Pop Up Proms at Corton House, Norwich, 22.11.13

I was delighted to bring The Pop Up Proms Project to Corton House in Norwich last night. 

About forty residents attended, including some of the more able residents from the sheltered housing part of the complex.

Here's a video of one resident joining in with the well-known Gilbert & Sullivan number 'A Policeman's Lot is Not A Happy One'...ably assisted by Proms volunteer performer, Gus.



Lots more photos in the photo gallery above.

Going Public

This week I was delighted to see a small feature on this project published in our local free paper. Hopefully people will read it, and  phone me without delay to make a booking for 2014.

I have been posting leaflets to many of the care homes and nursing homes in Norfolk- I didn't realise there were so many- and I've also had interest from the EDP newspaper itself, although it's proving difficult to get together enough of my team of volunteers at one time to create a decent photograph! It may end up being just me and the cat…

If you are a new reader to this blog, and you happen to know someone working or living in a venue that cares for the elderly, please do spread the word! We want to help, and its free- there really is no catch at all!

My phone number is 01508 570620. For full contact details, click on the 'Contact The Organiser' page of this blog, or of course you can use the contact widget thingy at the right-hand side of the page.

Spreading a Little Happiness

Some brief reflections on yesterday's Pop Up Proms concert at Brooklands Care Home in Drayton.

Just one picture for now.
But a picture tells a thousand words, and we've got some fantastic photos of last night's audience having a whale of a time at our very first Pop Up Proms concert. When I have the relevant permissions I'll set up a photo gallery.

But until then, I will attempt to illustrate the concert myself. 

It went very well indeed. About thirty residents attended, which was, apparently, an excellent turnout. Some residents' family members also came, and of course, the staff and carers popped in and out as well. Brooklands staff helped decorate the room with red, white and blue bunting and flags- it looked a proper Proms treat.

We were in the residents' lounge, a largish, low-ceilinged room, with comfy chairs and sofas arranged in a circle around the edge - and a huge pillar in the centre. We worked around it!

As we waited to begin our show, Christina set to work capturing those all important reminiscences from some of our elderly audience.

After a short introduction from me, Martyn kicked off the show with 'Oh What a Beautiful Morning'. Any fears we may have had about people not joining in with the singing were instantly allayed. EVERYONE joined in! It was brilliant.

They continued to join in (in some cases even when we didn't ask!) throughout the whole show. All the performers did wonderfully. Highlights for us all were the lady who danced to every song and the lady who loved the Matt Munroe medley. And how could we ever forget Joanie's rendition of Big Spender - sung from the laps of various surprised and delighted elderly gentlemen?!

The timings went according to plan and the last 15 minutes, set aside for our special 'Proms Finale', arrived in a flash. Armed with lyrics sheets to sing from and Union Jack flags to wave, our audience enthusiastically participated throughout 'Land of Hope and Glory' and 'Jerusalem', and our final number, 'Rule Britannia'!

Christina managed to capture some more recordings as we tidied our things away. The staff were thrilled with the hour's entertainment and commented on what an extremely positive experience the visit from the Pop Up Proms Project had been for all concerned.

All in all, a good evening's work. And home by 8.30!

Suggested (not suggestive!) Songs for Pop Up Proms

People are asking me for suggestions !!

Here's a list of the types of songs I think would work for our Pop Up Proms audiences. It's not exhaustive, it's just a list to get people started, but it gives a good idea of what's suitable. The over-reaching theme is 'WELL KNOWN' for people born in the 1920s and 30s, with a chorus or 'hook' they can join in with. You'll notice there's no Thrash Metal or Punk, for example...

Of course if you've got an idea to do a song (or indeed a poem - think Stanley Holloway) along these sort of lines and it's not on this list- that's fine.

Remember you will need to get hold of a backing track on CD for your song if you don't already have it.

Good places to get hold of backing tracks are, in the first instance, ME ! So do ask. Also you can try Martyn Shults, Michael Dann or Tracy Melton (we're all on thePop Up Proms Facebook Group so you can contact any of us that way).

In the unlikely event that between us we don't have your choice, most popular tracks can be very easily obtained from websites like Ameritz or NAP Music for literally a matter of about 79p.

Here are my suggestions, anyway:

• Gilbert & Sullivan e.g.  Modern Major General/ I've Got A Little List/ The Nightmare Song etc

• Old Time Music Hall e.g. My Old Man said Follow The Van/ Down at the Old Bull and Bush etc
• 1920s /30s e.g. Fred Astaire film music eg Top Hat/ Puttin on the Ritz etc, or Judy Garland eg Somewhere Over The Rainbow

• 1950s /60s Anything by Doris Day (Que Sera Sera?) / Cliff Richard/ Bing Crosby/ Sinatra/ Matt Monroe etc, or Flanders & Swann eg The Gnu/ The Hippo ('Mud, mud glorious mud')

• Showtunes:

Rogers & Hammerstein style rather than Kander & Ebb or Sondheim!
I suggest songs from
Oklahoma (Oh What a Beautiful Morning)
Showboat
Carousel
Annie Get Ya Gun
Calamity Jane
My Fair Lady (Danced all Night/Wouldn't it be Luvverly)
The King & I (Whistle a Happy Tune)
Oliver (Oom Pah Pah)
South Pacific (Happy Talk/ Wash That Man Right Outta My Hair)
and so on...

Picture from http://sunshinegirlnicola.blogspot.co.uk/p/sewing.html 

And then at the end we will finish with all of us singing together
Land Of Hope And Glory
Jerusalem
Rule Britannia

Thank you all once again for your enthusiasm and support- hope this list helps with finding your songs.

Here are some songs people have already told me they're doing (these are all well known but at the moment we still need more participatory stuff ) :

• A Policeman's Lot is Not a Happy One (G&S)- Gus
• This Nearly Was Mine (South Pacific)- Gus
• Born Free/Portrait of My Love (Matt Monroe)- Martyn
• Be My Love (Mario Lanza)- Martyn
• Secret Love (Calamity Jane)- Heather
• The Guinea Pig (F&S) -Selwyn
• Albert and the Lion (poem)- Selwyn
• If I Loved You- Izzy

I will just fit into the gaps...!






  

What is The Pop-Up Proms Project?

The Pop Up Proms Project is something I've been thinking of doing for ages. Initially, I'll run it from September 2013 to the end of August 2014.

I've got together a group of performers who are all happy to offer their time and talent completely free, to go out to residential care homes and day-centres for the elderly people of Norfolk and have a good sing.

It's not designed as a performance where we sing and the audience applauds at the end. The whole point is for the audience to join in. For example,

You know the brilliant joiny-inny bit at the end of the Last Night Of The Proms? That.

Fans at a football match lustily serenading their team? That.

Finding yourself enjoyably warbling along to Songs Of Praise on the telly? That.

That is the spirit of what we're trying to do with Pop Up Proms. All of that joy and exuberance that a shared experience of music creates, that's what we want to create for our audiences.


So our aims are simple:

• To provide free entertainment for the older ladies and gents in our county.
• To provide the elderly with an opportunity for participation in uplifting singing in a relaxed and familiar environment.
• To give opportunities for extra social interaction.
• To give opportunities for personal reminiscences and sharing memories

There'll be more on that last one later.

I'll be using this blog as a notice board and information centre for performers and bookers alike, so do please come back for updates!