update

Hi friends - a quick update on music, theatre, & acting training news.

Firstly a get well & a congratulations.

Our brilliant percussionist Johnny (Conga) Cameron is recovering after a nasty accident at his work. A fall from quite a height has severly injured his left hand. After surgery we hope his hand is mending well & send him all our love. Get well Johnny.

And congratulations to our fabulous guitarist Rob Molyneux, who recently married Karen Gallagher at a wonderful ceremony at their house South of Auckland. The band played and had Karen & grand-daughter Mackiah on stage to sing with us. What a treat.

I'm sure everyone will join with me in wishing Rob & Karen all the very best.

Acting training classes are trucking along nicely with another great bunch of children & adults coming to Rimu Glade Studio to learn the craft of acting. Check the upcoming courses page for term 2 info. http://www.johngoudge.com/acting/upcoming-courses.html 

Bookings are open for Mrs Van Gogh, a new play at the Musgrove Theatre in Auckland. I play Vincent Van Gogh in a play by Geoff Allen about Johanna Van Gogh (Vincent's sister-in-law) & the part she played in preserving & exhibiting the painter's legacy for the world.

Details here: http://www.johngoudge.com/events/mrs-van-gogh.html

John Goudge Band is part of the Titirangi Festival of Music at a free concert in the village on Sat 31 March at 6.15pm. Details here: http://www.johngoudge.com/events/john-goudge-band-at-titirangi-festival-of-music.html

look out for new photos of our performance at Prana 2012 very soon.

much love JG.

last year's final update follows: 

Hard to believe but yes Christmas is upon us. Where did the year go? I hear you ask.

Well for myself and darling partner Kathy it has been a year chocka block full of music and theatre and wonderful people.

We are gearing up for visiting the amazing Prana festival at New Year, where John Goudge Band is featuring. more info here (click)

One highlight has been performing as the lead in the hilarious comedy And the Winner Is at Titirangi Theatre early in the year.  Lots of slapstick laughs and lots of falling over forced me to tune up my physical work. Director Richard Purro was fab as always & the cast were great to be around. A laugh a minute.

And the Winner is archive (click) 

Acting training classes at Rimu Glade Studio have been well attended and very rewarding. The youth class this year have been a delight to teach, and I hear many of them will back in 2012. Thanks again to them and their parents for supporting them. The adult students become great friends during the year and it is a honour to work with them through their good times and bad.

Enrolment info for 2012 is available now.

2012 acting training courses (click)

John Goudge Band has gone from strength to strength this year. Big thanks to our fans and roadies. A memorable gig at the Dogs Bollix in August, the Wild Winter Warm Up was followed by signing to independent label Powertool Records. Many thanks to Andrew Matai for his support.

Other great gigs this year include a night at the intimate Tool Room Hardware Cafe (click) and the funkadelic masquerade party.

2011 was also the year when our covers band was given the name Guja (click), to distinquish it from the original material. A number of functions with Guja this year included weddings and birthday parties. Thankyou to all our clients this year, who have been lovely to work with, and seemed very happy with our performance.

The addition of more lighting equipment to our band set up (thanks Johnny) has added enhanced atmosphere to our private gigs. 

Here's a brief note from one of our clients this year:

I just wanted to say a very big thank you to you and your band for making my 50^th a great night to remember.  All of the guests thought your band was amazing!

In August/September I had the very moving experience of playing Otto Frank in the famous drama The Diary of Anne Frank. The story of a jewish family hiding from the Nazis in German occupied Amsterdam gave me the chance to play one of my greatest acting roles. Working with my fellow actors was again humbling, and we all had to dig deep as illness was rampant in the cast. Another special joy was working alongside one of my students, Brijana Neale, who played Anne. Brijana has gone on to star in another production at Titirangi Theatre just last month. (It is always fab to see my students up there performing.)

And the audience seemed very moved by our performance. Just this week I received this note from an audience member -

I’ve told others that segments of WPAT’s Anne Frank’s were the most moving live drama I’ve ever experienced.

The Waitakere Christmas Festival was another huge project just completed for me this year. My first year directing the festival was both rewarding and exhausting. Providing a stage for the talent out west gave all involved a true sense of community togetherness. And I believe the show itself was of a high standard and thoroughly enjoyed by the thousands who came to Parrs Park, Oratia, on Sat 3 December. The feedback us organisers have had has been fantastic. Creating a band to back some of the performers was great fun. Congratulations to Pio for running such a great show and all the performers for donating their time and talents. I will take a keen interest in the progress of all the acts in years to come. Special thanks to Lois for nuturing the children's choir, and to Lynn our stagemanager for keeping it flowing. Too many to thanks here but I have already thanked each member or our crew, so, you know who you are.

My partner Kathy has as always been a great support to me and my students this year. She starred on the Playhouse Theatre Stage this year in Give My Regards to Broadway, and totally stole the show. She has great comic timing and showed the rest of the actors a thing or two about total committment to a role. I am so proud of her.

Lastly, I want to wish you all a fantastic Christmas and a very merry holiday season. Take the time to smile, laugh, sing and dance; and don't sweat the small stuff. Spread the love of Christmas to all you meet.

God Bless

John Goudge