The curtain has come down on Bushey Operatic and Dramatic Society.

The decision to wind down the society, formed in 1962, was taken at a special meeting last week.

The closure is blamed on “insurmountable financial difficulties and insufficient membership”.

This month’s planned show, The Pajama Game, was cancelled because of casting difficulties after a poor turnout at auditions.

Last week’s meeting decided money and membership problems were too great for the society to continue.

“It was most upsetting, especially for those people who have been members for many years, some of them from the start,” said Lynne Mason, one of the society’s leading ladies.

Four men – Hubert Warren, Charles Carr, Frank Collins and Neville Marsh – were responsible for forming Bushey Operatic in 1962. The debut production, Carissima, was staged at Bushey Meads School.

Once the society was established, it moved to the bigger Watford Palace Theatre in 1966 where its first show had a cast of 77 adults, five children – and a donkey.

[From the Watford Observer of April 5, 1985]

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