Watch out Broadway!

The Ladies Christmas Shows are a sellout!

For over 60 years the Ladies entertained each other with a sparkling Christmas Show.

Broadway watch out! Our Ladies Christmas Shows are sellouts!

A long standing tradition among the ladies has been entertainment put on at the end of the ladies Christmas Dinner each year. The tradition of having a Christmas Dinner started in 1954 and each year since when the Christmas Dinner was held, entertainment has been provided by members. The entertainment in the early years was perhaps a song by Jean Derrin, or a recitation by Margaret Barry

In 1969, a stage was borrowed from Grace Bros. (then a major department store in the city) thanks to Del Norrie. It was a tiny catwalk only 3 ft by 8 ft and was 3 ft high and rather unstable but allowed the ladies to perform. Since then, a show, in some form has been produced each year. Fortunately larger and better stages were made available over the years before an even better stage again was purchased by the Club when the new Clubhouse as built in 2019.

Betty Musgrove ably assisted over the years by Hope Best, Yvonne Clarke, Norma Cole, Erla Nandor, Di Oakley and pianists Pam Green and Alma Wilson organized some 22 productions from 1968 to 1984. The names and details of these shows have been lost apart from some dated photos from shows between 1973 and 1997. Since then, most of these Christmas Shows were recorded on video.

These later shows were mainly revue style, except for a special production, “My Fairway Lady” based on the famous musical My Fair Lady. This was performed three times, first at the Associates Christmas Dinner in 1973 and repeated the following year for a special Club social event for all members, ladies and men. It was produced again in 1984 and a third time in 1997.

1979 Christmas Revue “Hook line and Sinker”

Some of the performances set an almost professional standard. In 1985 and 1986 Marcia Litchfield introduced a more musical format of Christmas entertainment involving less performers. The accompanist was Christine Dean and required the ladies to perform live songs with Marcia Litchfield, Barbara Conde and Elaine Taylor often featuring.

From the late 1990s the shows were produced by Mary Reische and later from the early 2000s by Trish Johnson, Lisa Hamer and some by Nerol Naylor and Chris Verco.

Well rehearsed and costumed, the idea was to have fun and entertain and it required any ladies who participated to put aside any of their inhibitions and just ‘have a ball’.

The creation of the shows varied from year to year, and some were based around a simple theme while others had more of a continuous story line.

Rehearsals were a ‘must’ but were always a challenge for the producers to be able to get all participants together on each rehearsal because of everyone’s various personal commitments.

That said, all were keen to make it a success and many ‘non- actors’ willingly came forward to take on critical roles to help make the shows a success. Stage Hands for the nights, people to make or modify costumes, make-up or special stage props to help enhance the performance, back drops and stage curtains all were diligently and enthusiastically prepared.

Some of the early shows required the performers to sing or speak live as had been the case in the 1980s, and this required some to extend themselves in a way they were hesitant to do, but did well.

Later the technique was to mime to popular songs which were used to be the essence of each ‘skit’. This required all participants to be very familiar with the words of the songs, learn the movements of the chosen ‘choreography’ and practice with others to ‘get it right’.

Initially, the sequence of chosen songs were burnt to a CD and played through the Club’s audio system. This was acceptable, but did not provide a great deal of control when ‘special’ things were wanted to be included in the show.

Fortunately, there were men members with special skills and equipment who willingly gave of their time to prepare the music and control its presentation so that there was all the flexibility to make the shows even better. Later this extended to additional specialised lighting including spot lights, which were managed by other male ‘volunteers’.

Early shows in the late 1990s had been recorded by one of the ladies with her analog video camera. This captured the essence of the night, but sometimes were not ideal recordings. One of the men, volunteered to record the shows with a digital video camera and this enabled higher quality recording and a higher quality production, which was then made available for cast members as a DVD. Recordings of all the shows since 2000, along with some earlier shows have now been stored on both DVD and also onto the Club’s archive hard drives. This means that the ‘magic’ and the ‘creativity’ of the ladies of Pennant Hills Golf Club is preserved in digital video form for future generations to enjoy as often as they wish.

The shows since 2000 were:-

2000 Entertainment

2001 Bob The Builder

2003 The Hills are Alive

2005 Christmas Revue. 2 Versions. One has scrolling as 2004, (wrong)

2006 Christmas Revue

2007 60s Revisited

2008 You’ve Got Talent

2009 Summer Holiday

2010 Mini Paws

2011 Dames Dolls and Divas

2012 ‘Twas the Night before Christmas

2013 Christmas Revue

2014 Diamond Anniversary 1954-2014 ( see 1993-2013 Collage)

2015 Hotel California

2016 Star Struck

2017 Go West

2018 Love Boat

2019 Gilligan’s Island

(2019 A video of extracts) A walk Down Memory Lane

(A tribute to the shows created and produced by Trish Johnston and Lisa Hamer)

2020 and 2021 No Shows due to the Covid pandemic

2022 Club Spirit

Modelled on the Leyland Brothers’ Show, Nerol Naylor and Susie Wales.

A full dress rehearsal was introduced in later years as a Special the night before the Ladies Christmas Dinner and it was made open to family and friends to come to a dinner at the Club and then enjoy the final rehearsal. This allowed a number of people to watch and enjoy the fun. It was always enjoyed, but the audience response was always more subdued than on the Night as was the exuberance of the ladies performing. All inhibitions were thrown away and the show performances lifted to the greatest heights. With the ladies ‘benefiting’ from an excellent meal and a few ‘sips of wine’ at the dinner, the mood was set to respond with enthusiasm. It was always a noisy and happy audience for this BIG NIGHT.

After missing 2 years during the Covid pandemic restrictions, the ladies produced another classic Show in 2022, called “Club Spirit”. Written by Margie Dearlove, and produced by Marg Miles, Lynne Mooney and Chrissie Grier, the show paid tribute to all aspects of Club life and the treasures they bring to everyone. The spirit of the Club and the sheer enjoyment and inclusiveness was on show again in this superb production.

Participants ranged from the ‘older ladies’ (ALL over 80) and their “Stayin’ Alive”, through the Committee revealing all the frustrations the BIG WET and Covid had on the golfing calendar with “Big Girls Don’t Cry”, the ‘injured’ doctors, Joan and Ann and the crowd favourite, Robyn dressed in ‘pseudo bikini’ and floral bathing cap doing “ Get Round “

ALL segments, including “ New York, New York” ( Nerol, Lisa , Trish, and Chrissie) and the impressive dancing of the Staff , led by Barnaby , the General Manager, doing “ 9 to5’ which many felt ‘won the prize’!!

“ Walk Like a Man” (Caitlyn, Sally, Karen, Jen) took it to the Monday Men,

“ We Will Rock You” ( De, Deb, Susie and Judy) stunned with colour and movement, and Cath Bardwell in superb disguise, showed everyone the intricate Irish Dance steps !

All were so well received by the appreciative crowd. The finale of “ That’s what friends are for” almost brought tears to many an eye, because it said so effectively just how deep and embedded the ‘Club Spirit’ is at Pennant Hills Golf Club. Recorded for posterity in the archives, as are most of the shows this century, this one will be available for continuing enjoyment for current and future generations of Club members.

In addition to the Ladies Christmas Shows, a few special productions were made for the whole Club’s enjoyment. In 2003, a special event called “Tonight’s the Night” was produced and involved many ladies and men. It was performed for the whole Club as a sort of dinner cabaret and was thoroughly enjoyed. Again using miming as the technique, it was of a high entertainment standard.

In 2014, and modernised version of “My Fairways Lady” was produced and performed on several nights for all members. It was an outstanding success and of the highest entertainment quality, made especially so because of the choice of particular Club members in the various roles.

For many years the ladies had made the Melbourne Cup a day to remember and in some years, produced a stage show, involving both men and ladies as a feature of the well attended luncheon.

Shows included “The King and I” (2002) , “Grease” (2003) and “South Pacific” (2004)

All were done to a very high standard and thoroughly enjoyed. They were produced by Lynda De Celis, who also took major roles in the productions. Unfortunately, the time and effort required to produce these shows, and the appropriate mix of people available to perform them, took its toll and this form of entertainment faded from the Melbourne Cup Day celebration. However, each of these three shows was recorded and is preserved in the Archives.