Camp Christmas fun in Chichester

They will be in the city on Saturday, December 18 at 5pm in The Guildhall, Priory Park, joined by the Sounds Familiar Choir; tickets available from The Novium Museum, Chichester or visit www.thenovium.org/campaschristmas

And they will also perform on Sunday, December 19 at 7pm in St John’s Chapel; tickets available from St Olav’s Christian Bookshop, North Street, on the door or visit www.allthatmalarkey.com.

Musical director David George Harrington said: “It has truly been an extraordinary year and a half for everyone across the globe. We’ve seen and experienced the arts industry completely collapse, leaving practitioners suddenly powerless and stripped of their livelihood, creative outlet and for most, our raison d’être.

“It should be common knowledge how vastly the arts/entertainment industry contributes to the UK economy and yet how even at the best of times, freelance performers seldom make a profit from their work. For some this involves nine full shows a week of acting, singing and dancing in a demanding West End production.

“For our singers at All That Malarkey, we were genuinely concerned that we’d never get to perform together in the same way ever again.

“At the start of the first lockdown we all had to watch as our diaries swiftly disintegrated before our eyes, and all our hard-earned gigs, cabarets, teaching work and commissions were completely cancelled.

“It was harrowing and took an immense toll on our mental health as well as our ability to even pay the rent.

“Through the gloom and worry came support in the form of weekly Zoom meetings together. Our singers made sure we had regular evening chats from our homes, albeit on a computer screen, naturally accompanied by any Mesozoic gin we could find in our cupboards.

“Rather than learning harmonies together and treading the boards in front of a beautiful audience, we all had valuable time to stop, reassess how to take care of ourselves, and catch up on those Netflix series we never had time to get through before.

“Personally, I found a creative outlet in filming silly comedic songs with my soft toy geese from my bedroom which audiences on social media seemed to relish! I’m 31 years old. We then saw choirs and musical theatre performers flock online producing wonderful creative content to keep everyone entertained, biding our time until we could all leave the house and get to theatres again. I think the best part of lockdown was seeing how much the general public missed, valued and indeed needed music and entertainment. After all, when the world of work shut down, the public spent the majority of their time listening to music, watching film/TV and finding solace in what our industry produces every day.”

David is relishing the thought of those Christmas gigs: “In normal times our year usually concludes with a camp hurricane of Christmas music and festive shenanigans that we perform in our cabaret shows all over the UK, best of all, where it all started for us, in Chichester.

“This December is the first time since March 2020 that we can all enjoy the Christmases we remember. We cannot wait! Our cabaret group are reunited with our wonderful Chichester fans for just two evening shows where we will perform operatic reimaginings of some of our festive favourites, a couple of new numbers and eagerly anticipated audience requests. The response has been amazing. Expect silly versions of the 12 Days of Christmas, Last Christmas, advice on how to clean the house after booze-fuelled family parties, as well as pop, carols and Christmas number ones – all sung by four quite well-dressed classical singers accompanied by a lunatic on the piano!”

Tickets £13; to reserve tickets or for any queries call Amy on 07722 824696.