News from 2015
Viva's fundraising weekender!
A massive well done and thank you to all of our Viva members who came along at the weekend to fundraise for our next youth production of 'Evita'. We bag packed and sung Christmas Carols at Tesco and Sainsbury's in Ely on both Saturday and Sunday to get the customers into the festive spirit. Thank you to all of the staff at both stores who welcomed us in and were a great support. We raised a fantastic £752.00 overall which will go a long way to making 'Evita' the best it can be for all of our youth group and will help cover the cost of set, props, costumes, make-up and the list goes on. Thank you to all of the fantastic Ely people who popped their loose change into our buckets as your generosity will help Viva continue the work we do in our community. Viva triumphs at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival!
We have arrived home from a fantastic week away at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival with two sell out shows and two 5 star reviews! It has been a busy week for our cast and production members at the famous Fringe Festival in Edinburgh. We travelled with over 70 people from the cast, aged 15 and up, to the production team, volunteers, family, parents and friends for a week of musical fun with Half a Sixpence and Avenue Q. We returned to the venue Greenside where we first performed in 2005 with the show Fame. It was a successful week and both casts were an absolute pleasure to have on board for the project. With some of our cast returning to the festival, after performing in past years, and the whole cast of Half a Sixpence being new to the scene they gave it everything they had and behaved like true professionals from beginning to the end. A big thank you to everyone who was involved in this huge production as without each and every one of you it could not have been a success. We are always working hard to provide as many opportunities as possible to anyone who would like to be involved. The Edinburgh Fringe Festival is a chance to perform to a completely different audience as well as performing acapella on the Royal Mile and handing out leaflets to advertise your own shows. It is a great confidence booster and opportunity for the young people to get out and about and experience something new. 'Oliver!' 2015
We did it! After four successful home shows at The Brook,Soham Viva took the whole Viva team and cast to The Shaw Theatre in London to perform 'Oliver!' and it was a great success. Well done to everyone involved. We could not have done it without all of the support from our local community so thank you! You can read our review from NODA here Project focusing on Street Life of East Cambridgeshire wins Heritage Lottery Fund support
After the success of our previous Heritage Lottery Funded (HLF) project, 'Rich Soil Rich Heritage', Viva has received £77,500 from HLF to deliver a community project called 'StreetLife 1939-1945'. Find out more... Viva was out in force over the bank holiday weekend!
Over the bank holiday weekend Viva's members went out in force to promote our three upcoming shows: Abigail's Party, Avenue Q and Half a Sixpence. St Andrew's Church had the Flower Festival where local organisations and charities could get involved with different themed flower arrangements. Viva's was created by Diane Cole and she did a wonderful job. Charlie O'Connor and Rebecca Storey visited Cambridge 105 on Sunday to help promote and reach out to possible sponsors for our current and future shows. On Monday 25th May it was Soham Carnival Day and we had our members marching in the parade, performing on the Blue Shed stage and selling tickets for our Grand Summer Draw. A big thank you to everyone who was involved in the day and in the lead up - a great weekend for Viva. Tickets are available for all three of our summer shows - make sure you do not miss out on our great summer line up! |
What a week and what a show!
A huge congratulations to our cast and crew of 'A Christmas Carol' who performed for three nights at St Andrew's Church last week. We had over 320 people through the doors over all three nights and the feedback has been fantastic. To everyone involved from the director, choreographer, props, costumes, set, technical management, cast, front of house support, volunteers from St Andrew's Church and the list goes on.... thank you for your hard work and determination. The show was magical and definitely got everyone in the festive mood! Read our NODA review written by Julie Petrucci by downloading the file below. ![]()
Viva Awards Evening 2015 was a storming success!
Another Viva Awards has come and gone and what an evening it was! Filled with awards, performances from our members, plenty of thank yous and a disco for everyone to enjoy. You can now see the full list of winners plus some photos on our members page. Here is to another successful and busy Viva year! NODA East Gala Awards
Viva swept the board at the NODA awards, District 4, on Sunday 10th May! Coming away with:
Abigail's Party Success
Well done to our fabulous cast and crew of Abigail's Party. They performed for three nights last week at The Brook, Soham and we had a great turn out! Thank you as well to our lovely tech team at Blueshed Studios for all of your help and support. Thank you to everyone who came along we hope you enjoyed being taken back to the 70's for the evening and had a few little pineapple and cheese ones. Read our review from NODA by Julie Petrucci here. ![]() Theatre Group Success with
'The Vagina Monologues' 'The Vagina Monologues' have been a huge hit and the cast and crew would like to thank everyone who came along and supported this production. Not only did the cast and crew have a great time putting on this show but they have raised important funds for the Women's Aid in Cambridge. Easter Eggstravaganza
A big well done to all of our Viva members and volunteers who put on another successful fundraising day at The Brook, Soham on Good Friday. We had plenty going on including games, crafts, face-painting, refreshments and an Easter egg tombola. A special shout out to our cake stall who did a fantastic job and were soon sold out! Viva raised a total of £500.00 that will be going towards our three summer shows: Abigail's Party, Avenue Q and Half a Sixpence. Find out more about our summer shows. |