Gracie
Caroline Smith
Caroline
is a member of Southwark based musical theatre group The Quay Players and it
was with them, just over two years ago, that James Hay (writer/director of ‘Our
Gracie’ and producer of Belmont Productions) spotted her in a production of
‘Billy’ (which is set in the North of England) and subsequently approached her
about the prospect of playing the role of Gracie. Caroline has been performing
in some capacity for most of her life but this has proved to be her biggest
challenge to date! Now that the result of James’ vision, hard toil and creative
talents has come to fruition she feels honoured, privileged and excited to be
given the opportunity to bring Our Gracie to life!
Archie Pitt
Steve Arnold
Steve is no
stranger to amateur dramatics having performed with The Quay Players, Phoenix
Players, Dartford Amateurs and Kentish Opera in the last ten years. This is
probably his ‘nastiest’ role as Gracie’s rotter of a first husband... so please
don’t boo too loudly!
Monty Banks
Barry Pavey
Barry has been involved in amateur
stage productions in one way or another since he was 19. By day an Office
Manager in a Special Needs school, he has been a regular member of several of the more
traditional amateur dramatic groups since 1998, where he has played many varied roles, including villains and comedy
leads, but only once the romantic lead. He has also played the Dame in
Panto a few times as well as numerous chorus parts. Basically he’ll do anything
that will get him on stage again! He has accepted that it may be too late to
take that romantic lead role again, unless someone knows a show that requires a
‘more mature’ romantic lead!
Mrs Stansfield
Amanda Stonham
Amanda has over 30 years professional and
semi-professional experience encompassing dance, acting, design and directing
for theatre and film. She has produced theatrical and corporate events, working
also as a drama practitioner in youth theatre. Currently developing arts
projects for Spain and the UK she is delighted to be part of Our Gracie.
Mr Stansfield
Sam Leach
I suppose now that I am getting
older I could not have imagined that when I was a teenager watching my mum and
dad play the piano and sing the Gracie Fields Songs in the local pub on a
Saturday night, that I would be playing Gracie's father in a show many years
later. I have played many parts over the years, young, middle aged and old, but
none as unusual as Gracie's father.
Enjoy the show and to coin a
phrase from one of the songs 'wish me luck' and to the rest of the cast.
Sam
1st Man/Reporter/Soldier/Chorus
Mark Farlow
Mark is delighted to be part of
'Our Gracie' and has been an active member of Amateur Theatre for 10 years.
This has included playing in several big summer shows and pantomimes with the
Quay Players and more recently with the Phoenix Players. Mark's favourite roles
have included ' Zangler ' in Crazy for you, 'Sean' in Love of the shelf and
'Mushnik' in Little shop of Horrors. Mark also directed 'Billy ' for the Quay
players in 2011 which was one of his big ambitions and is currently busy
working on the Addams Family again for the Quay Players. Mark is not quite old
enough to remember Gracie Fields heyday but can confess to seeing Gracie on the
telly when he was a boy, when she appeared in the 1978 Royal Variety
Performance. Mark lives in East London and works for local government as a
social worker.
Other Cast Members
Katie Underhill - Annie
Desni Hanford - Madame Tetrazini/Ensemble
Spencer Mitchell - Various Roles/Ensemble
Christine Birch - Ensemble
Dedge Kemster - Ensemble
Susie Lawrance - Ensemble
Liz Tyndall - Ensemble
Musical Director
Martin Cleave
Martin has
been involved with local theatre since becoming rehearsal pianist for Bromley
Operatic Society while still a student. Following graduation from the Royal
College of Music he joined the music staff of the Royal Academy of Dance but
still remained in contact with groups performing around South-East London.
Credits as Musical Director include Anything
Goes, Guys and Dolls, The Boy Friend, Mack and Mabel (Bromley Operatic
Society), The Magic Flute (Opera
Nova), Carousel, Crazy for You, Calamity
Jane, Fiddler on the Roof, 42nd Street, Pickwick, Copacabana
(Eldorado Musical Productions). He is often in demand as an accompanist and has
written arrangements for the award winning ladies a capella group Just Voices, as well as cabaret work
with singer Melody-Jane Faulkner. He has recently been teaching himself the
piano-accordion.
Writer/Director
James Hay
James studied at Trinity
College of Music, London and has worked in the fields of opera, musical theatre and on
the concert platform. National Tours of
Mr P and Mr G, Something Wonderful and has worked for New Sadler's Wells Opera,
Gemini Opera, Sevenoaks Opera and recently, Kentish Opera. Tour of Die
Fledermaus with Nicholas Parsons. Vocal Tutor for Summer Schools and leading
Drama Colleges. Appeared at the Queen Elizabeth Hall in The Magic of the
Musicals. Appearances in Musicals include the title role in Hans Andersen, The
Boyfriend, Pickwick, Bitter Sweet and Oliver. Appearances in Revue and Music
Hall. Wrote and Directed Sixty Glorious Years to celebrate the Queen's Jubilee.
Opera and Musicals as a Director include Dido and Aeneas, Suor Angelica, The Beggar's Opera, Jack the
Ripper, The Boyfriend, The Matchgirls, Perchance to Dream, The Sound of Music and
Patience. Concert versions of Chu Chin Chow, Showboat, Brigadoon and The Count
of Luxembourg. Plays include, Firebird, Nightingale, Don't Dilly Dally — a
tribute to Marie Lloyd and Understanding Susan. A tribute CD to Noel Coward
entitled 'A Talent to Amuse' and several broadcasts for the BBC. His one-man
show Hayfever had great success at the Lambeth and Camden Festivals. Future
appearances on the concert platform include Dear Ivor and His Leading Ladies at
Lauderdale House, Highgate and The Ashcroft Theatre, Croydon in the Autumn.
