A chip off the old BBLOC!

Bournemouth and Boscombe Light Opera Company - known locally as BBLOC, (pronounced B-block) started life as Boscombe Light Opera Company in 1954, and is Bournemouth’s largest amateur musical theatre company. BBLOC has often led the way with new shows - New Moon in 1962, Naughty Marietta in 1964, and The Count of Luxembourg in 1969, were all firsts in the South of England and more recently, Sister Act in 2014, Chitty Chitty Bang Bang in 2018 and Kinky Boots in 2022.

Auditions and membership

BBLOC is a membership company requiring auditions to join. Auditions are held once or twice each year and involve performing a song and learning a dance routine. Successful company membership entitles a person to audition for forthcoming shows but, because BBLOC’s membership is now very large, does not guarantee a place in the cast. Members are encouraged to help with productions in other ways if they are not successful. There are also other types of membership available.

Children and young people

BBLOC does not have a dedicated youth section but membership is available to anyone over the age of 16 years. In addition, our current Director, Helen Barrington, often puts children into a production to add variety and make the ensemble more realistic. Then, of course, there are shows which feature children such as our last show - Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat - which involved 2 teams of 20 children. We auditioned over 100 children for that one.

Increasing professionalism

BBLOC hired its first professional director in 1972. The company now pays a full production team – director, musical director, choreographer, production manager and stage manager. This is probably unusual amongst amateur companies and costs a lot of money, but the Pavilion Theatre in Bournemouth is a large professional theatre with 1448 seats. The company must hold its own against professional touring productions to be able to continue putting on shows there. Lighting and sound, sets and costumes are hired in and the members of the orchestra are all paid professional musicians.

Setting a budget/publicising the show

All of this means that there are huge risks involved in putting on shows of this scale. It requires a rigorous review and monitoring of expenditure and a clear plan of the way in which that money will be raised. The company is run by a committee which sets a detailed budget at the beginning of the season and monitors this throughout. Setting ticket prices is always a challenge – balancing the need to pay for the show with a consideration of what customers will pay and working out a break even amount that needs to be achieved.

Publicity is organised with military precision. The company is divided into teams, each of which have an area to cover with flyers and posters. Principals give interviews on local radio and the cast perform at local festivals and fetes. One year, we even managed to get adverts on the sides of the local buses! Social media has, of course, become a great platform for publicity and the company’s publicity officer puts together videos of rehearsals in the run up to show week.

Surviving Covid

Covid was devastating for all forms of theatre. BBLOC had to cancel their production of Saturday Night Fever a month before it was due to go into the theatre. This was very disappointing for the cast but the company was covered by NODA insurance which meant we could cover the costs already incurred and start up again once lockdown was over.

Supporting Charities

Each year, BBLOC chooses a charity to support. Last year, that charity was Macmillan Caring Locally. This was particularly appropriate as the first show the company performed in 2023, was Calendar Girls the Musical. As well as the usual fundraising activities and bucket collections, the cast created a calendar in exactly the way that the original Calendar Girls did for their branch of the Yorkshire WI. Ours didn’t exactly go global, but it was very popular and, at the end of the year, our chairman was able to present the charity with a cheque for £5,528.

Our 70th Year Production

To celebrate the company’s 70th year, it is presented 42nd Street from 31 July – 3 August at the Pavilion Theatre, Bournemouth. It was another dazzling production with a great line up of principals and a fantastic troupe of tap dancers. They were put through their paces by our choreographer who has herself performed in the show in London and on tour. Hopefully, it was as successful as our last show - Joseph and the Amazing Technicolour Dreamcoat - which virtually sold out 6 performances (including 3 on the Saturday from the heroic cast) and was nominated for a NODA award.

 

“Come and see those dancing feet. On the avenue I’m taking you to, 42nd Street.” We would love to see you there.

Jane Kerfoot