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.

Did you miss it?

Or

Did you watch it live and want to watch it again?

Don’t worry our popular Celebrate COS concert is now available on YouTube!

…And there’s still time to DONATE!

Enjoy some musical entertainment from the comfort of your own home.

Join us for a viewing party on Friday 18th December 7.30pm on Facebook for our first ever virtual concert #CelebrateCOS.

We have put together a collection of songs from shows & concerts that COS/CO2 have performed over the years, performed and recorded by some of our talented members during the second lockdown.

Interact with other viewers through a live watch party and if you drop us a Facebook message on the night we will send you a Zoom link to join the virtual after party straight afterwards.

If you enjoy the evening you can make a donation to show your support. Donations will be split between Colchester Operatic Society and Colchester Foodbank.  Colchester Foodbank is seeded by The Trussell Trust who support a nationwide network of food banks to help provide emergency food and support to people locked in poverty, whilst also campaigning for change to end the need for food banks in the UK .

We can’t wait to see you!

Colchester Operatic Society wants to know what you think about our membership.

Whilst we are unable to put on our usual productions during this pandemic, we want to use the time to improve your Society for the future. Your views can help us improve our membership to reflect the needs of our members and even encourage new members to join. If you can spare 5 minutes to share your views by completing our Membership Survey 2020, we will enter you into a draw to win a year’s free membership for COS/CO2 as a thank you.

The survey will remain open until 18-12-2020, after which we will randomly select a winner from all the survey responses. We will contact the winner by the email address provided on their survey.

The more people we hear from, the better picture we get of our members, prospective members and supporters views so please feel free to share this survey.