Tiverton Junior Operatic Club

The Tiverton Junior Operatic Club was formed in 1978 by members of the Tiverton Amateur Operatic Society (TAOS), for the purposes of encouraging youngsters to gain an interest in music and drama, and to continue until they were old enough to join the senior society, therefore bringing youth into the TAOS. At the time of formation, the age limits were 12-18 years, but over the years the age range has been extended to 11-21 years.

The TJOC meets every Thursday, and each member pays an annual subscription of £20 to belong to the club. The amount raised through subscriptions does not, unfortunately, cover the cost of putting on a show, but does help towards rehearsal rooms.

When it was formed, the junior members of the club used to help to make scenery and props for the shows, but nowadays this doesn’t happen so much. Parents are welcomed and asked to assist wherever they can.

Auditions normally take place in the October/ November before the show, which is performed during the February half-term break. The auditioning committee includes the Musical Director and the Producer, which gives everybody a fair chance to show what they can do, and leads to many different people eventually taking leading roles. Even if they can’t sing very well, there are non-singing parts and dance routines in almost every show!

Each year, the members are encouraged to put forward suggestions of shows which they would like to perform, and these are discussed by the committee.

Besides doing shows, the club members do social activities, such as ice-skating, discos and watching performances by other societies, both amateur and professional. In the past, the TJOC used to put on a Christmas variety show, where the youngsters would be invited to perform their own dance routines and sketches (as long as they were well rehearsed!). The Tiverton Carnival even used to contain a TJOC float, until this became a problem with insurance companies. Acting takes many forms, and when ‘Barnum’ was performed in 1998, professional circus trainers were employed to teach tight-rope walking, juggling, unicycling and stilt-walking.

Putting on a show every year requires vast sums of money, which are raised in a number of ways, including inviting sponsors to advertise in the programmes, subscriptions, youth grants and funding, and fund-raising. Over all, however, a show has to try and cover its own expense through ticket sales, although this rarely happens.

The TJOC is run by a committee of 15 people, which consists of 10 adults, 4 junior members (over 14 years of age) and a representative from the TAOS. The club also has a proper constitution to ensure that it operates towards its original purpose. Each of the adults on the committee is the holder of a chaperone licence.

30 years on, the Tiverton Junior Operatic Club is still going strong!

(Thanks to Mrs. E. Browning)