FAMDA celebrates milestone

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FAMDA celebrates milestone

Party time: Barbara Partridge from Port Franklin, Marg Rudge from Foster and Marcella Brennan from Foster were enjoying the drinks and nibbles at the Foster Museum.

Party time: Barbara Partridge from Port Franklin, Marg Rudge from Foster and Marcella Brennan from Foster were enjoying the drinks and nibbles at the Foster Museum.

Acting up: Barbara Fleming from Leongatha and sisters Merran Wilde from Fish Creek and Prue Fleming from Foster all had parents in the first FAMDA production in 1953 Foster Frolics.

Acting up: Barbara Fleming from Leongatha and sisters Merran Wilde from Fish Creek and Prue Fleming from Foster all had parents in the first FAMDA production in 1953 Foster Frolics.

Long service: Dick Straw (left) from Foster and John Davies from Foster at the FAMDA birthday party. Mr Straw has been involved in 21 FAMDA productions, the earliest in 1959.

Long service: Dick Straw (left) from Foster and John Davies from Foster at the FAMDA birthday party. Mr Straw has been involved in 21 FAMDA productions, the earliest in 1959.

Making it happen: committee members, from left, Dianne Paragreen, Edwin Coad, Jennifer Paragreen and Marg Rudge toast the 60th anniversary of FAMDA at the Foster Museum.

Making it happen: committee members, from left, Dianne Paragreen, Edwin Coad, Jennifer Paragreen and Marg Rudge toast the 60th anniversary of FAMDA at the Foster Museum.

Celebration time: Edwin Coad, Dick Straw and South Gippsland Shire Cr Mohya Davies blow out the candles on the 60th anniversary cake for FAMDA.

Celebration time: Edwin Coad, Dick Straw and South Gippsland Shire Cr Mohya Davies blow out the candles on the 60th anniversary cake for FAMDA.

Show stoppers: Barbara Fleming, Prue Fleming, Dick Straw and Merran Wilde sing a song from Foster Frolics, FAMDA’s first production from 1953.

Show stoppers: Barbara Fleming, Prue Fleming, Dick Straw and Merran Wilde sing a song from Foster Frolics, FAMDA’s first production from 1953.

THE theatre company that began life as Foster Films, Art, Music and Drama Association celebrated its 60th birthday on Monday, November 4 with a party at the Foster Museum.

President of the association now fondly referred to as FAMDA, Edwin Coad, said he was proud of what they have done over the years.

“It is a wonderful thing,” he said.

FAMDA put on its first production, Foster Frolics, at the Foster Mechanics Institute on November 4, 1953.

An exhibition to coincide with the celebrations, 60 Years of Foster Theatre, is now on show at the Foster Museum.

Foster and District Historical Society secretary Liz Rushen said the museum was thrilled to host the exhibition celebrating FAMDA’s milestone.

“We are a community museum and FAMDA is a community group celebrating 60 years. It is a big milestone for all involved,” she said.

Over the years FAMDA has staged musicals (Maid of the Mountains, Calamity Jane and The Producers), pantomimes (Rapunzel, Sleeping Beauty and John Goodfella), dramas (Trap for a Lonely Man, The Removalists and The Woman in Black), comedies (Sailor Beware, Boeing Boeing and The Cemetery Club), music halls and melodramas (Foster’s Larger Music Hall, Pure as the Driven Snow and Felicty’s Fortune), revues and variety evenings (Revue 21, Chinamen in Cabaret and Cabaretro).

There have been shows with huge casts (Oklahoma! and Fiddler on the Roof’) and a one-woman show (Shirley Valentine).

FAMDA has staged shows with long names (A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum and The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee) and ones with short names (Patience and Blush).

There have been productions that made people cry (Shadowlands, The Shoe-Horn Sonata and, most recently, Foreigners from Home) and plenty that brought tears of laughter (High Infidelity, Round and Round the Garden and Educating Rita).

FAMDA has staged productions with animals (Annie and Oliver!) and shows where the animals weren’t quite real (Into the Woods, Bush Magic and Dreamboats).

There have been plays by famous writers (The Importance of Being Earnest by Oscar Wilde, Top Silk by David Williamson and Hotel Sorrento by Hannie Rayson) and plays written locally (The Great Uncertainty by Pattie Fleming, Stringlines and Dinner at Hugo’s by Edwin Coad).

The oldest play FAMDA has staged was Oedipus Rex from ancient Greece and the newest Dreamboats, written locally in 2012.

Those who have helped FAMDA stage impressive productions in recent years include Neil Goodwin, Murray Maclean, Kate and Bruce Crowl, David Baggallay, Max Adam, Nathan Eva and Chris Dickins as directors.

Max Hastings’ work both as a director and performer has been truly inspirational.

The talents of people like set designer and scenic artist Geoff Davey, composer Rob Ellis, set constructor Bruce Crowl and lighting designer Andrew Oldroyd  have brought added class to FAMDA productions.

Of course it is those who perform on stage the audience notices and there have been hundreds of them over the 60 years of FAMDA’s history.

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Posted by on Nov 11 2013. Filed under Arts & Entertainment, Community. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry

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