We are an amateur light operatic group with members from all walks of life from the Woking, Surrey, area.
GET INVOLVED!
We are always happy to hear from new on stage and off stage members wanting to join us. Can you sing? Can you act? Do you want to be on stage? Do you want to help with scenery, props and everything backstage? Send us an email We'd love to hear from you!
Read more about us below.
KASJOG is a member of NODA (National Operatic and Dramatic Association)
KASJOG is a Registered Charity: Charity Number 1047524
Stage Directors: Val Hitchcock and Kevin Chapman
Musical Director: David Chapman
Show pictures can be seen here
Audiences were down a little from 2022, but those that did see the show were very pleased they did - it received excellent reviews.
"The delivery of the libretto was exceptional and drew every bit of humour out of the page" NODA
(click to read the full report)
"Skilful, effective, stylish"
(Woking News & Mail)
Stage Director: Peter Melville
Musical Director: David Chapman
Our 2024 show was another popular Gilbert & Sullivan opera The Gondoliers.
Show pictures can be seen here
Audience numbers were similar to 2023, and as usual, all had a good time with quite a few laughs at the topical amendments to the original script.
"Director Peter Melville had tweaked the lyrics to some of the songs to bring them very amusingly up to date." NODA
Knaphill and St Johns Operatic Group (KASJOG for short!) started life as an Adult Education evening class at The Winston Churchill School, St Johns, way back in 1968. Our first (and favourite) production was Gilbert & Sullivan’s Trial By Jury.
In 1994, after having separated from Adult Education, KASJOG became a registered charity which coincided with a decision to move to the Rhoda McGaw Theatre, a huge step-up in terms of the scope of technical and production opportunities. It was also decided that the repertoire would extend to include light opera and so a process of alternating Gilbert & Sullivan’s works with operas such as Die Fledermaus, Orpheus in the Underworld and The Merry Widow (our first production at the Rhoda McGaw Theatre) began.
KASJOG’s mantra is to entertain in as professional a manner as possible, but to have fun at the same time. Each show brings its own possibilities and challenges and there is no shortage of anecdotes about missed entrances, forgotten lines, misplaced props, un-cooperative scenery and high jinks in the lighting box! However, the cast and crew are always ready to accept a challenge, the biggest of which has been our production of Carmen and for which we won a coveted NODA Award of Excellence. Another challenging production was our first musical, Brigadoon, which required Scottish and American accents, a sword dance and 11 scene changes in two acts.
“Kasjoggers” come from all walks of life and cover a wide age range. We are like one big happy family, with all the differing personalities and characters you would expect, with the one thing in common: a love of singing (and dressing up in funny clothes, putting on make up and dancing about the place, not to mention going to the pub afterwards or sharing a joke, a cup of tea and a biscuit during a break in rehearsals!).
As if spending six months of the year – from September to March – isn’t enough, rehearsing and performing each production, we enjoy hiring ourselves out in between as a group for weddings, dinners and other celebrations. Our varied repertoire includes Gilbert & Sullivan, a Viennese evening, Victorian Music Hall, musical miscellany and the songs of George Gershwin and Cole Porter.
KASJOG rehearses at the Maybury Centre in Woking on Mondays and Thursdays at 8pm. Membership is not confined to residents of Knaphill and St Johns: some of the cast come from as far afield as Leatherhead and Kingston.
From April on the first Monday of each month, members can be found at a local pub, keeping their ‘spirits’ up until the next production begins rehearsal at the beginning of October!
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