Parkes Musical and Dramatic Society

Welcome to the Parkes Musical and Dramatic Society's web site. From our humble beginnings in a tin shed to the wonderfully updated venue, our Society offers a Big cutural and entertaining experience in a  Little Theatre setting.

The society has a wealth of talented members, aged from 4 to 80+. In recent years the society has really taken off and our membership base has tripled. We are always welcoming New Members  and have a lot of families contributing to our progressing society. So if you love the thought of being on stage (or behind) and are looking for a fun way to make new friends, come along and join in - no talent needed - just the love of the thrill of being involved in live theatre.

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The Parkes M and D Society have done it again at this year's annual Canberra Area Theatre (CAT) Awards – this time through the talents of the five female cast members of last year's smash hit production of Downtown – The Mod Musical.

Shevaun Brown, Christa Radley, Christie Green, Cath Adams and Belinda McGrath were named the Best Ensemble in a Musical at Saturday night's glittering awards ceremony which took place in the Llewellyn Hall at Canberra's ANU School of Music. A large cheer went up from the small contingent of Parkes supporters present at the ceremony when the 'quintet' were announced the winners.

They defeated a top line-up of nominations in their category including:

• Three members of the cast of The Wizard of Oz (Kinross Wolaroi School Orange).
• The cast of CATS (Free-Rain Theatre Canberra).
• Ensemble vocals from Titanic the Musical presented by Supa Productions (Canberra).
• The cast of Seussical the Musical (St Mary Mackillop College, Canberra).
• Men's chorus of Iolanthe (Queanbeyan Players).
• The Tribe from Hair (Queanbeyan City Council).

After accepting their award the 'girls' had to get their emotions in order, put on their 60's costumes and prepare for their performance on the big stage which was the finale to the awards ceremony. They did this brilliantly and to loud applause from the capacity crowd.

Mayor of Parkes Cr Ken Keith and wife Sue were among the many invited guests from throughout the region who attended the awards that also featured iconic entertainers Toni Lamond, Jon English, Lola Nixon and Tina Bursill as presenters. Parkes M and D Society President Neil Westcott who also attended the gala evening with his wife Alison was confident the 'Downtown Girls' would do well despite the extremely strong nominations they were up against.

"So many people loved Downtown when it was staged last year, and then to back it up with capacity audiences during the Elvis Festival weekend – well the ladies have just been amazing," Neil said. "This award and the chance to perform on such a night is something they will remember forever."

The society's other nomination was Lisa Betts who was up for the Patricia Kelson Encouragement Award for her accompanist role at last year's PACC concert. This award was won by Alexandra Davis of Canberra.

Parkes success on Saturday night follows a proud record for the M and D Society in recent years in gaining CAT awards for acting, production and performance.

The society has already commenced rehearsals for its first production of the year the hilarious 'Nunsense' which will be followed later in the year by The Sound of Music.

Article by Bill Jayet of Parkes Champion Post.