November 2022 Newsletter
In this edition:
- From the President
- From the Director - Priscilla, Queen of the Desert
- From the Secretary
- 2023 Season announcement
- Upcoming CHMCC/ CHATs social events
- Audition announcement for School of Rock
From the President

Hello and welcome to the latest edition of the CHMCC newsletter.
Wow! We have just finished our run of “Priscilla, Queen at the Desert” and what a show it was! A huge congratulations to Vanessa Crossley, Emily Dalton and the entire cast, crew and band for an outstanding run. We have had nothing but rave reviews from our audiences, so I hope you were able to get along and see this brilliant Aussie work. Kudos to all! Take a bow! And enjoy your party this weekend 😉
We are RIDICULOUSLY excited to have our two shows for next year locked in. Fiona Shaw will be directing “School of Rock” in May 2023, and Rebecca Riches is tackling an original Australian rock musical in November 2023, “ATOMIC”. Audition dates and more info on both shows will be available soon so please stay in touch with our socials and check the website for more information.
CHMCC and CHATS are again stoked to be hosting our annual BBQ Christmas brunch on Sunday 11 December from 10am at the Theatre. Come along for a snag and a glass of something and celebrate another successful year of Coffs Harbour theatre. David Tune and I are looking forward to cooking you some magnificent sausages.
That’ll do from me for now. I take this opportunity to wish all our members and friends a very Happy Christmas, and we cannot wait to share some amazing musical experiences with you in 2023.
See you at the theatre.
Peter Hodges
President
Coffs Harbour Musical Comedy Company
Wow! We have just finished our run of “Priscilla, Queen at the Desert” and what a show it was! A huge congratulations to Vanessa Crossley, Emily Dalton and the entire cast, crew and band for an outstanding run. We have had nothing but rave reviews from our audiences, so I hope you were able to get along and see this brilliant Aussie work. Kudos to all! Take a bow! And enjoy your party this weekend 😉
We are RIDICULOUSLY excited to have our two shows for next year locked in. Fiona Shaw will be directing “School of Rock” in May 2023, and Rebecca Riches is tackling an original Australian rock musical in November 2023, “ATOMIC”. Audition dates and more info on both shows will be available soon so please stay in touch with our socials and check the website for more information.
CHMCC and CHATS are again stoked to be hosting our annual BBQ Christmas brunch on Sunday 11 December from 10am at the Theatre. Come along for a snag and a glass of something and celebrate another successful year of Coffs Harbour theatre. David Tune and I are looking forward to cooking you some magnificent sausages.
That’ll do from me for now. I take this opportunity to wish all our members and friends a very Happy Christmas, and we cannot wait to share some amazing musical experiences with you in 2023.
See you at the theatre.
Peter Hodges
President
Coffs Harbour Musical Comedy Company
From the Secretary

What a wild few months I have had!
Its been all steam ahead into 2023 and I have been very busy behind the scenes organising both 2023 shows! I am soo excited to announce that in 2023 we have TWO newer directors, myself (shameless self-promotion) as the director of School of Rock in May, and the amazing Rebecca Riches will be directing ATOMIC in November! Both shows will showcase live music and we encourage all theatre lovers to apply for auditions! We would love to see a whole range of new faces in these shows.
It is also the time of the year where we are all finished up with 2022 shows! Congratulations to both our May production of Wizard of Oz YPE (directed by Billie-jo Dukes and Rebecca Riches) and our November production of Priscilla Queen of the Desert (directed by Vanessa Crossley and Emily-rose Dalton). Both shows have been an absolute HIT and will be well remembered for years to come.
A massive thanks to ALL volunteers who were involved in the shows. It is impossible to name each and every one of you, but know you have all left your mark on the Coffs theatre community and I share my undying thanks to all theatre volunteers. Please keep doing what you are doing, it is so appreciated. Community theatre would NEVER get to stage without you all!!
We also have TWO social events this month! As previously mentioned in the last newsletter, the social committee will be working toward holding monthly events in 2023 for our community theatre members to enjoy. So to get us started, we have the annual holiday brunch on the 11th December and a new social event of Christmas karaoke and games on the 17th December. See below for more detailed information. HUGE thanks to the social committee for their help with organising these events. If you want to be a part of the organising committee for 2023, please email me at [email protected]
I am proud to notify all members that the 2023 CHMCC shows WILL be in the Jetty Memorial Theatre season launch this year, which is being held on Dec 6th. Tickets for the launch are on their website. Additionally, we have both shows in Stage Whispers for 2023 as well.
We have grand plans for our Facebook and Instagram pages for 2023, along with connections with local newspapers and magazines. Make sure you have liked the CHMCC Facebook page and you are following our Instagram page, as this will be where I will post regular updates.
See you at brunch and karaoke!!
With thanks and love,
Fiona Shaw
Its been all steam ahead into 2023 and I have been very busy behind the scenes organising both 2023 shows! I am soo excited to announce that in 2023 we have TWO newer directors, myself (shameless self-promotion) as the director of School of Rock in May, and the amazing Rebecca Riches will be directing ATOMIC in November! Both shows will showcase live music and we encourage all theatre lovers to apply for auditions! We would love to see a whole range of new faces in these shows.
It is also the time of the year where we are all finished up with 2022 shows! Congratulations to both our May production of Wizard of Oz YPE (directed by Billie-jo Dukes and Rebecca Riches) and our November production of Priscilla Queen of the Desert (directed by Vanessa Crossley and Emily-rose Dalton). Both shows have been an absolute HIT and will be well remembered for years to come.
A massive thanks to ALL volunteers who were involved in the shows. It is impossible to name each and every one of you, but know you have all left your mark on the Coffs theatre community and I share my undying thanks to all theatre volunteers. Please keep doing what you are doing, it is so appreciated. Community theatre would NEVER get to stage without you all!!
We also have TWO social events this month! As previously mentioned in the last newsletter, the social committee will be working toward holding monthly events in 2023 for our community theatre members to enjoy. So to get us started, we have the annual holiday brunch on the 11th December and a new social event of Christmas karaoke and games on the 17th December. See below for more detailed information. HUGE thanks to the social committee for their help with organising these events. If you want to be a part of the organising committee for 2023, please email me at [email protected]
I am proud to notify all members that the 2023 CHMCC shows WILL be in the Jetty Memorial Theatre season launch this year, which is being held on Dec 6th. Tickets for the launch are on their website. Additionally, we have both shows in Stage Whispers for 2023 as well.
We have grand plans for our Facebook and Instagram pages for 2023, along with connections with local newspapers and magazines. Make sure you have liked the CHMCC Facebook page and you are following our Instagram page, as this will be where I will post regular updates.
See you at brunch and karaoke!!
With thanks and love,
Fiona Shaw
From the Director - Priscilla, Queen of the Desert
Priscilla Queen of the desert finished last weekend with 4 sell out shows, which was a testament to the marvellous show that it was. Word of mouth made it the hottest ticket in town. As a first time director I was always a little nervous about how the show would turn out but it exceeded every dream I had for it. To pull off such a big show with the constraints a tiny theatre presented us, was no easy feat but one our whole team accomplished. I cried tears of happiness at both the opening and closing shows as I was so proud of “my baby”. I had three things I wanted the audience to leave the theatre talking about: the music, the dancing and the costumes, and we achieved this night after night.
I am immensely proud of my whole team who made this wonderful production possible, especially my assistant director Emily-Rose Dalton, stage manager Dee Tune, Greg Wilson and Craig Golding for sound and light, Bec Grace and Emily Cooper with their incredible backstage team, Sharon, Loz, Virginia and Ann for props and dressing, Maureen Burgess and her talented band and Gabby Shanks, choreographer to the stars. Jenny Beatson for her work as production and front of house manager, Rex Madigan and his team in the shed for set/ bus construction and Nick Price for his lovely photos of the cast and show.
My biggest thank you however goes to my spectacular team of dancers who were mainly young performers in their first major show and my beautiful cast who grew into their roles so successfully. We had our dramas both on and off stage just like a real family but they were all so invested in my vision right from the beginning and I can not think of a better group of people to have accompanied me on the journey that was Priscilla.
Thank you CHMCC for allowing me to, as Dave Tune so eloquently said, push the company to its absolute limits. I will be back again one day if you will have me. X
Vanessa Crossley
Director, Priscilla Queen of the Desert
I am immensely proud of my whole team who made this wonderful production possible, especially my assistant director Emily-Rose Dalton, stage manager Dee Tune, Greg Wilson and Craig Golding for sound and light, Bec Grace and Emily Cooper with their incredible backstage team, Sharon, Loz, Virginia and Ann for props and dressing, Maureen Burgess and her talented band and Gabby Shanks, choreographer to the stars. Jenny Beatson for her work as production and front of house manager, Rex Madigan and his team in the shed for set/ bus construction and Nick Price for his lovely photos of the cast and show.
My biggest thank you however goes to my spectacular team of dancers who were mainly young performers in their first major show and my beautiful cast who grew into their roles so successfully. We had our dramas both on and off stage just like a real family but they were all so invested in my vision right from the beginning and I can not think of a better group of people to have accompanied me on the journey that was Priscilla.
Thank you CHMCC for allowing me to, as Dave Tune so eloquently said, push the company to its absolute limits. I will be back again one day if you will have me. X
Vanessa Crossley
Director, Priscilla Queen of the Desert
2023 Season announcement
School of Rock
Director - Fiona Shaw
Assistant Director - Rebecca Nicholson
Director mentor - Maureen Burgess
On stage May 12th - June 4th
Assistant Director - Rebecca Nicholson
Director mentor - Maureen Burgess
On stage May 12th - June 4th
ATOMIC - NSW premiere!
Director - Rebecca Riches
Assistant Director - Tahlia Stagg
On stage November 3rd - 26th
Assistant Director - Tahlia Stagg
On stage November 3rd - 26th
Upcoming CHMCC/ CHATs social events
Annual holiday brunch
All CHMCC/ CHATs members are invited to the annual morning brunch to celebrate 2022 and Christmas, at the Jetty Memorial Theatre's Pavilion, starting at 10am.
Bubbles and bacon burgers will provided to all CHMCC/ CHATs members.
Bubbles and bacon burgers will provided to all CHMCC/ CHATs members.
Christmas karaoke and games
The CHMCC Social committee, alongside the CHATs committee, have been organising our very first social event!
All CHMCC/ CHATs members and their guests are invited to attend our karaoke and games night at the plantation hotel. 7pm, 17th December.
Dress up in your best Christmas themed attire to win a prize!!
No RSVP required - all members and guests permitted to attend - get the word out!
All CHMCC/ CHATs members and their guests are invited to attend our karaoke and games night at the plantation hotel. 7pm, 17th December.
Dress up in your best Christmas themed attire to win a prize!!
No RSVP required - all members and guests permitted to attend - get the word out!
School of Rock
Auditions announced!
Head on over to the auditions page for more information on the School of Rock auditions