1893 outing set group on road to success
ACCRINGTON THEATRE GROUP
By JEAN TAYLOR, Chairman
OUR group was formed in 1997 by the merger of Accrington AODS (established 1893) with Hyndburn Bel Canto Theatre Group (established 1969).
However, the roots of our group were set in the summer of 1893.
Three friends were driving through Clitheroe in a dog-cart when they noticed a poster advertising an operatic show being performed in that area. They thought it would be a good idea for Accrington to have an operatic society. On their return they gather together some more enthusiasts and an informal committee was formed. The first meetings were held in the New Jerusalem School in Hargreaves Street and rehearsals for Les Cloches de Corneville commenced in the autumn. It was originally intended to stage the show at the school but ambitions and enthusiasm grew and eventually the recently opened Prince's Theatre was booked for the week commencing February 26, 1894.
The first public performance was scheduled for the Wednesday evening.
Monday's rehearsal was a total failure but Tuesday's dress rehearsal was considered to have gone slightly better, there being only minor mishaps with scenery, players missing entrances, lapses of memory regarding music and the prompter supplying much of the dialogue. One official went home ill and another wanted to wash his hands of the whole show.
Opening night must have gone well because all the committee members turned up en masse for the second night's performance. Audiences throughout the rest of the week enjoyed the show and later on that year the princely sum of £92.0.0d was donated to the Cottage Hospital, Accrington. The Society continued to stage shows at the Prince's Theatre until 1908. Then, in 1909 Tom Jones was staged at the Hippodrome Theatre and also Princess Ida the following year. From 1911-1913 productions were once again staged at the Prince's Theatre and show week became affectionately known as the "Amateur's Week". From 1920 until 1953, with the exception of the war years, shows were again staged at the Hippodrome. Sadly, this theatre was later to close. Maritza, the fiftieth performance, was staged at Accrington Town Hall and performances continued there until a return to the Prince's Theatre in 1962 with the production of White Horse Inn.
Salad Days and Oklahoma! were staged there in 1963 but in 1964 tragedy struck. Two weeks prior to the annual show the theatre was gutted by fire. The society lost all its equipment, but, more importantly, it lost its base - the only true, purpose-built theatre left in the area.
"The show must go on!" and it did. The Student Prince was performed at Oswaldtwistle Town Hall - later to become the Civic Theatre. For the past 35 years this has been our base.
In 1969 Hyndburn Bel Canto Theatre Group arose from the embers of Christ Church Musical & Dramatic Society (est. 1935). The group rehearsed and staged its first show, The Quaker Girl, at New Jerusalem School before moving to the Civic Theatre in 1971 for The Merry Widow.
The company presented shows and concerts there until the merger between Accrington Amateur Operatic and Dramatic Society and Bel Canto Theatre Group.
Since the merger, under the banner of the company's new name, Accrington Theatre Group has performed three highly successful shows, My Fair Lady, Oklahoma! and South Pacific.
Over the years there has been a wealth of talent, expertise and time lavished on stage, back stage, front of house and support, official and voluntary, all involved in keeping theatre alive in the area. The group is indebted to the people, past and present, for their sponsorship and patronage which is still so vital if we are to exist another 100 years.
What would those three people on their summer outing through Clitheroe in 1893 think now, I wonder?