How Many?!?
The NODA District 2 Award nominations are out and Bispham CastAways has received a total of FOURTEEN nominations!! We’re now all looking forward to the awards evening on February 24th… keep your fingers crossed for us!
The NODA District 2 Award nominations are out and Bispham CastAways has received a total of FOURTEEN nominations!! We’re now all looking forward to the awards evening on February 24th… keep your fingers crossed for us!
The world debut of CastAways own Linda McKenzie’s thoughtful and surprising play, Memories, was a big success across the three performances on the 31st of March and the 1st of April! Audiences were treated to surprising twists and turns with an ending that left some in tears. Linda’s first play was also a directorial debut for Lesley Amos who did a great job with a play that needed restraint. Everyone at Bispham CastAways looks forward to seeing what these two talented ladies do next!
What a wonderful evening at the NODA North West District 2 Awards at The Imperial Hotel! Bispham CastAways had an unbelievable 11 nominations and the group got their first ever winner. The amazing Hayley Price (also a Trustee and Deputy Business Manager) picked up the award for Best Leading Performance in a pantomime for her portrayal of Toto in The Wicked Witches of Oz by Peter Nuttall. It was very well deserved and she now goes onto the North West regional awards. Everyone is wishing her all the luck in the world!
Even more nominations poured in for the CastAways following the release of the NODA North West District 2 nominations relating to pantomimes! A further 5 nominations were announced for the CastAways all from their production of The Wicked Witches Of Oz by Peter Nuttall. They were:
This brought the nominations at the upcoming NODA awards to a massive ELEVEN for Bispham CastAways… what an amazing achievement!!
On the 16th of July 2022, Bispham Gala restarted after a three year break for COVID. Bispham CastAways took part again, participating in the parade and performing the karaoke finale from Old Boilers. It was a beautifully sunny day and the rose queens and their retinues all looked amazing in their dresses and outfits. The members taking part in the parade met at the gala field for Hayley to glitter up the girls and Sue to stick posters on everyone’s back. Then armed with whistles, bell sticks and our trusty dog mascot, Marley, we took off on the route. There were unfortunate issues with the parade due to the heat but we all made it back and, following the rose queen ceremony, sung our hearts out… despite the fact we are not a musical theatre group. Fun was had by all and we look forward to going into the community again.
There were oooohs, aahs, laughs and gasps as Bispham CastAways performed their interactive murder mystery, Cruise of Carnage by Belladonna Mysteries, across two nights on April 8th and 9th 2022. Everyone had a great time helped by a lovely hot pot supper. There were winners and lots of ”I told you so’s” going around as the killer was revealed. We can’t wait for the next one!
A group of seven members had a great time being interviewed by Garry Scott on BBC Radio Lancashire on the 21st of October about the community theatre group and upcoming pantomime. The episode is still available on BBC Sounds, so get listening now!
Everyone at Bispham CastAways would like to thank the people at 1st Bispham Scouts for renting their wonderful facility to us for July and August to prepare our outdoor project that we performed at the end of August for Glen Tanar care home. It was important for us to have a safe place to rehearse and setup our first ever portable, outdoor set as we were without a home at that point. The people at the scouts made everything easy and were unbelievably helpful so we cannot thank them enough. The care home production was a success, in part, because of their generous help. We will always recommend 1st Bispham Scouts on Devonshire Road to everyone.
All 30 CastAways members and their partners who came out for the NODA North West Region 2 Awards evening on the 29th of February 2020 had a lovely evening, filling a long table with laughter all night. Although the Grand hotel did let the night down with problems encountered with the food, service, bar and access, the CastAways set out to have fun and made the night their own. Still amazed that they had received eight nominations in their first full year with NODA, they clapped and shouted for everyone. Their own Tara Stott did a turn onstage singing for the hundreds who attended, to massive applause. They know how lucky they are to have such an amazing group of talented people and hope to have an even better awards night in 2021!
Everyone at Bispham CastAways are currently buzzing after receiving a total of eight NODA North-West Region 2 Awards nominations, covering an impressive three out of the four of their productions performed in 2019. The CastAways nominations were for the following:
We wish to thank all our members for their hard work over the year to create such a successful four productions. Good luck to everyone at the awards evening on the 29th of February!