Blog NMSB employee treads the boards for lead role

14th December 2009

A credit controller at New Milton Sand and Ballast has taken her first romantic lead at a major Dorset theatre.

Charlotte Deverill, 24, a mezzo soprano, took the role of Josephine in the Bournemouth Gilbert and Sullivan Operatic Society’s version of HMS Pinafore at Poole Lighthouse.
The play is a tale of love that transcends class, as Josephine, the captain’s daughter, falls for lower-class sailor Ralph Rackstraw.

Charlie rehearsed six nights a week on top of her day job at NMSB to prepare herself for the role.
She said: “With working full-time and rehearsing six nights a week I found time management a nightmare and was half expecting to meet myself on my return journey, but there is no better feeling in the world than knowing you have put on a good performance.

“We performed to large audiences over the week, keeping the theatre at 97 per cent average capacity over the seven days. The society is an amateur group, so all the performers do this in their spare time, so needless to say this is a true passion for all of the society members, and it is this that the audience most commonly identify with. 

“The management of New Milton Sand and Ballast were very supportive through rehearsals and amenable to me scooting off early on a few occasions!”