On 16th April 2016, Lavendon Village Hall put on its first ever ‘Lavendon’s Got Talent’ Show which, with thanks to the organisers, performers and audience, proved to be a great success, leading to the conclusion that Lavendon definitely has got talent!

Below is an account of the evening, but first take a look at the following photo-links (they open as a pdf) taken on the evening:

LVH LGT 1

LVH LGT 2

LVH LGT 3

“Lavendon’s Got Talent.”

Several weeks after the idea of putting on a talent show in the Lavendon Village Hall was proposed by Helen Jones, she was beginning to wonder if she had made an error of judgement by agreeing to get a show off the ground. However, once a reluctant Act agreed to help her out and be the trailblazer, other performers followed suit, comforted perhaps that the bar was not being set too high.

Children as well as adults were invited to take part and it was stressed that there would be no auditions and it would be a non-competitive event.
Posters inviting people in the Village to participate went up around the Village and a flier was delivered to every household. The School also played its part in publicising the opportunities to both the children and the parents. In the lead-up to the Show, many of the children took the opportunity of rehearsing in the Hall during the school holiday and many of the adults also sneaked in from time to time.

The Show date of 16th April eventually arrived and the hall was packed by nervous parents, admiring grandparents as well as relatives and other members of the public, coming not only from Lavendon but from the surrounding villages and towns.

Introduced by the two elegantly dressed comperes, Stewart Jones and Geoff Janes, the first half of the Show got off to a rousing start with Johnny Cash and the Tennessee Three Tribute Band, consisting of four brothers, Darragh, Fergal, Liam and Donnacha MacManus. Jack Brown then performed a street dance and this was followed by duo singers, Finley-Jai Cameron and Ellie Bierton. Next on was the Street Dance Pair of Marcus Ramsden and William Davies, whose act was unfortunately cut short by the accompanying music misbehaving itself. However, they came back in the second half to show off their dancing skills.

The cellist and violinist Donnacha MacManus and Tom Whittington then played a couple of pieces and this was followed by Dance Heaven, seven graceful young girls, Ellie Bierton, Reese Cunningham, Poppy Ledson, Tilly Ledson, Rosie Panter, Lizzie Jones and Rebeca Woodward, who interpreted an intricate piece of choreography. The final act of the first half was music played by The Whittington Violin trio, Oliver, Tom and Millie Whittington.

Helen Jones then thanked the young performers for all the hard work they had put into performing to such a high standard and presented each one with a “Certificate of Participation”, as a reminder of their appearance in the show.

After an interval for drinks and refreshments, it was the turn of the adults to show off their skills.
The Guinea Pig Death Posse of Anna Sanders, Millie Preece, Maddy Oliver and Matilda Rodwell got the second half off to a loud and lively start,
communicating their obvious enthusiasm to the audience.

The mood then softened when Twenty Quid, John Salter and Graham Mabbutt, sang a couple of the Everly Brothers songs, which was followed by Juliette Cowan, reading a selection of her own poems. Soloist Emma Testro then sang two songs and this was followed by the contrasting voice of Ron Blomfield, who donned a Norman Wisdom cloth cap for his rendition of “Don’t laugh at me, ‘cos I’m a fool”. Soloist Arnold Bennett then teased out some beautiful sounds from his viola before Graham Mabbutt made his solo return to the stage to sing two rock ‘n roll numbers. The show ended with Alt! the duo of Rachel and Andrew Nattrass singing to the unusual accompaniment of a ukulele and drum machine.

Every act was followed by the audience applauding, clapping, cheering and occasionally getting to their feet. They obviously enjoyed themselves, which was very gratifying to those who had helped put the show on. And there were a lot of them, and although the list is too long to print here, they were all heartily thanked at the end of the show.

So, has Lavendon Got Talent?
Those in the audience obviously thought it has, and this was reinforced by the numerous comments posted on email and Facebook. Here’s just four of them: “I kept asking myself do all these talented people live in Lavendon?” “What a fantastic night’s entertainment.” “……it was a very enjoyable evening, last night – great fun and it is amazing how much talent Lavendon has got. Many thanks to you.” “Fantastic to see the villagers supporting a great event…and the talent…truly outstanding.”

Who knows, there may be even more talent that can be discovered for a second show!