Premiere Group Returns!
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Meet The Cinderella Panto Team
Janet Yianni
Director
Sharon Chorbadjian
Sharon Montague
Co Director
Choreographer
Natalie Oghabassian
Producer
Theodora
Michael
Producer
Elena
Nicolaou
Producer
We're Back!
A new generation of Premiere Group returns - we've missed performing for you
Premiere Group Returns!
As the music came to a crashing halt, the performers energetically took their final poses. The crowd jumped to their feet in thunderous applause. A smile of satisfaction came to the faces of all for a job well done. As they held hands to take their bow, a bittersweet feeling spread between them because of all the sweat, tears, and memories that were well-worth the journey to get to this point. The above scenario is only one of the reasons the Premiere Group does what it does. The Premiere Group is a community theatre group based in Limassol, Cyprus. It’s officially registered as a non-profit cultural society, founded in 1996 by childhood friends Hovig Nassanian and Daniel Chorbadjian.
For weeks and months, voluntary performers come together from all walks of life and from every age group to rehearse, plan costume changes, learn lines and lyrics, train their voices, learn choreography, and above all, have fun connecting with one another through their love for music, dance, and theatre. The Premiere Group is not just a theatre group, but a family that laughs together and supports one another through difficult times. They have enjoyed the highs from their musical successes such as Esther, The King and I, The Sound of Music, Oliver and My Fair Lady. In between, they have performed numerous Christmas charity concerts, pantomimes and held Youth Talent Shows and Spotlight Talent evenings. The group is known for performing all musical productions with a live orchestra of Premiere members.
Premiere Group restarted their Spotlight Talent Nights in 2017 and have since arranged 7 Talent Nights. These are evenings where all are welcome to enjoy family-friendly entertainment as local performers of all ages showcase their talents onstage without feeling the pressure of competition. We hope that the next Spotlight Night will take place before summer but we are waiting to be sure that it will be safe for performers and audience alike.
In 2017, the group sadly lost two beloved Limassol members, Clare Pattihis and Andy Lott within 2 months. The members joined together to sing, “You Raise Me Up” at Andy’s funeral. Months later they performed it again in honour of their much-loved friends as part of the ‘Connection’ show at the re-opened Pattichion theatre, amongst other songs. It was a split-second decision for members to reunite and accept the invitation to take part by Free Flight Dance Studio and Footsteps to Fame founders, Sharon Montague and Linda Economides. Both ladies have been long-time members involved in the choreography and music of past PG shows. Due to travel, the group’s regular music director and co-ordinator were out of Cyprus, but members pulled together and made it happen. For the first time they sang onstage accompanying live dance pieces.
The road has not always been smooth. When the Limassol Pattihion theatre closed for 6 years of renovation, Premiere Group was forced to transport theatre sets and costumes to different locations across the island to perform. Venues included:
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Pallas Theatre, Nicosia
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Ancient Kourion Amphitheatre
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St. John’s School Theatre, Episkopi
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Polemidia Municipal Theatre, Limassol
No matter what the challenge, the Premiere Group persevered to share their performances with the public. In those 6 years, Premiere Group continued giving back to the community with Christmas caroling visits to care facilities for the elderly each December, a tradition that continues until now.
In 2019 Premiere Group was delighted to announce their upcoming production of the much-loved classic, Chitty Chitty Bang Bang. It would have been the first time it had ever been performed in Cyprus. Auditions were held in May and June 2019, with many auditioning from across the island. The show was to be directed by Janet Yianni, who has directed most of Premiere’s productions and more recently directed Hamlet for ‘Shakespeare at Curium’. She was assisted by Sharon Chorbadjian who studied drama in the UK. She has a deep passion for community theatre and its importance in a modern day setting. She also co directed Premiere Group pantomime Snow White with Wendy Holloway. Our choreographer Sharon Montague from Free Flight Dance Studio represented Cyprus at the World Dance Cup in 2019. Our musical director was Linda Economides who studied at the Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama, and enjoyed a successful 23 year career as a Soprano at the Royal Opera House Covent Garden before moving to Cyprus in 1993.
Rehearsals started in September 2019 with a cast of 60, ranging from age 7 to 69, spanning 20 different nationalities. Behind the scenes our costume and props team were hard at work creating outfits and stage items for much-loved scenes including Toot Sweets, Me Ol’ Bamboo and the Roses of Success. Our 15 piece orchestra, involving many professional musicians, was led by Marios Marcou.
Unexpectedly as we all remember well, in March 2020, Cyprus entered lockdown in response to the Covid-19 pandemic. Just 4 weeks before we were due to perform! Our hopes, dreams and hard work were crushed. At first we secured a future date in October 2020 but our optimism that it would all settle down after the summer was short lived as it became apparent that this was not going to end quickly. After a very hard team meeting taking everyones health, safety, and the financial viability of the show, with a reduced audience, on board, we made the only decision we could make, to cancel the show. This was so heartbreaking as everyone had spent countless hours learning lines, rehearsing, making props and costumes, designing, and getting ready for the spectacular show it had become. We are so grateful for such a mature and wonderful cast who graciously took our decision in their stride, disappointed but understanding and looking to the future where we will once again be able to perform.
The Chitty team would like to thank every single person who helped, encouraged, built, sewed, painted, sang, acted and danced to make this the best "nearly show" we have ever done! Please do check out our clips and photos to see the talent that is here in Premiere Group.