Ayr Amateur Operatic Company – Rock of Ages
A Celebration In Song
Nigel Ward
I finished chatting to Shrek beneath the glitterball.
These weren’t words I expected to write when asked to prepare a piece for this issue. Strangely, the story started in 1904.
Then, the year after the Ayr Amateur Opera Company (AAOC) was formed, Gilbert and Sullivan’s HMS Pinafore was staged in the town’s Volunteer Hall on Alloway Street.
No, there are no obvious clues to connect with a green, grumpy ogre or an iconic disco artefact.
However, 120 years later, that fledgling company is still going strong, and the apparently disparate strands come together.
On a blustery evening shortly before Christmas, David Carnell, Claire Dorby and Mikey McCabe had shared their enthusiasm for AAOC’s latest production, Rock of Ages.
Mikey is directing their forthcoming 2025 show and, in 2020, played Shrek in the company’s musical version of that eponymous 2001 film. Cast members had also begun to gather underneath the glitterballs in Notion, Ayr’s nightspot that serves as their rehearsal space. So, the words quickly fell into place.
Rock of Ages is set in the Bourbon Room, a Hollywood club. Its future is at stake. With spiky, 1980s Glam Metal imagery adorning publicity material and songs that will prompt foot-tapping nostalgia for a certain age-group, I asked, “Why?”
“Because it’s different,” smiled David. “We’re keeping it fresh.”
A veteran of twenty years, David is one of the Principals, playing Lonny, who works at the Bourbon Room and is the show’s narrator. As a young performer, encouraged by a schoolteacher, David made his debut in Jesus Christ Superstar, and hasn’t looked back.
Claire joined AAOC after being prompted by the same teacher. Nine years later, she’s the company’s secretary and excited to be playing her first Principal role, Regina. Her debut was in 42nd Street, enticed when there was a search for someone who could tap.
In its early years, before the current cast were a glitter in even their grandparents’ eyes, the company’s repertoire comprised Gilbert and Sullivan’s D’Oyly Carte standards, including The Mikado, The Gondoliers and The Pirates of Penzance. Since then, they’ve explored a wide range of musical theatre to entertain Ayr audiences. Reel off a list of classics and AAOC will have performed it: My Fair Lady, Annie, Oliver!, South Pacific, Carousel.
This variety epitomises what David meant when he talked about keeping the programme fresh. Last year’s Sound of Music followed Sunshine on Leith, 9 to 5 and that 1960s classic Summer Holiday. I didn’t ask how the big red London bus got onto the stage.
“Has there been a ‘never-again’ production?” I asked.
“No, we take it all in our stride.” I knew that was a pointless question.
However, I was curious about mounting Singin’ in the Rain in 2002, for which I knew an elaborate rain-tray could be hired for the obvious number.
“It only lasted two nights,” David told me. “Water ran into the orchestra pit.” Thank goodness for today’s dry, digital enhancements. There’ll be no danger for musicians in the pit this year. A band of five will be on stage throughout the performance.
“No pre-recorded backing tracks for us,” he boasted.
I wondered if today’s cast knew about the footsteps they followed, and what reputation they sought to maintain. Intrigued, I trawled the Ayrshire Post for their first notices.
HMS Pinafore was performed on 23 March 1904. Two days later, the journalist declared being “privileged to enjoy the opening effort,” although “sorry that many of the front seats were empty.” Mr T G Gilbertson played First Lord of the Admiralty, displaying “a blend of pawky pomposity with rare effect.” Poor Miss Murdoch, although suffering from a cold, sang delightfully, but fell foul of criticism that could have been heard on Strictly. “She must try to school her hands and arms to more graceful and varied movements.” Make-up didn’t escape comment either, described as more suited to “an extravaganza or burlesque than a serious comic opera.” Nevertheless, their first show was reported as being “one of the very best amateur opera performances given in Ayr for many, many years.”
In 1905, the same newspaper described the company being “a flourishing organisation.” On 14 March, “a large and fashionable audience attended” The Mikado, this time in the New Gaiety Theatre. “Members have put a stout heart to a stey brae,” readers were told, with a performance that “reflects credit on all concerned, and the society have achieved quite a notable triumph.”
However, their staging of Patience in April 1906, was damned by faint praise as “the work of amateurs who cannot expect to become Henry Irvings or Ellen Terrys all at once.”
Drawing a veil, let’s return to 2025.
Dusting off 1980s fashion mistakes and brushing up musical memories, you’ll remember ‘We Built This City’, ‘Cum on Feel the Noize’, ‘Final Countdown’ and ‘I Want to Know What Love is’. The groups will be on the tip of your tongue as the cast finally share their hard work with an audience.
For a February run work starts early. In fact, the team are already thinking about options for 2026. By August the previous year the production team has been formed and nerve tingling auditions begin. The Principals and chorus will rehearse weekly from September, after which sets are acquired, musicians hired and costumes sourced. Who confesses to a surplus 1980’s wardrobe?
In the final few days, with access to the theatre itself, there’s a flurry of get-ins, band-calls, dress-rehearsals and the technicalities of sound and lighting to sort. Bits, pieces and detail that audiences might take for granted, especially if everything goes smoothly on the night.
This extensive workload is shouldered by a membership of nearly sixty, including thirty-seven ‘playing’ members who you’ll see on stage. Exploring beneath the surface of what’s involved is always revealing, and a useful reminder of the commitment those behind the entertainment display and the strength of community spirit embodied.
AAOC, face an age-old challenge, getting new members, and especially ones that might take on some responsibility. Can they attract a new, younger demographic? Interestingly, those who grew up with the Glam Rock of the 1980s will already be in their fifties.
Which brings us back to Rock of Ages.
Watching the team rehearsing at Notion there was a buzz. They’d arrived, swaddled in jackets and scarves, chatting and laughing, a real community coming together. Dipping into their Facebook pages gives more than a glimpse of the cast practising their lines, lyrics and moves. If you want to find out more, or even be involved, visit their website aaoc.org.uk where you’ll also find out how to snap up tickets.
24th February – 1st March at the Gaiety Theatre, Ayr – tickets £20.00 – £24.00
As I left, shoulders swayed, harmonies reverberated in the close confines of the nightclub and Cammy Hill, their musical director, put the sopranos through their paces before bringing in the altos and then the ‘boys’. The club surroundings in Notion couldn’t have been more apt to get the cast into the mood, black, silver and shiny with all those glitterballs.
Finally, are you the quiz team’s music specialist? Did you get the groups? Starship, Slade, Europe and Foreigner.
