We’re very excited to announce that newLOG has been invited to perform at the 22^nd International Gilbert and Sullivan Festival in Harrogate next summer!
 
This is a massive vote of confidence in newLOG by Ian and Neil Smith, following the great success of our festival debut with The Sorcerer in Buxton in 2012. The annual G&S Festival is the Mecca of the G&S world – amateur companies from all over the world vie for the chance to perform there, alongside professional productions featuring the biggest stars of G&S, so we’re in very good company.
 
It is a fantastic opportunity for us to perform at such a prestigious event in the gorgeous Royal Hall, with professional sets and a professional orchestra. It’s guaranteed to be hard work but enormous fun!
 
We have been asked to present Utopia Limited. This will be a re-working of our spectacular 2012 production, directed by Chris Cann. Graham Rogers will MD. This production has been chosen as a great example of what our company can achieve and a showcase for a large cast and chorus. We really hope that you will want to take part.
 
Please put the performance date in your diary now: Monday 17^th August 2015.
 
The minimum requirement for taking leave from work will be one day. You won’t need to arrive in Harrogate until the evening of Sunday, 16^th, although you may wish to arrive earlier to enjoy the festival atmos. Unlike Louth (and even Buxton), Harrogate has a convenient railway station with direct services from London, so travelling by train is a good option. After our performance, we’ll also perform at the Festival Cabaret, stay overnight on 17^th and then you can head back at your leisure (or the crack of dawn if needs be) on 18^th. There is a wide variety of places to stay in Harrogate – from grand hotels, to B&Bs, to rented houses/cottages. We’ll let you know more details about it all in due course.
 
This trip to Harrogate in August is in addition to our regular Louth tour in June – which next year, as already announced, will be The Pirates of Penzance. Rehearsals for Harrogate will commence after we return from Louth. It is important to stress that the Louth tour remains our principal annual production. Although Utopia Limited will be a revived staging, we will audition, as usual, for all principal roles.
 
Following the great success of Buxton and our 10^th Anniversary Season, it is a great compliment to be invited to bring a staging of one of the more difficult, but most rewarding G&S operas to the International Festival and we are assured of a large and enthusiastic audience of G&S fans. We very much hope you will want to be a part of this fantastic experience, and make sure that you reserve the dates.
 
Best wishes,
 
Graham, Chris, Steve, Tony & Fay
The newLOG Board