Exciting news!!
We are in the process of creating an  original online concert depicting thoughts, feelings and experiences during the pandemic through a mix of songs joined by scripted links.

We hope to start rehearsing from 17th May , with a mix of online and in person rehearsals, subject to government guidelines, funding decisions and interest.

How to get involved

All you need to do is complete the registration of interest form  by 8th May* (https://us15.list- manage.com/survey?u=e0ace5743ceef8dcd312fb91f&id=0f7dd6fb21&attribution=false) and we will be in touch with more details!

*If you have missed this deadline, but still want to be involved please get in contact.

We believe musical theatre is for everyone and welcome people of all abilities to this free event.

To find out more and to access the Zoom link for this event, please click on the link or image below:

COS Sing-along 2: Thursday 22nd April 2021

Membership for 2021-2022 is now due for renewal (due from 1st April 2021).

By joining or renewing your support for just £10, you will become or continue to be part of the COS family, which provides you with; the opportunity to audition and perform in our local musical theatre productions; an incredibly nurturing environment that drives creativity; fun and fulfilling theatre experiences that are platforms for learning & perfecting your performance and/or technical skills, as well as making amazing memories; access to our COS members Facebook group and members area of our website; regular members newsletters and social events (both virtual and in person when it is safe to do so). In turn your support will help us to continue our work by contributing towards our annual running costs and enabling us to be ready to produce shows as soon as it becomes possible/is safe to do so. We are not just for performers. Anyone can join. All you need is a passion for musical theatre or an interest to know more about it and/or a desire to learn and improve your performing or technical theatre skills.
For more information you can visit our Join us page!

Please contact us for details on how to pay the £10 membership fee, which will cover the year from 1st April to 31st March 2022. If you have any problems making this payment or need to discuss your individual circumstances then please get in contact, because to us inclusion matters.You can contact us via this website, our Facebook page, or contact our membership secretary, Paul, on cos1theatre@hotmail.com.

We have an exciting social event coming up on Friday 9th April, 8pm, on Zoom: Mike and Stu’s medium-sized evening in front of the pc as we have nowhere else to go gameshow extravaganza!

We look forward to sharing 2021/2022 as members of COS with you!

We believe musical theatre is for everyone and welcome people of all abilities to these free events.

To find out more and to access the Zoom links for each event, please click on the corresponding image/link.

COS Sing-along: Monday 15th March 2021                        COS Dance-along: Monday 22nd March 2021

Thank you to all who completed our members survey.  1/3 of our membership responded, along with some past members and non-members, which is a fantastic result.

We would like to share some of the findings from this survey:

Supporting local theatre was the most popular response for what people value about being a member of COS/CO2; followed by

• friendship;
• the support from fellow members; and
• being able to audition for and perform in shows, particularly at the Mercury Theatre.

All members/past members that responded have read the newsletter, either occasionally or regularly, with most reading regularly.  We received some great feedback about it including:

• Members like that it keeps them up to date with everything and is friendly and interesting to read
• It provides the information about the Society and its productions
• It values its members and congratulates them on their achievements
• It helps give a feeling of community and supporting each other

We had some great suggestions for things we can do to improve our newsletter:

• Include a section about Backstage regularly – we will be looking into this for future editions
• Reduce our contacts section at the end of the newsletter – this has been done for the most recent newsletter winging it’s way to members very soon!
• Use more photos and pictures within the text –we will include photos where possible
• Invite members to contribute to news and content – members are always welcome to contact us with things to include in the newsletter at anytime and we will note an open invitation in newsletters going forward

• 94% of respondents felt our membership fee was great value; with
• 72% giving it a 10/10 rating.
• 75% of members who responded would still pay the membership fee if it increased to £15.

The majority of respondents were happy with our membership and show fee costs.

60% of respondents use our website, although the members area is not always accessed. Any members who need help accessing the members area can get in touch with our webmaster, Katie via email (chair@colchesteroperaticsociety.co.uk), who is happy to help.  Currently, it is mostly used for AGM documents as there is no production information to share at present.  The website is in the process of being updated, which will include the members area.  Check out our recently updated Join us page and CO2 page!  More updates coming soon!

There were some lovely comments about the Society such as:

• I would like to just thank you for the opportunities you have given everyone, it’s a fabulous community to be a part of!
• Having been a member for many years I have always found it a friendly inviting Society
• COS is like a second family

We also had other great suggestions for improvements overall including:

• More regular social events and possibly an extra show/concert each year
• More for backstage crew/production team members to get involved with, as there is a heavy emphasis on cast and performers – this is particularly relevant whilst our productions are postponed and we have now organised a backstage crew catch up and will look for other ways to connect our backstage crew/production teams and our members more going forwards

All these responses have given us a good picture of our members, prospective members and supporters views so thank you once again to all who completed the survey. The winner of a year’s fee membership for completing the survey has been contacted.

If you didn’t get the chance to complete the survey, but would like to get in touch and share your views, please do.