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When a member of staff has led
the Performing Arts team for 22
years; has produced countless
high-quality and award-winning
pieces of theatre, including
taking performances from the
Royal Albert Hall to Switzerland
(and a whole host of venues
and countries in between!), how
do you say farewell? Well, in
true Tony Coffey style, all the
stops were pulled out and a true
performance extravaganza took
place! The archives were delved
into, as former Youth Theatre
members were invited back
and were delighted by a gallery
of photographs as they first
entered the Theatre, chronicling
their numerous entertaining
productions and causing much
nostalgia, especially with the
carefully created props and
some very interesting costumes!
As the audience took their seats
in a beautifully transformed
Theatre (from the photo
exhibition you were sat at a
table facing the performance
space – cabaret style!) there
were props from the past
placed on each table: an array
of items from lanterns filled
with fairy lights to cowboy
hats, which continued to
delight and surprise. The
performances themselves were
a whirlwind of highlights over
the years; combining current
students reprising classic roles;
video footage on screen of
other definitive productions;
and more recent ensembles
also performing live for our
entertainment, such as the
Belle Ayres. The evening’s
hosts kept the journey on-track
throughout; warmly guiding
the audience chronologically
through the archives; ensuring
all the transitions were seamless
– and even performing in many
of the acts too! One of the
many highlights had to be
inviting former Youth Theatre
members on stage to partake in
the utterly hilarious Tinkerbell
The Cow story, which involved
blowing up rubber gloves and
using them as cow udders! It
was fair to say that the ability
to entertain and really give to
every audience member, had
certainly not been lost.
Going Out on a High!
As a Landau legend leaves us, Tony Coffey’s Swan Song Soiree certainly hit all the right notes…