NEWS & EVENTS
HOPs Centenary Celebration Notice
On the 5th March 2024, we sent out e-invitations for expressions of interest, to attend and/or perform at our HOPs Centenary Celebration. This is open to all past & present friends, members and helpers of HOPs over the past 100 glorious years.
The invitations have been sent via email, if you have not received yours, check your junk folder and if there is nothing, then we apologise, as you can imagine it has been a mammoth task compiling the guest list.
Don’t worry all you need to do is email us at hello@harrogateoperticplayers.co.uk letting us know your past involvement, then once verified we will be delighted to send you an invitation.
If you have unsubscribed from our mailing list in the past unfortunately due to GDPR regulations we are not allowed to contact you without you making a new request to be added.
We can not wait to celebrate with you all!
Volunteering at a Willow Tree telling a children’s story
Thank you to Clare and her sister for acting out the story ‘The Lost Happy Endings’ to the pupils at Willow Tree Primary School.
Thank you for the show shout out too!
Behind The Scenes - Taking To The Floor
The half term break flew by and before we knew it, rehearsals were back on! Jim put the cast to the test with their vocals and it was the beginning of floor rehearsals with Director/Choreographer Mike Kirkby.
This show has so many comedy elements that you would not want to miss!
If you want to head out on strike with us in the summer - Book your tickets now!
Behind The Scenes - With The Lads
This week the girls made room for the men to rehearse their songs with Musical Director - Jim Lunt. The cast are on a break for half term and will be going full steam ahead afterwards with more singing rehearsals & eventually floor setting with Mike Kirkby.
If you want to head out on strike with us in the summer - Book your tickets now!
Hot Off The Press
First HOPs editorial for the Harrogate Advertiser in 2024 about our 100 year anniversary and our next production of ‘Made In Dagenham'. It is also available to read on The Stray Ferret & Your Harrogate.
First Behind The Scenes Exclusive
The cast of ‘Made In Dagenham’ commenced their 2024 show journey in the middle of January, by gathering around the piano for a singing rehearsal with our extremely talented Musical Director - Jim Lunt.
Here we are in the Harrogate Theatre Pantomime programme of ‘Dick Whittington’
Everybody Out! MID Photo Shoot
As someone said on the day, ‘HOPs can survive anything’ and they are not wrong! Waking up to a blanket of snow meant one thing and one thing only….. let’s go do a photo shoot!
What a fun and successful day for us all, stepping back in time to 1968 at The Harrogate Studio and going on strike for our ‘Made In Dagenham’ promotional photo shoot! It was a very cold and long day but so well worth it. The management team, creative team, wardrobe, make up and the cast all worked effortlessly hard to make the day be nothing but joyful!
Huge thank you to our pro fashion photographer David Dresser for returning to HOPs for this shoot and we can not wait to show you the results.
HOPs Charity of the Year 2023/2024
HOPs are delighted to exclusively announce our Charity of the Year 2023/2024 - Reflect It was discussed amongst our Trustees and members that it was important to stick to the theme of women, who are celebrated in our upcoming production 'Made In Dagenham'.
Reflect is a free support service in North Yorkshire for anyone facing a Pregnancy Choice and for those in need of support after experiencing Pregnancy or Neonatal Loss. They primarily provide free 1-1, or couples support, for anyone who has pregnancy or baby loss through their structured support programme ‘Reflections: Walking through loss’.
As they provide all of the support free of charge, your donations would primarily go towards enabling Reflect to keep all their services free to those who need support and help them to raise awareness of Reflect. Donations enable them to rent rooms so that they can see people in-person, fund the telephone helplines and website to be easily accessible to those in need and employ staff to enable the charity to function, by providing the training and assistance for the volunteers.
Please follow and like their social media pages and visit their website for more information about their services.
Reflect: Pregnancy Choice & Loss Support (reflectsupport.co.uk)
www.facebook.com/ReflectSupport
Reflect (@reflect.support)
We will keep you updated on any fundraising events we will be hosting to help raise money for this amazing organisation.
HOPs Winter Coffee Morning
What a great day hosting a coffee morning at Wesley Chapel and the team thorough enjoyed the day!
Thank you to our helpers who came to serve, make sandwiches, make hot drinks, clean up and help promote ‘Made In Dagenham’
Thank you to our bakers who made all the delicious cakes and sausage rolls.
Most of all, thank you to our customers who came along to say hello and support the society, we highly appreciate it.
Accent Workshop Part 2 With Michael Garside
One Tuesday night, the cast of ‘Made In Dagenham’ gathered together to refresh their brains on the accent they have to work through. Mike went into the finest of details to make sure certain words were pronounced correctly, not only in the Dagenham accent but he worked with the posh accent for the factory management and the American accent for the almighty Mr Tooley.
Huge thank you again for Mike Garside for giving us his time and putting a lot of effort to help our members.
‘Made In Dagenham’ Script Read Through
The cast gathered together to read through the script of our upcoming 2024 production of ‘Made In Dagenham’ and what a fun evening we had.
The members laughed, cried, cringed and built up all the excitement to bring the characters to life. Let’s ‘Stand Up’ and get this empowering show on the road.
Accent Workshop With Michael Garside
The cast of ‘Made In Dagenham’ gathered together to embark into a very educational workshop on a Dagenham accent. It was lead by the extraordinary talent- Michael Garside who went into the technical depth of how to speak like the characters would in the show.
Everyone thoroughly enjoyed the evening and it was great for the team to be together after a testing audition process.
'Made In Dagenham' Launch Night
Thank you to everyone who attended the launch evening of ‘Made In Dagenham’ and wow! What a fun evening we had!
The evening was full of information, singing, laughter, warmth and smiles.
We hope you enjoyed it as well as we did and look forward to the audition workshop on Monday 16th October!
Read All About It
Editorial for this week's
Harrogate Advertiser , starting off our 100 year anniversary in 2024 and informing of our next production of 'Made In Dagenham'. Featuring words from our wonderful President
Christine Littlewood , Musical Director Jim Lunt and Director/Choreographer Mike Kirkby
Special Announcement
HOPs are proud to present to you, our show sponsor for ‘Made In Dagenham’…….
This amazing Bradford based business provides all aspects of international freight forwarding, end to end supply chain requirements and customs compliance for companies large and small. With over 70 years combined industry knowledge and expertise in imports, exports and customs compliance they provide a transparent, efficient, cost effective and customer centric way to help businesses with all their supply chain needs
For more information on the organisation please visit - https://buff.ly/46JqvQe
Or follow them on social media -
ARC Forwarding LTD | Facebook - Facebook https://buff.ly/46Jqw6K
Thank you from Young Carers
We are delighted to share with you the amazing difference we have made to our Charity of the Year - Carers' Resource - Harrogate Young Carers.
The Bed Race team managed to raise £470, all thanks to your donations and sponsors. 2 bed race team members Sancha and Lizzie visited the Young Carers Youth Club ‘Budz’ to see how the charity works and find out where the money is going to.
The money raised is going towards 30 tickets to this years Harrogate Theatre Pantomime of Dick Whittington at Christmas what a perfect treat for the young carers of various ages.
It’s heartwarming to know what a difference we can make so thank you.
Coming Together, Supporting Together
Local societies within Harrogate and Ripon are putting on some spectacular plays and musicals starting from October 2023- you would not want to miss out on these great productions during the community theatre season.
Come along to support your local theatre companies by booking tickets at the Harrogate Theatre and enter the wonderful world of performing arts.
HOPS are on Strike!
Firstly we would like to say a huge thank you to everyone who came to support us at the Harrogate premiere of ‘Chitty Chitty Bang Bang’. Now it’s time to pack those Toot Sweets away and we are off out on strike for our 2024 Centenary production…..
We are delighted to share with you some news for our June 2024 show. We are so excited to be putting on ‘Made In Dagenham’!
HOPs can not wait to bring this female empowering musical, based on the true events of the 1968 Dagenham equal pay strikes, where the highly skilled ladies were underpaid at the Ford factory. It’s a strong and patriotic show and you couldn’t a ‘Ford’ to miss it!
Tickets are on sale at the box office at the Harrogate Theatre
11th - 15th June 2024
https://www.harrogatetheatre.co.uk/events/made-in-dagenham/
We Went With A Bang!
That’s it, ‘Chitty Chitty Bang Bang’ has come to a close and what a Fantasmagorical week we have all had.
Congratulations to all the cast, crew, creative team, commiteee, chaperones and anyone else who has helped to make this show magical for EVERYONE! You are ALL superstars and it has been a mammoth show to get onto the Harrogate Theatre stage.
HOPs would like to thank YOU, the audience members who travelled near and far in their motor cars to see this wonderful, iconic, family favourite show! Your support is hugely appreciated and the feedback has been ‘Truly Scrumptious’!
What A Glorious Day For A Bed Race!
Congratulations Team HOPs for competing in The Great Knaresborough Bed Race on Saturday 10th June and they came 82nd out of 85 beds which is amazing!
Thank you to the runners who took on the challenge with great pride and positive attitudes What a team!
Thank you to the volunteers for the parade, it was very hot in the costumes but we kept our smiles going and enjoyed every minute.
But we can’t miss one hero….. Stephen Graham for not only building Chitty for the Best Dress Bed competition but for winning us the Eco Award for using recyclable and sustainable materials.
Extra! Extra! Read All About It!
You might recognise these 4 cheeky faces in the Harrogate Advertiser this morning as we have a final interview with cast from ‘Chitty Chitty Bang Bang’ .
Check out a super piece on our 4 Jeremys and Jemimas - Lucas, Eva, Jacob and Mabel - Future superstars in the making .
Go Team HOPs!
Huge appreciation for our team members taking part in The Great Knaresborough Bed Race on Saturday 10th June 2023:
Sancha
Lizzie
Gemma
Emma
Dan
Simon
They all embraced the glorious sunshine and had their first training session with a bed. It was a challenge for all but they are determined to get stronger ready for the race.
They are running in aid of our Charity of the Year Carers' Resource - Harrogate Young Carers Your donation could really help a Young Carer with support and the mentoring they need.
https://www.justgiving.com/team/hopsbedrace2023
Read All About It!
Full page editorial 18th May, in the Harrogate Advertiser and it’s a splendid interview with our leading man Rich Hawley , who is playing the role of Caractacus Potts.
Full Page Spread
Fresh on 11th May, an interview with the ever so funny and talented Rohan Green , who is new to HOPs this year He talks all things Boris and Goran and his past experience in children’s television and the pro tour of ‘Chitty Chitty Bang Bang’.
Hot off the Press!
Editorial piece out 20th April, in the Harrogate Advertiser and this time we have interviewed the dazzling Jack Moran who is playing the iconic villain - The Child Catcher!
'Oh What A Happy Time We Spent' - HOPs Spring Coffee Morning
Huge thank you to those who attended our coffee morning Saturday 1st April 2023, we had a great turn out and it was lovely to see some familiar faces supporting us.
Thank you to our helpers who were rushed off their feet but always had smiles on their faces. Massive thanks to those baked for us, we had tonnes of cakes and baked goods going spare.
And The Race Is On!
We are extremely delighted to announce that HOPs have a team who have been accepted into The Great Knaresborough Bed Race which will take place Saturday 10th June 2023
The theme this year for the parade is ‘Entertainment’ so we are silly not to use this opportunity to build our own Chitty
It’s a huge honour to be sponsored by Dulux Decorator Centre Harrogate who are based on Claro Road. They have kindly supplied us with the materials to help decorate our teams’ bed They are open to the public 7am-5pm Monday-Friday, 8am-4pm Saturday.
The team of runners representing team HOPs are the following:
Lizzie Alice
Simon Littlewood
Ruthie JT
Harry Pascall
We hope we can see lots of people there to cheer them on and support us. The team are running in aid of our Charity of the Year - Carers' Resource - Harrogate Young Carers If you could please be kind enough to donate to the following link, it would be really grateful
https://www.justgiving.com/team/hopsbedrace2023
Harrogate Advertiser full page piece!
Full page interview with Kate Griffiths who is starring as Truly Scrumptious in our upcoming production 'Chitty Chitty Bang Bang'.
Behind The Scenes Sneak Peek!
Behind the scenes of 'Chitty Chitty Bang Bang' rehearsals that are in full swing with Michael Kirkby and Jim Lunt.
Feeling Starstruck with Emma Williams
On Saturday 18th February 2023, a handful of HOPs members took part in a ‘Chitty Chitty Bang Bang’ master class with West End leading lady Emma Williams. Emma was the first to play Truly Scrumptious in the West End production of Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, along side Michael Ball.
The master classes were run through Damien Poole Theatre Arts training school and we would like thank Damien for this opportunity. The master class was open to everyone and anyone, children and adults, so HOPs couldn’t say no to this opportunity. Emma was delightful, really energetic and she took us through numerous acting and singing exercises. She really pushed us to do and show our best performances, right down to the finer detail.
It was a great educational experience for us, we will certainly take everything on board Emma that taught us and we shall use it, building to June 2023.
Read All About It - Editorial covering Chitty excitement!
Editorial for the Harrogate Advertiser, talking all things 'Chitty Chitty Bang Bang'.
Visit to Carers Resource: Young Carers
One of our committee members, Lucy Thackwray, was welcomed to one of their Youth Clubs in January 2023. It was an insight to see how the charity work, what an impact the club made on the group of young children and the staff were very grateful for having them as our Charity of the Year.
Exciting News - Charity Of The Year 2022-2023
We are delighted to announce our Charity Of The Year - Carers’ Resource - Young Carers Carers' Resource - Harrogate Young Carers.
Carers’ Resource are an award winning Yorkshire based Charity who have been running for 20 years, we have chosen to support the Young Carer within this amazing organisation. Young Carers live with the impact of looking after a family member who is suffering from conditions such as; cancer, multiple sclerosis, autism, schizophrenia and addiction. They provide assistance with cooking, cleaning, shopping, taking them to the doctors/hospital and much more.
The organisation provides counselling, support and opportunities for the Young Carers to live a normal life like they deserve to and to be happy.
We decided to stick within the theme of children and young people that is featured in our upcoming production ‘Chitty Chitty Bang Bang’ and we are looking forward to supporting them by raising funds and also, raising awareness.
Fantasmagorical Photo Shoot
Sunday 11th December was photo shoot day for 'Chitty Chitty Bang Bang' and we must say, it was a ‘Truly’ fantastic day.
Huge thank you to The Harrogate Studio for letting us use your brilliant space, David Dresser for being our superb photographer and having so much patience photographing such a big cast of around 40. The children were a joy to work with, their behaviour and enthusiasm was spot on.
We have welcomed back the very talented Make-Up Artist Sam Sowerby who brought our Grandpa Potts, Truly and The Child Catcher to life……. Watch this space, the end result will be revealed in due course.
Stephen Graham provided props which helped the cast get into character and bring a story to the photos.
Thank you to Richard Lill for sorting out the great costumes which will be seen in the near future.
We can not wait to get this show on the road in the summer so get your tickets now.
Festive Coffee Morning
Saturday 10th December 2022, we hosted a festive coffee morning at St Peters Church, at the centre of town. We served up hot soup, sandwiches, sausage rolls, homemade bakes and beverages for all. Town was buzzing with shoppers and Christmas Market visitors, this meant that the HOPs volunteers were extremely busy with customers coming in and they were swept off their feet. It was a successful day with lots of excitement for 'Chitty Chitty Bang Bang' and the festive season.
RIP Betty Bratley
It is with a heavy heart and much sadness, that we share the sad news that Betty Bratley sadly passed away in the morning of Monday 14th November 2022.
Her son was able to be with her at the end. We send all our love to her family and friends. Betty was much loved by HOPS and we will be eternally grateful for all she did to make HOPS the success it is today.
Betty and her late husband Mike spent a lifetime each being an integral part of HOPS, from booking secretary to President her involvement was endless, as was her love for HOPS and what it stands for.
Please take a moment to reflect on the many memories you may have of such a wonderful woman, that we have had the privilege of having in our lives.
RIP Betty, together again with your beloved Mike
Every year we host 1 or 2 coffee mornings to help raise funds towards our shows.
Join us on Saturday 10th December 2022 at St Peter’s Church Harrogate (next to Primark) where we will be serving tea, coffee, juice, hot soup, sandwiches and homemade bakes. We will be open 10am until 2pm .
The Christmas market will be on so we expect to be busy.
Chitty Script Read Through
On Tuesday 15th November 2022, our cast gathered together to read through the Chitty Chitty Bang Bang script it was a fantastic opportunity to meet all the characters, learn the plot and have an idea what is to come once rehearsals commence in the New Year.
Thank you to Mike Kirkby for a very useful and great evening, we all feel like it’s going to be a really fun and joyous show to get involved in.
And We Have A Cast!
What A 'Truly' Wonderful Evening
A huge thank you to those who turned up to our Production Launch Welcome Night for our next show of ‘Chitty Chitty Bang Bang’ it was amazing to see so many people attending, new faces and old faces and the kids were brilliant too.
Thanks to the very talented Jim Lunt for leading us in a lovely session of singing some of the songs from the show.
Remember you have until the 15th October to decide what you want to audition for.
We can’t wait to see you again for our singing prep night on Tuesday 11th October 2022.
Yorkshire 3 Peaks Challenge Completed
Huge congratulations to Sancha who completed 3/3 of the Yorkshire peaks in 10 hours and 16 minutes. Clare managed 2/3 and we are ever so proud of both of them.
You can still donate to their links below and your money is going to a great cause Saint Michael's Hospice
Sancha’s link
https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/Sanchasthreepeaks
Clare’s link
https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/ClareHOPS
HOPs Summer BBQ 2022
On Saturday 20th August 2022, we had our annual BBQ hosted by the wonderful Cathy Hellas, with lovely food, drinks and fun games lead by Daniel Stanford
We managed to avoid the rain and it’s safe to say it was another successful BBQ. The atmosphere was very positive and everyone had a laugh. It was fab to be back together again.
Charity Of The Year - September Challenges
As you all know we support a charity every year to give back to those who need it the most. We do this by having members take part in fundraising events, hosting raffles and any other ideas to help raise money. This year we are raising money for the wonderful Saint Michael's Hospice, who are an organisation who look after those who are terminally ill, support families through them facing complexities of terminal illnesses and most importantly helping those who have lost loved ones.
September is coming up and we have 2 challenges that 3 of our members are going to be facing.
Sunday 11th September 2022, Lizzie Oates will be taking part in the Great North Run over Newcastle city centre. It’s the worlds biggest half marathon of 13.1 miles and over 57,000 people take part each year. Lizzie would love for you to help her and encourage her by donating to her sponsor link below. Every penny counts and we appreciate your generosity.
https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/lizzie-oates1...
Saturday 17th September 2022, Clare Pascall and Sancha King will be taking on the Yorkshire 3 Peaks challenge. They will be attempting to climb Ingleborough, Whernside and Pen-Y-Ghent with in 12 hours and that’s a whopping 24 miles of walking. The teams from last year managed it so let’s see if Sancha and Clare can beat their time.
Please donate to their links below, it will be appreciated and your encouragement will help them along the way.
Sancha’s link
https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/Sanchasthreepeaks
Clare’s link
https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/ClareHOPS
Sneak Preview of Kinky Boots at the Valley Gardens Jubilee Celebrations
A handful of the cast strutted their stuff on the Valley Gardens band stand on Friday 3rd June 2022, as part of the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee Celebrations.
There was a big crowd and we received a great reception from the audience who stopped to watch.
HOPs Spring Coffee Morning - St Peter's Church
On Saturday 14th May 2022, we had our coffee morning at St. Peter's Church, Harrogate and it was a lovely day with hot drinks, soup, sandwiches and plenty of sweet treats.
A huge thank you to our team who came along to help, whether it was in the kitchen or front of house and we managed to raise around £360.
Thank you to Daniel Stanford, Stephen Graham, Fraser James, Cathy Hellas, Julie Robinson, Lucy Thackwray, Clare Pascall, Angela Mayes, Richard Lill, Susannah Todd, Christine Bell and Ruth Jayne.
Charity Of The Year 2022 - Great North Run for Saint Michael's Hospice
HOPs love helping local charities by taking part in fundraising events and challenges. This year we are continuing our support for Saint Michael's Hospice.
We have a couple of challenges that will be happening in September 2022 and we can’t wait to see our members achieve their goals and raise plenty of money.
Sunday 11th September 2022, Lizzie will be taking part in the Great North Run, representing HOPs and raising money for Saint Michael’s Hospice. The challenge is a 13.1 mile run in Newcastle Upon Tyne, running through the city centre and over the iconic Tyne Bridge. We will keep you posted about her journey and we are excited to see how she will get on.
To show your support and encouragement, please donate to the link below and every penny counts. You are helping to pay for facilities, equipment and services to keep the hospice running.
Good luck Lizzie
Lizzie Oates is fundraising for Saint Michael's Hospice (justgiving.com)
Behind The Scenes
The Angels were strutting back into rehearsals last week as the cast had their first full run since February 2022. It was such an uplifting feeling to be all back together again and be ready for round 2 of Kinky Boots.
Breaking News!
As a gift from us to you, we have a huge announcement for you…….
Back by popular demand…..
‘Kinky Boots’ the Smash Hit musical is returning and we can not wait to spread some more glitz and glamour over Harrogate
Harrogate Theatre 22nd-25th June 2022
Book your tickets now to avoid disappointment….. again
https://www.harrogatetheatre.co.uk/whats-on/Kinky-Boots
Or phone the box office on 01423 502116