First, and foremost, the major benefit of being a Patron of Ipswich Gilbert and Sullivan Society is that it gives you the opportunity of supporting one of the major operatic and musical societies in East Anglia. It seems trite to say it, but the society simply couldn’t afford to continue in its current vein without our patrons continuing to support us, and more joining in with that support each year. But there are some other advantages, above and beyond that altruistic one. Firstly, we inform our patrons of our major events (productions, concerts, the AGM) in plenty of time for them to be able to choose which to attend. Secondly, we send out newsletters to keep them informed of what the society’s doing. Thirdly, patrons have the opportunity to book early for our production (even earlier than the cast!). And finally, we acknowledge that support in our programme and on our web-site (if you don’t want to be acknowledged in this way, please tell the Patron Secretary).
The background to the society is more fully documented in the history. Our current situation is that we invariably perform one or more of Gilbert and Sullivan’s Savoy operas during November of each year, in Ipswich Corn Exchange. Despite regularly playing to full houses (and selling every ticket for our production of "Pirates of Penzance" in 1999) we only just break even on our productions, year on year. We also have a concert season, running from around March to July, when we perform a number of concerts (up to 10) for local charities. Despite raising many thousands of pounds for the charities concerned (one of our concerts in 2000 raised over £4,000) we actually lose money doing this – which we see as part of our commitment to the local community.
We rehearse one or two times a week at Belstead Village Hall for pretty much the whole year – for concerts up to mid-summer and for the production after that.
Simplicity itself. All you need to do is contact our patrons' secretary, whose address can be found on the contacts page. We suggest a minimum subscription of £10.00 – although more would obviously be welcome!
Our current patrons include:
|
John & Carrie Aldam |
Marcus J Dunt |
Mrs Pat Lucas |
Royal British Legion |