I thought this was a masterful piece of spin worthy of Alistair Campbell. I guess you need your actors to fully co-operate in this type of story, though.

From Bradford's T&A...

Musical helps to ease dad's war fears
Rehearsing his part in the musical Me and My Girl is proving a welcome distraction for Peter Whitley as his son Jason prepares for a lead role in the potential war against Iraq.

Mr Whitley, from Meadow Close, Harden, plays the leading man Bill Snibson in Guiseley Amateur Operatic Society's show.

But at the back of the 45-year-old's mind are fears for his son Jason, an avionics technician stationed at RAF Lossiemouth, Scotland.

Jason, 21, a former pupil of Bingley Grammar School, who works on Tornado jet fighters, expects his squadron to be called to Kuwait in the next two weeks to prepare for possible action .

"The good news is that Jason would be stationed with the squadron in Kuwait, well away, hopefully, from the serious fighting," Mr Whitley said.

"But obviously you worry about things. I'd rather the whole thing with Saddam Hussein be settled peacefully.

"As for Jason, it's his job. He trains for this kind of thing, so the boys in the forces have a sense of wanting to get out there and do what they've been trained for." Mr Whitley said rehearsing the part has helped keep his mind off his son's part in any possible war.

"I love the role. It was scripted by Stephen Fry and it shows in the quality of the writing," he said.

"You don't have to be a great singer or a great dancer. It's principally about putting over the comedy, and that's what I enjoy."

Well all I can say is, best of luck to Peter and to Jason!!

When we did Oliver last year, our Bullseye was a wonderful dog called Bruno. Bruno was incredibly well behaved until early on in the run when a shot fired on stage sent him bolting (normally we'd made sure he was well off stage by this time). Bless him, he ended up miles down the road with cast and crew in various interesting costumes haring after him. Our Publicity Manager decided to capitalise on the comedy of the situation and it was covered by our local paper - and during the run of the show as well. You will be pleased to know Bruno was unharmed and thoroughly enjoyed his extra exercise (can't say the same for the rest of the cast though).

Hello!

People posting on the forum should be aware that it is against the guidelines of the board to directly advertise your production, there are other areas of Amdram designed to suit this purpose:

Productions and Events Page

I suppose it is quite a good idea to use the current situation to your advantage when publicising an event but I really don't think it is something that massively will assist publicity. I think what Maureen says is a little more appropriate!

Further to my last comment...............

The guidelines state that you cannot post any direct advertising material however within reason, you may provide a link to your society or group in your signature if you wish............(within reason), you may also use a logo or image in your signature however you will have to host this yourself.

Of course, you can create your own avatar or select one of the ones that are already there.

I see my last post was deleted!!!

I dared to question, make comment or criticise?

Did I strike a cord? Does the fact that someone dares to question a moderator ( I can only assume that Simon deleted the last post) mean that their post is removed? Did I make any personal attacks, use bad language? NO!

I dared to have an opinion!!!

As he so kindly tried to justify his first post with a second and reply to the previously deleted mail - I'll say it again

The fact that you have admonished someone for, in the text of their post having reference to a show - but when reading the post it is obvious (to anyone with a brain cell) that they were not advertising but using it as an example.

The moderator however clearly uses the text in the footer COMBINED WITH the show logo in the picture as advertising... Thus double standards

For the record I am not Mr Waddington, nor do I have any connection with him. I'm merely someone who read the post and then saw the heavy handed censorship and double standards employed their in

I guess this one will be censored or deleted too

Shiny Badge equals ability to quash opinions different from his own !!!

I did remove your original post because it had no relevance to the topic that was posted here.

We have guidelines regarding advertisements because there are better parts of the site that can be used for advertising.

If you want to advertise a production then you can do so by entering your production details into the following page: Events and Productions

You can add details of your production here and this will then be seen by anyone that visits Amdram. Once you have added your production details here then they are posted here: Current Productions so that people can choose whether or not to come and see your production. Your production is also advertised in a weekly Mailing List.

You can however choose your own avatar, which can be absolutely anything providing it causes no offence to anyone.........

You can also decide exactly what is written in your signature, this can include links, show dates or whatever you choose.

I chose to create an image for myself as have some of the other members of the board. If you decide to register as a user then you to can customise both your avatar and signature to be as you please.

I am not quite sure how you can justify your comments concerning opinions when you have not seen the original post that was made by Alex Waddington??

The post that you see is an edited version. A line was removed from the bottom of the post that was advertising his current production.

I don't really see what my opinion has to do with this matter??, I am a volunteer moderator that ensures people follow the guidelines of the forum.

I am in no way challenging peoples opinions, I am merely asking that they adhere to the guidelines that are there for everyones benefit.

Returning to the subject of advertising.............

If you would like to sign up for the forum then you too may customize your signature in the same way as I (and everyone else!!) have.

As the owner of amdram.co.uk I would just like to add that the purpose of this site is to help people who are interested in amateur theatre. We are not here to censor anyone. It is a free service available for people to use if they wish.

Thousands of people visit amdram.co.uk every month and in order to make the site as easy as possible to use there are different sections for different things. People look for productions in the production database, groups in the groups one etc. If people posted anything anywhere no one would be able to find anything and the site would no longer be useful for anyone.

We are all here, unpaid, to help further amateur theatre in every way possible. It is never our intention to offend or upset people.

Jane