All three of our acts are top ten; 5, 7 and 8.
Let’s get them 1,2 and 3.
How? Follow the instructions here.
Filed under: 2009 | Tags: Churchhill theatre, edinburgh drama, macphersons Rant
Lots of FCTers in this great new show that opens at The Churchill on October 20th. Be sure to support it.
It stars our very own housewive’s choice, Robert Moyes plus Sean Quinn, Cameron Dyer and Patrick Hornig.
Filed under: 2009, Festival shows | Tags: Andrew Dyer, CEC, Edinburgh council, the Lord Provost of Edinburgh
Sorry it’s taken so long to post this. But life is hectic in FCT Land.
FCT were honoured to be invited to a civic reception by The Lord Provost of Edinburgh in The City Chambers just after Ragtime finished. It was held to mark the occassion of our 30th anniversary and the assembled company were riveted by a great performance from Andrew McDivvit and Rebecca Gilhooley, ably supported by Kerry-Ann on keyboards.
Andrew certainly enjoyed it…
Filed under: 2009, Awards, Journalism, Media, youtube | Tags: Edinburgh Evening News, Edinburgh's Got talent, Forth Children's Theatre, Musicals, Youtube FCT
Here are the instructions…
Simply text the word ENTALENT followed by a space then key in the special code of your chosen act, followed by a space then please key your postcode to 81800. Example (ENTALENT 041 EH8 8AS)
Texts cost 60p plus your standard network rate.
Alternatively, and this is particularly strategic for our trio, you can buy the paper and fill in the voting slip – this method counts as TWO votes, rather than the one vote garnered from a text message.
Do the math: 60p text message = ONE vote. 43p newspaper cut-out slip = TWO votes.
Post completed cut-out slips to: Edinburgh’s Got Talent, 108 Holyrood Road, Edinburgh, EH8 8AS or hand deliver to the Talent postbox in reception at the same address.
The best bit is….. you can vote as many times as you like!
C’mon everyone, let’s get them in the top ten so they can perform on the big night.
So, if you’re texting get your votes in folks for Matty Smith ENTALENT 001
Rebecca Gilhooley ENTALENT 016
and Charlotte Jones ENTALENT 015
Filed under: 2009, Awards, Festival shows, Journalism, Media, Reviews, cast photos | Tags: 30 years of FCT, Amatuer theatre in Edinburgh, Edinburgh Evening News, Edinburgh Festival, edinburgh fringe, Evening News Drama Awards, FCT, Forth Children's Theatre, Fringe, liam rudden, Ragtime, Ragtime the Musical, The ENDAs
In the 30+ years of FCT’s existence only one actor in Hollywood achieved back-to-back Oscar success. Well, FCT have done the equivalent in their field with consecutive Best Musical ENDAs in 2008 and 2009. An incredible feat given the competition.
Read on….
Yes, a bit difficult to read – here is the full article…
Theatre groups full of cheer after second award in a row
LIAM RUDDEN and LAURA CUMMINGS
Evening News 29 Aug 2009
TWO amateur theatre companies are celebrating after winning Evening News Drama Awards for the second consecutive year.
Edinburgh Theatre Arts received the award for Best Play on this year’s Fringe at a glittering awards ceremony on the roof of The Gilded Balloon, in the Loft VIP Bar last night.
The biggest cheer of the night came when Forth Children’s Theatre was named the winner of the Best Musical award for its production of Ragtime.
It follows the youth theatre company’s success at the 2008 awards when it won the same accolade for its production of Jekyll and Hyde.
Cabaret star Camille O’Sullivan presented Edinburgh Theatre Arts with the Best Play award for A Tale Of Two Cities, which centred on the French Revolution.
Cabaret act Frisky and Mannish – also known as Laura Corcoran and Matthew Jones – presented Forth Children’s Theatre with its award.
Frisky had the audience in fits of laughter when she said that both her and Matthew started off in the amateur world, which is “a great place to learn a sense of irony”.
Chairman of Edinburgh Theatre Arts and director of A Tale Of Two Cities, John McLinden, 62, said: “It is fantastic to win the award because it is great recognition for six months of really hard work putting the show together.
“It was quite a complicated show with 34 scenes, which we had to cram into St Ninian’s Church hall.”
He laughed: “We also had to build a working guillotine for people to have their heads chopped off!”
Director of Ragtime, Andrew Dyer, 23, added: “It is the second year in a row that we have won the award and we are very grateful. It was a very proud moment for everyone and the children are all fair away with themselves!”
Around 100 actors, directors and producers from all 12 nominated amateur companies witnessed the presentation of this year’s awards.
The awards were introduced by the Evening News two years ago to recognise the work of local companies during the Fringe.
Edinburgh Theatre Arts, whose Fringe history dates back to the early seventies, won the Best Play for its production of Dennis Potter’s Blue Remembered Hills at last year’s awards.
The drama awards were judged for the second year running by Scottish Community Drama Association adjudicator Ron Cattell, Evening News theatre critic Thom Dibdin, and Fiona Rogan – an arts professional with more than 30 years’ experience working with amateur groups across Scotland. The award for Best Musical was judged by Edinburgh actor Arron Usher, musicals producer Eleanor Brown, and James Haworth, general manager of the Edinburgh Playhouse.
Mr Haworth, 39, said: “Many of the shows that the Edinburgh amateur companies have put on have actually been better than the professional productions I have seen this year.
“The thing that you get from amateurs is an incredible enthusiasm.”
“For amateurs to be able to perform in front of worldwide audiences is just an incredible treat for them.”
Filed under: 2009, Archive photos, Awards, Festival shows, cast photos | Tags: Amatuer theatre in Edinburgh, Edinburgh Evening News, edinburgh theatre, Edinburgh Theatre Arts, ETA, Evening News Drama Awards, fringe musicals, Johnston Press, josie balfour, liam rudden, Musicals, Ragtime, Ragtime the Musical, Scotsman Publications, The ENDAs, The Evening News
On Friday night we gathered en-mass at the VIP Room at The Gilded Balloon to see how we had fared in the third ENDA Awards. (Evening News Drama Awards) which are open exclusively for Edinburgh groups. Liam Rudden has to be commended for bringing recognition to local groups in a Festival which is overwhelmed sometimes by comedy acts.
The Drama ENDA this year went to ETA for A Tale of Two Cities. Well Done ETA on recording a double.
Next up; the best Musical award and we were facing Tempo and Edinburgh University’s Savoy Company. We didn’t have to wait long though before the news we were all hoping for broke. We’d won. Again!
It was the perfect finish to the Fringe for a cast, band and crew that had truly excelled.
The moment of truth as Andrew Dyer hears the news...
Roll on 2010.
The trophy.
Filed under: 2009, Journalism, Reviews | Tags: Kander and Ebb, Tempo, tempo musical productions, Terrence McNally, The Rink
FCT has a special relationship with Tempo Musical Productions. We share a number of technical and musical stars and the author of this post was fortunate enough to take in not one, but two of their Fringe shows tonight.
Nobody Does it Better is not billed as a big show but believe me it is a great treat. It showcases around 20 James Bond movie theme songs in a variety of solos, company and dance numbers. It’s great fun and our very own Robert Moyes delights as ever performing All the time in the world.
But this is really only only the support (no disrespect) to Tempo’s main production – the rarely performed “The Rink”. The music is written by Chicago and Cabaret’s Kander & Ebb and is in that style. The script is brilliantly written by Billy Elliot (actually it might be The Full Monty) writer Terrence McNally.
What a great show. It’s a delightful mix of comedy and pathos and the singing is universally excellent; as is the acting.
The show’s glue is the mother and daughter duo of Norma Kinnear (wow) and Gabrielle Pavone (wow) but is monumentally supported by the male wrecking crew who take on a variety of parts as well.
One criticism is that Tempo’s programme doesn’t establish who is who so I’m not sure who the excellent Dino was.
This is musical theatre at its best. It’s only on till Saturday so dither ye not. Get there pronto. I promise you will enjoy both shows and particularly The Rink.
(Oh. And the band is brilliant. Especially the trombonist!!!)
Filed under: 2009, Festival shows, Journalism, Media, Reviews | Tags: 2009, 30 years of FCT, Edinburgh, Edinburgh Evening News, Edinburgh Festival, edinburgh fringe, FCT, Forth Children's Theatre, Ragtime, Ragtime the Musical, Reviews
Filed under: 2009, Festival shows, Journalism, Reviews | Tags: Alan Chorley, broadway baby, Ragtime
Excellent Musical About Racism And Civil Rights
Ragtime is a musical set in the USA in the early years of the 20th Century, when racism was more blatant than it is today and civil rights movements were barely under way. Initially we are introduced to a suburban New York family that lives in a totally white area. The family’s lives get turned upside down when an abandoned black child is found on their property. The police find a woman, Sarah, nearby and she is confirmed to be the child’s mother. Both Sarah and her child are allowed to stay with the family temporarily.
Sarah’s former boyfriend and the baby’s father, piano player Coalhouse Walker, comes to find Sarah and eventually tracks her down. She refuses to see him but he says he will come back once a week until she agrees to marry him. As he returns again and again he becomes friendly with the family, playing their piano for them. Eventually Sarah agrees to marry him.
He and Sarah go out in his new car but some racist firemen harass him. They damage his car and Coalhouse tries, without success, to force the authorities to get them to fix it. Sarah tries to speak to the President about it but is killed by the police, who think she has a weapon. Coalhouse then gives up on peaceful means and turns to violence, shooting to death three firemen. Eventually, he is persuaded to surrender to the police and promised a fair trial but is shot in cold blood.
Coalhouse is shown as an intriguing and complicated character, not as a flawless saint. His position is contrasted with that of Booker T. Washington, a black leader of the time, who advocated slow progress without violence so as not to frighten the whites. Whose approach was correct?
This is a tremendously ambitious undertaking for the Forth Children’s Theatre and is a great success. The stage is set in the middle of the hall with the audience on both sides, which must have made the choreography extremely difficult, particularly with such a large cast, but it works perfectly. The singing is, in most cases, top quality even from the youngest performers. An excellent production.
5 STARS
Amidst our very highbrow show we had moments of lightheartedness, like this trip on our float through Leith in the midst of the heaviest downpour I’ve ever seen.
We were headed to the cavalcade which at this point we thought we might never make.
It was wet, like.
