summer Holiday . Having had many issues with Health and Safety to discuss we were late in choosing our 2007 Production. Summer Holiday proved to be an enormous success. Box office takings were up and audiences, even the Cliff Richard Fan Club, enjoyed the far from sedate rock-and-roll dance routines. Happily, we were able to cast the whole Show from the Society.
In 1989 we set up CHAOS Youth, the only group of its kind in the Dudley Area which offered the chance for Black Country youngsters to appear in ‘proper' musicals such as Annie , No, No, Nannette and Seven Brides for Seven Brothers . Many Youth Members went on to join the adult Society and even went on to professional entertainment. Concert Shows such as Melodies in Costume, Musical Memories, Christmas with CHAOS and our present Spring Concerts have both entertained the local region and helped us come back to our primary objective; to raise money for charity. Last year's Concerts alone raised upwards of £500. And Summer Holiday raised the princely sum of £5,000. Cheques were presented on stage during Show Week to the following local good causes:
• Action Heart, Russells Hall Hospital
• Physiotherapy Department, Russells Hall Hospital
• County Air Ambulance
• Mary Stevens Hospice
• Sandwell Diabetes Support Group
Otherwise, we have had many highlights during our 100 years. When NODA [National Operatic and Dramatic Association] celebrated its 80th Anniversary, Mabel Cox, who had been as our longest-serving Secretary and had been a NODA Area Representative was chosen to receive a limited edition Commendation Award. Our Souvenir Programmes have won NODA Awards or Commendations, most notably for the 1989 Production of Love From Judy . We were also very proud when CHAOS's 2003 Production of Fiddler on the Roof won the inaugural NODA Midland Regional Best Production Award for the Black Country area.
Sadly, our President of long standing, Miss Margaret Brockway, passed away in 2007. Summer Holiday was dedicated to her memory. Her niece, fellow Society Choreographer and former CHAOS Principal Dancer, Elizabeth Broadway, stepped in to join our Lady Chairman, Hilda Faulkner. Not only was 2008 the Society's Centenary, it also marked Hilda's 20 years as Chairman and the only female chairman in the Society's history.
2008 saw many events to celebrate our Centenary. In addition to the usual Quiz Night and Trip to London, for instance, there was a superb Gala Dinner Dance. In the Summer there was a highly-acclaimed exhibition, 100 Years of CHAOS , at Haden Hill House, Cradley Heath, venue for many photocalls already. On display were many photos, newspaper cuttings, posters and ‘props' from over the years, organised by John Murdock in nearly a year's work. Costumes not only represented the vast range of different operettas and musicals that we have presented, but also how shows have changed over the hundred years.
On 5th July a Service of Thanksgiving and Celebration was held St Luke's, the Parish Church of Cradley Heath, and just a stone's throw from where both the Band Room where that first meeting and those rehearsals were held and also the Empire Theatre used to be. Organised by Michael J. Bradley, we were delighted to invite local MP Sylvia Heal, representatives of the National Operatic and Dramatic Association and the Mayors of Dudley and Sandwell.
The highlight was, of course, our main Show. We suddenly realised that there was one classic musical that CHAOS had never presented and so we had taken the opportunity of returning to the dramatic type of show with the CHAOS Première of South Pacific at the Civic Hall, Brierley Hill, 10th to 15th November 2008.
We not only had “Some enchanted evening”, but an enchanted celebratory year.