2005

DECEMBER – The Lead Up To CHRISTMAS. Christmas is always a busy time and this year was no exception. Local events included Great Yeldham’s Ladies group, The over Sixties Club in our own town of Wivenhoe, a golf club dinner at Little Burstead, The Ramblers club at Thorrington and a concert at the Church Hall in Rivenhall. Angie was also invited to sing at The Colchester United’s Christmas dinner being held at Stoke-by-Nayland golf club, yet another lovely venue. Each year Glyn Madden who runs the Yamaha club puts on a Christmas concert in his own town of Dronfield, nr. Sheffield. He invites other Yamaha players to come and take part and this year Angie and Ryan Edwards complete the line-up. Ian Price who plays guitar & sings also joined in the entertainment. Our last big concert of the year was at Hemsby village hall, it was one of the coldest days of the year and we slipped and slided our way back home most of the way down the A12. I suppose you can call it all in the Christmas Spirit.

DEC 4TH – With the loss this year of Norma Langley one of our dear friends and a huge fan of Angie’s, a concert was put on by Dirkjan Ranzijn another friend of Norma’s with Angie as a special guest, not only performing songs of her own but performing with Dirk as a duo giving the audience something off the cuff as they described it.

NOV 21ST / 22ND – The Yenton Hotel in Bournemouth is the home of Dirkjan Ranzijn’s mini festivals. Having been several times before we had a great time meeting up with good friends and performers. Angie played in the evening followed by an informal the following morning. It was nice to hear Angie, Dirk and Harry (one of Dirks friends from Holland) play together as a Trio. As usual the hospitality was great and we will look forward to the next time we visit.

NOV 16TH / 18TH – The Channel Islands. Having been to Ireland back in June it was time to fly again. The Channel Islands of Guernsey & Jersey both have Organ Society’s which actually have their own Yamaha Electone EL90 Organ. Organized by Guernsey we took a round trip of 3 days to play both clubs and see a few of the sights. Day 1 we flew from Gatwick to Guernsey, played the concert that night and stayed over. (a big thanks to Don, Joan and Beryl for their hospitality). Day 2 we flew from Guernsey to Jersey and was picked up from the airport by Brenda who showed us around the island. After the concert we were put up by Colin and Betty who looked after and fed us well. The following morning before going to the airport for our return to Gatwick we had a look round a fascinating place called the Gold Factory, one of the highlight was the original James Bond Astin Martin DB5 (see the gallery for a picture).

NOV – Christmas Lights Turn On. This year Angie was asked to take part in 3 separate Christmas lights turn on events. The first 2 were in Southend & Basildon organized by BBC Essex. Together with other local artists Angie entertained the crowds before the famous turn on was completed by the mayors. The 3rd was in our own local Town of Colchester, Outside the Town hall in the freezing cold Angie Played some Christmas songs on her electric organ and gave the waiting crowds some songs as well. As the street precession approached the Town hall the Mayor & Mayoress went up onto the Balcony and performed the big switch on.

NOV 12TH – Our yearly visit to Trunch village hall, always guaranteed a nice welcome with sandwiches and a nice cup of tea. A nice evening was had by all with a big thank you to Mr & Mrs Walker.

NOV 1ST – A welcome return to South Yorkshire Organ Society. Having played at the club over Two years ago it was nice to go back to the small town of Dinnington and play at their super venue – The Resource Centre. Thanks to the committee for a nice evening

OCT 27TH 28TH & 29TH – ANGIE SCORES A HAT-TRICK. The last week end in October was certainly a good one for Angie this year. On the 27TH at the second attempt she passed her driving test, On the 28TH she was invited by the Colchester Mayor Terry Sutton as a special guest at the Colchester Oyster Feast, sitting on the top table with other guests such as Fred Truman, Sven Wombwell & Ian Lavender. On the 29TH Angie was also invited as a special guest to the Dorchester Hotel in London. The event was The Helen Rollason Heal Cancer Charity – Come Dancing Ball. Thank you so much to Michael J Fitch who was the compare and to Grainne & Rachel for giving the opportunity to perform at such a wonderful venue for such a great cause.

Early OCT – 3 nice local events to start October. Firstly a Flower festival concert at St. Leonard’s Church in Southminster, then an after dinner concert for the over 41 club at Little Burstead and then the following week again an after dinner performance at a harvest supper evening at Downham village hall near Wickford. A big thank you to all 3 events for the hospitality.

OCT 1ST & 2ND – 20th Anniversary of the CAISTER Organ Festival. After having several afternoon performances in the past few years Angie was asked to play an evening performance at the last festival to be held at the Caister venue. Together with James Sergeant, John Walker and Nicholas Martin a great evening’s entertainment was enjoyed by all. After staying overnight in one of the camps deluxe caravans and being well fed, the following morning Angie had an informal season which enabled the audience to have a look at Angie’s Sarah Brightman dress from “Stars In Their Eyes” and have photograph’s taken with it

SEPT 30TH – Angie together with friend and guitarist Craig Sullivan took part in an unplugged evening at The High Barn Centre near Braintree. A lovely venue which also holds it’s own recording studio. Craig played as Angie Sang a selection of songs including some of their own compositions.

SEPT 23RD – “STARS REUNION” at the West Cliff Theatre. During the “Stars In Their Eyes” experience earlier in the year we met some very talented and friendly people. We thought it would be nice to have a reunion with some of these artists and at the same time raise some much needed funds for our local Theatre, The West Cliff, Clacton. Angie as Sarah Brightman and seven other acts, Simon Hall & The Likeness, Barbie Allen, Paul Grant, Sarah Hitchcock, Rob Lewis, Bonnita Knowles & Roger Davies performed as their TV Stars. Compared by John Hyde a fine evening raised £1200 for the Theatre. We stayed at the Days Inn hotel on the Seafront and was really spoilt by the Management.

SUMMER 2005 – From West Cliff to West Cliff. This Years summer started and ended with major shows at the West Cliff Theatre, Clacton as described in the sections above and below. But in-between we have had a very busy schedule up and down the country. Organ Society’s we have played for include a return to Brentwood, first time at Thanet and Nottingham, a return to South Benfleet, first time at Weston-Super-Mare a lovely venue right on the sea front (The Royal Hotel), first time at Reading, Sleaford, Launceston another great venue (The Eagle House Hotel), Crawley, Pincerts (Reading), Solent (Southampton), Broadway (Plymouth), Taunton, West Surrey, Winchester, a return to Lowestoft, and first time at Leamington Spa. This year we bought ourselves a nice four berth tent for our longer trips and have visited some really nice camp sites, the best one being the Riverside at Plymouth arranged for us by Fan Club member and friend Paul Laxton (thank you Paul). As well as organ Society’s Angie has played at a lot more functions and venues including the Finale evening at the Colchester Festival of Music and Dance where Land of Hope & Glory saw all the local Mayor’s waving their flags, an afternoon Co-op show at the Princes Theatre in Clacton, Together with Roger Davies (fellow Stars performer) guesting at a talent show in Woking called famous for 5 minutes, Special guest at the Chelmsford cricket ground in an attempt to hold the biggest ever out side quiz, an after dinner performance for all the local Rotary clubs at The Three Rivers Golf Club (Cold Norton) again the flags were out, two afternoon evergreen clubs, one at boxted and the other at Kingston Upon Thames. The Marina Theatre in Lowestoft is another Theatre which is need of local support, so to help a little Angie together with good friend and fellow performer Dirkjan Ranzijn put on a joint Sunday afternoon show, Compared by local celebrity Kenny Canter a good audience joined in all the way including a finale of “Show Me The Way To Amarillo”.

JUN 26TH – THE DAY HAD COME – ANGIE’S FIRST BIG THEATRE SHOW. After 8 months of planning and re-hearsing the day had finally arrived for Angie, her friends and colleges to entertain a full house of 600 people at The West Cliff Theatre in Clacton-On-Sea. It was a variety show including Dances, Solo singing, an Organ selection, a band selection and a 5 part sketch from “The Phantom of the Opera”. Angie Produced, Directed, Choreographed and even composed some of the music herself. The show was compared by our friends The Young Brothers who have supported Angie for over four years. The Show ended with a grand finale of Land of Hope & Glory and a standing ovation, what a great day!!! A big thanks to everybody who worked so hard to make the show a great success, including the cast, the West Cliff crew, friends and family and everybody for coming.
JUN 23RD – A new B&Q warehouse in Clacton-On-Sea invited Angie to sing at their opening which also included Paul Barber (Denzil) from ”Only Fools & Horses”. It was a very sunny morning and after the opening Angie & Paul had a laugh over by the Punch and Judy Show also set up in the car park.

JUN 18TH / 19TH – CASTLE LESLIE in IRELAND, what a place. After being seen on “Stars In Their Eyes” Angie was invited to sing at the Castle by Sasha Harrison & Andrew Stewart for their pre-wedding barbeque and at the ceremony itself. We flew from Stansted which was the first time Angie had actually flown. Arriving at Belfast we were driven to the Castle in a new Merc (lovely car). After arriving and settling into the Hunting Lodge where we stayed we walked up to the Castle for sound checking. Before Angie sang to the quests we had a tour of the Castle which very interesting and full of History. Later in the evening we had a chance to socialise and everybody made us feel so welcome like part of the family. The following afternoon was the big day and Sasha had asked Angie if she could sing Ava Maria in the church before the wedding march. We would like to thank Sasha, Andrew and everybody who was there for making our first visit to Ireland so special.

JUN 11TH – Essex University holds their annual Summer Ball each year after all the exams have finished. The early part of the evening is a five course dinner all laid out in a huge marquee set on the campus’s sports field. As part of the entertainment during dinner Angie Sang a selection of songs from the shows, Phantom, Les Mis etc. after which she enjoyed the dinner herself. During the evening she had a chance to experience the fairground rides along with a huge firework display.

JUN 8TH – A return trip to Clacton Organ society after 4 years, Clacton was the first club Angie played at which seamed a lifetime ago. A good crowd enjoyed a varied program of music and song.

JUN 3RD – Russells Restaurant in Great Baddow nr. Chelmsford was our latest Rotarian dinner entertainment slot. After playing an hours piano while people settled in we also enjoyed a nice four course dinner. After dinner while people relaxed over coffee Angie sang a selection of songs to suit all tastes.

MAY 13TH – Alresford is the next village to Wivenhoe and they frequently hold fund raising events for their local hall. May was very special, not only did they have Vince Rayner to perform who has appeared in many British comedy shows and has appeared with Angie at the West Cliff Theatre in Clacton. He also lives in Wivenhoe, around the corner from us as it happens. But Angie performed as main act and drew in the crowds to make it a sell out. The Power of Television and great talent

MAY 12TH – Peterborough Organ club was tough to find, after getting nearly lost on the south circular we made it on time in the end. The venue was the Post Office Sports & Social Club, which had a large function room with a very strange semi-circular stage in the corner. After overcoming some feedback problems with the mics the concert went very well indeed. Even though the audience was fairly small they made up for it with enthusiasm.

MAY 7TH – Basildon Organ club was our return after a four-week break. The venue was in a school hall with one of the nicest stages. The club supplied a lot of nice lighting, bubble machines etc. and generally made a great effort to enhance our stage presentation. It was nice to see Reg Kay from the Brentwood club who has been to support Angie at different events. When we left the venue we travelled up to Hunstanton where we had won a weekends break from last year. We turned up at 3am as late arrivals but Security showed us the way to our Caravan eventually.

APR 9TH – Stanton Village hall not far from Bury St. Edmunds in Suffolk was the last date in our busy 2005 diary before we have a month break to reflect on Angie’s success in her career so far and to gear up for a busy summer ahead including her first big Theatre show at the West Cliff in Clacton. The evening went fantastic, supported by local clubs and members from the Bury Organ Society, the concert finished with yet another standing ovation.

APR 7TH – Forresters Golf Club near Tiptree, Essex not far from home was the latest venue for us to play after dinner entertainment at a Rotarian gathering. Even though all went well and Angie was well received, as many people had seen her before. One problem we hadn’t foreseen was the venue was upstairs with no lift. Just how do you get a 2 hundred weight organ up the back stairs, well with kind help from the staff also just beating the rain we survived.

APR 2ND – The Yenton Hotel in Bournemouth is a lovely setting for a long weekend festival put on by Dirkjan Ranzijn. Angie was asked to perform as a special guest on the Saturday night and also do an informal hour the following morning. This was interesting because we had never done this before and as we expected most people asked questions about “Stars In Their Eyes”. The hotel itself is in a great setting just 5 minutes walk from the beach and the food is wonderful. Thank you Dirk

For “Stars in their eyes” Pictures and lots more new one’s see Gallery

MAR 28TH – Colchester United is our local big Football Team. After visiting their ground to inform them that a local girl is going to be on the television, they asked if I would like to go and sing at one of their home games at half time. Easter Monday was arranged which was the day after arriving home from Manchester. I was a little wary at first having never sung in front of a football crowd, but when the time came the whole ground went silent and they enjoyed my performance. Thank you Maria and your colleges for giving me the opportunity.

MAR 23RD – 27TH – “STARS IN THEIR EYES” LIVE FINAL. The time had come to once more head off to Manchester for the finale of the show. Travelling up on the Wednesday and rehearsing on the Thursday & Friday, Saturday came around all to fast. All of the other contestants were fun to be with and we all had a wonderful time. It was great being made up to be Sarah Brightman again, and it is a memory that will stay with me forever. I was eighth on out of Ten and after my performance Cat Deeley presented me with a framed CD set, each one signed by Sarah herself, GREAT!!! When the results were announced I came in Fifth place out of Ten (out of Fifty in the television stages and out of 40,000 original hopeful entrants). A big thank you to all the radio stations, all the News papers, all my friends and family, all of my supporters & followers, Fellow Musicians and every one who had supported me through the whole experience. Your faith in me made it worthwhile

MAR 17TH – St. Patrick’s Day at The Officers Club in Colchester to play an after dinner slot for the Retired Co-op pensioners. We were well fed and looked after very nicely and a big thanks to Maria for having us back. At the end of the concert the Guinness hats went on for the final sing-a-long.

MAR 9TH – East London Organ society was the following day at Wansted. A very warm capacity crowd, together we had a wonderful evening. They all sang along and asked me to return next year to do it all again.

MAR 8TH – An after dinner performance at Cutler’s Hall in London (next to the Old Bailey) was a super experience. The venue is owned by the Livery companies and is one of many in the City. We were given dinner and was really looked after, thanks to Chris Osborne Jones for asking me to come and entertain..

FEB 26TH – “STARS IN THEIR EYES”. A Year ago we sent off a CD demo of “Think Of Me” as Sarah Brightman, thinking we would never hear no more about it. How wrong we were. In July 2004 I had a phone call to say they had listened to my song and that they would like me to go for an audition in London. This went well and I then had to go to Manchester for the next one. Whilst on Holiday the following week they contacted me to say I had made it onto the show. After more trips to London & Manchester the time had come for us to go to Granada Studios to record the show, this is now 16th – 18th November. My Competition was Andy Williams, Ricky Martin, David Gray and Karen Carpenter but I sang my heart out and won the audiences vote. Well done to Roger, Scott, Dan and Barbie you were all winners too. February 26th was the showing of my heat on Television so we went up to the SU Bar at Essex University to watch it on big screen. Lots of friends and family came along to support me including Peter & Bonnie Hill the Wivenhoe Mayor & Mayoress. We all went home afterwards and had a big party, thanks to everyone who came along and the many best wishes, cards, phone calls etc.

FEB 16TH – Western Organ Society in Whitton, London is a fairly small club but the enthusiasm of the members more than made up for it. Whenever in London it’s always nice to drive back along the river, but this particular night all the bridge lights were out except one. Never mind

FEB 13TH – The return of Dirkjan Ranzijn to Brightlingsea is always a good event. I played 2 guest slots as usual and had a good afternoon.

FEB 9TH – Hailsham Organ club not far from Eastbourne holds their evening in the local Pavilion which is a lovely little working cinema. After recovering from a cold I managed to hold it together long enough to have a lovely evening with a very warm audience. They also Videoed the evening and sent us a copy, Thank You

FEB 5TH – Chelmsford Cathedral hosts a Choral Concert each year to benefit local Charities. I was lucky enough to be invited back for a second year to perform Two slots (one in each half) to a near capacity audience. Dave Monk of BBC Essex Radio was the compare and I would like to thank Ralph for having me back.

JAN 25TH – A Return trip to Norwich Organ Society on a very cold winters night. The welcome back was warm and Angie played for the club following their A.G.M.

JAN 23RD – Sunday Afternoon at the West Cliff Theatre, Clacton-on-Sea is becoming a second home for Angie with The Young Brothers. She played and sang for a capacity audience of 600 for 25 mins. Bob and Reg Young will be comparing Angie’s own show at the Theatre on the 26th June 2005. Call the Box office for further details 01255 433344

JAN 6TH & 8TH – Two dates to start off the year, firstly at the Afternoon 4 U Club at Little Clacton not far from home and secondly at the Leisure Play Keyboard Club at Aylesbury in Bucks