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Evening Telegraph, May 1962
'Romance'
Members of the Court Estate Players, Rushden, are busy rehearsing the fifth musical play to be written and composed by one of their own members, Mr. Peter Whelan.
They are also trying to find time between rehearsals to make their own costumes tor the next production, "Romance," a colourful semi Hungarian-Rumanian story.
While Mr. Whelan and his actor-dressmakers are busy at the Court Estate Church Hall, another member of the cast, Mr. Peter Hodgkins, is working at home on designs for the landscape backcloth, and two screens showing the interior of an inn and a theatre box.
May Opening
This year's production will have its opening night at St. Mary's Church Institute, in Robinson Road, Rushden on May 10. About thirty people are involved — 21 in the cast and about nine non-acting supporters who will help backstagewith the scenery etc.
Helping Mr. Whelan with lyrics to "Romance" to was another member of the cast. His previous shows have been ‘Mountain Rhapsody’, ‘A song for Jennie’, ‘A Serenade in Maytime’ and ‘Country Melody’ which have been performed since Mr Whelan took over the running of the group in 1956.
Mr. Whelan's aim is to build up a repertoire which the players can fall back on at any time. Next year he is planning to repeat the first show that he wrote for the players, "Mountain Rhapsody."
Too Popular
Residents of the Court Estate and those who have supported its shows will remember that until about eight years ago the amateur actors had called themselves the "Court Estate Concert Party" since they began just after the Second World War.
The company found itself getting so many requests to go out to give concert parties that it found they could not be coped with— so the name was changed to the "Court Estate Players."
The players still have plenty of requests to repeat their shows in various churches in Rushden, and though they are connected with St. Mary’s Church they visit Park Road Baptist Church to repeat their shows every year.
The players perform their shows for the funds of their church, but when they are asked by any other church in the town to give a repeat performance all the profits are given to that church.
"Romance," which lasts about two-and-a-half hours, tells the story of Sandor Kazincky (Peter Whelan), who will lose his estate to an evil distant cousin, Miklos (Norman King), if he fails to marry. The musical tells of his search for a bride, and included in the tale is a murder plot.
The highlight of the production is the wedding scene, in which practically the whole of the cast are on this stage at one time. They have been rehearsing this—on and off— since last September.
The Cast
The cast is to be as follows: Raymond King (Sigmund), Marian Bradshaw (Astrid) , Vera Hodgkins (Elana), Peter Whelan (Sandor Kazincky as a young man), Christopher Taylor (Miron), Lily Hartop (Maria), Susan Childs (Ilona), Connie Holt (Zena), Norman King (Miklos), Bonita Bowes (Marita), Donald Sanders (Matthias), Ann Wilding (Carola), Jennifer Leopold (Andrea), Elsie Beardsley (Nana), Susan Childs (Lisa), Peter Hodgkins (Carol), Raymond King (Josef), Tony Cheal (Hugo), David Masters (George), Chris Taylor (Ivan), David Marsh (Davos), Claude King (Sandor Kazinczy as a middle-aged man), Jean Hunt (Marian).
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