After spending the best part of 2 days at the Floral Pavilion New Brighton for the Public Library Inquiry,
I was back there again last night to watch the West Kirby Light Opera's performance of Chess.
What a wonderful group - and what a testament to our local community both with performance and venue.

WKLOS won the accolade of best musical for Chess from the National Operatic and Dramatic Association
 back in 2000 and they have worked their same magic for this production. Chess runs from June 10-13,
is helmed by award-winning director Karen Edge, with musical direction from Robert Bowness
and choreography courtesy of Wallasey School of Ballet principal Deborah Clark.

Dear WKLOS,
Just a note to say how much we enjoyed seeing Chess last night - it really was superb.
It was the best show we have seen in years and cannot imagine just how hard everyone worked
to make it such an enjoyable event. The singing was great (the orchestra also), the dancing
was electrifying and the costumes were brilliant. We also liked the video presence - it was different.
Well done!  With great respect, Tom Moran.
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Dear All
Just a quick line to congratulate you on a truly wonderful production of Chess!
One of the companies of which I am a member, Lytham Amateur Operatic Society will be staging
this musical next year and a small party of us came across for the Friday performance to get an idea
of what each of us might be going for and how it might be staged. We were all extremely impressed,
to say the least, with both the great venue and the impactive show. Characters, music, choreography,
costumes, scenery and lighting/effects were all brilliant! Although there were several notable
performances from the leads, I must make special mention of Mark Gardner, whose vocals, as Trumper,
would not be out of place on any professional stage. I was, during the show, wondering whether
the society had as many talented men because it was so good or whether it was the other way around!
In our neck of the woods men are a rare and valuable commodity! Anyway, the journey of over
an hour was well worth it and we all came home singing Anthem at the top of our voices!  
Best wishes (and may you be showered with all NODA awards possible - I can say that as you're
not in our area!!).   Rob Harrison
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Hi Mike,
Excellent show last night - well done! I can't recall seeing a standing ovation at an amateur production before!
Regards, Steve Myers   
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