In November 1966 the Bristol Light Opera Club presented “C. B. Cochran’s Gay Musical” Bless the Bride, A. P. Herbert and Vivian Ellis’s romance of an 1870 bride who elopes to France, at the Bristol Hippodrome from Monday 7th to Saturday 12th November. Eileen Vaughan was in charge of the production, with dancing by Bettie Vowles and Vernon Jones as musical director of the augmented Hippodrome Orchestra. The one-shilling programme thanked J. W. Simon for “Croquet Tuition and Loan of Equipment” and Cadena Cafes for the birthday cake, and proudly announced the next year’s Orpheus in the Underworld, “probably the first amateur production of this opera in Bristol.”
Past production
Bless the Bride
Monday 7th–Saturday 12th November 1966
Bristol Hippodrome
Who made it
Creatives
- Director
- Eileen Vaughan
- Musical director
- Vernon Jones
- Choreographer
- Bettie Vowles
Get involved
How do I join?
Everyone who performs with BLOC has auditioned for their place. We look for strong singers, confident movers and actors who can hold a stage.
Auditions are held each spring for that year’s show. Tell us you are interested and you will be the first to hear when the details are announced.
There is as much to do off the stage as on it. Backstage crew, wardrobe, props and the production team behind a show of this scale are all volunteer roles, and we are looking for people all year round.