Cody Farnborough Amateur Operatic Society

Welcome, this site will enable you to find out about our current production, our future productions and events, as well as giving an insight into this, the premier amateur dramatic society in the area.

Also included on this site is a fascinating look back at the Society's history, including numerous archive photographs (as far back as 1925!) and examples of previous programmes, and a page of links to other theatrical-based websites.

If you wish to find out more about the Society and its activities (or be included on its mailing list) please click on Contact Us. Otherwise, just sit back and enjoy looking over our fascinating site.

To go straight to the page for our exciting next production please click here.

Rehearsals

News

Productions

written by Paul Tickner and produced in partnership with

Chairman's Message

Introduction to the Society by the Chairman

Welcome to the website of the Cody Farnborough Amateur Operatic Society. I hope you enjoy browsing through our pages, which cover the various facets of our activities. The society is now in its 87th year having been formed originally in 1920 under the patronage of the Royal Aircraft Establishment and has continued to be sponsored by that establishment and its Defence Agency successors up to and including QinetiQ at present. The Society is a registered charity and over the years has made substantial donations to local charities.

The objective of the Society is to promote the dramatic and operatic arts through public performance of musicals, operettas and operas and over the years we have mounted over 100 productions of major musical works. We aim to produce shows of a very high standard, and we have been awarded many regional accolades of excellence by NODA (National Operatic and Dramatic Association) over the years, together with regional and national NODA deluxe programme awards and have twice won the Pat Devereux cup for the outstanding contribution to the arts within Rushmoor Borough in a given year. The society is managed by a committee composed of its Officers plus five other members and, ex officio, its production team leaders – all of whom are elected at our Annual General Meeting at which our members, by majority vote, also choose future productions from a selection of feasible shows. Alongside the shows we have an excellent social committee which organises many social events.

We rehearse throughout the year on Tuesdays and Thursday evenings and stage two major musical productions annually. Rehearsals take place at The Holy Trinity Church Hall, Bowenhurst Road, Church Crookham, Fleet (corner of Bowenhurst Road & Aldershot Road) and the productions are performed at the Princes Hall, Aldershot in late March and September of each year. There are generally some vacancies in our backstage and front-of-house teams and for onstage performers, open auditions for the latter being held in April and October for the autumn and spring productions respectively. If you are interested and would like to know more about us, perhaps with a view to joining our friendly and hard-working group, you will find contact numbers on this site.

Eric McLoughlin