Uncategorised | Ringwood Musical and Dramatic Society

Sam Coleman- A Tribute

May 7, 2025

It is with great sadness that we have to share the sad news of the death of our dear RMDS friend, Sam Coleman. He died on the evening of Friday May 2 at his home in Poulner at the age of 88. He had been ill with various health issues for quite some time and it was something of a portent that he was not well enough to be with us for the last night of ‘Ghost’ just last month. After the news arrived, our President Nigel Alvis briefly visited Sam’s wife Maggie, and Bobs Guy has been in contact as well, with sympathy and support. Charlie Hockey arranged flowers and Nigel has written formally to Maggie and daughters Maria, Sophie and Anna, on behalf of all our members.

Sam was a cornerstone in the foundations of RMDS for many decades and was a member of the committee a very long time. Until last year, he was still serving as our President. Through his efforts and loyal commitment he contributed hugely to the success of RMDS and the high regard in which the Society is held in our community.
His first stage show with RMDS was back in 1959 and over the years he played many principal roles. He was also involved with the Soirée, briefly on stage, but more significantly running the box office – a daunting task – for many years. In later years he was a loyal singer in the bass section of the Choir – rumbling along as a “basso profundo” like no other!

Nigel Alvis our President said:
“Sam was a wonderful, kindly man. For him, RMDS was a life-long project and we can be very grateful and proud for his steadfast commitment, for so many years. We will miss him hugely and remember him with great affection – always, I am sure, with a big smile.”

Long-term friend and former RMDS President Bobs Guy said:
“Sam joined RMDS in 1958 and took part in the 1959 production of ‘Oklahoma!’ in the Regal Cinema in the Market Square. He was encouraged on to the Committee and served for 66 years, many as Chairman, but also Vice Chairman, Treasurer, Business Manager and an ordinary member until his Presidency which ran from 2019 to 2024.
Sam took part in nearly every show until his health began to be a problem and was a happy chorus member, but played many principal roles, most notably ‘Joe’ (Ol’ Man River) in ‘Show Boat’ and ‘Jigger Craigin’ in ‘Carousel’. His last appearance was in our Armistice Show in 2018 when he took a tumble coming down the steps backstage and damaged his knee which sadly troubled him from then on. The Society has lost a dedicated servant and we have all lost a very dear friend. We send Maggie and the girls our love and deep condolences”.

Mark Bodger – A Tribute

May 2, 2025

It is with great sadness that we are posting to inform everyone that our RMDS Chairman Mark Bodger has sadly passed away.

Our love and thoughts are with his wife Rachel, who posted this on an RMDS WhatsApp group (Juneau is their dog).

“I’m so so sad to let you all know my lovely husband Mark suffered a devastating cardiac arrest yesterday afternoon. Despite the efforts of several ambulances and the doctor from the air ambulance they were unable to revive him. He died with me holding his hand and I’m assured he knew nothing about it and wouldn’t have suffered or been scared.

We had thoroughly enjoyed the week performing Ghost at the Barn. We had a smooth get out and had been for breakfast with some of the cast and had a really lovely time. We drove home happy – talking about booking a relaxing holiday together. An hour or so later drinking tea and stroking his beloved Juneau on the sofa he said he was just popping upstairs before ringing his Mum to tell her how well he felt. I heard a thud, rushed up and found him. The first responders were so fast and everyone did everything they could to save him.

He was a lovely husband – we had an amazing life together and he made me so happy. I know he loved me and Juneau and as he lay there I promised him I’d live my life to the full and be happy again one day.

Life is so unfair and I’ll miss him – I hope his time leading the society has been worthwhile – it has been so important to both of us.”

Nigel (President, RMDS) has said:

“This is such a huge shock to us all and I am incredibly moved by Rachel’s wonderful tribute to Mark on the GC WhatsApp Group – especially at the end where she relayed her promise to Mark and expressed her hope. Just feeling incredibly saddened and shocked after seeing him so happy.”

Mark will be greatly missed by RMDS and his very many friends.

Has lockdown had you craving your moment in the spotlight?

Jul 5, 2021

Ringwood Musical and Dramatic Society are pleased to announce that we will be producing ‘Rumours’ by Neil Simon as our autumn play 2021 with performances during half-term break at Ringwood School Theatre from Wednesday 27^th October – Saturday 30^th October 2021.

The play is a hilarious comedic farce and is one of Neil Simon’s most celebrated comedies and here is how to get involved…

We are holding a get-together on Monday 19^th July at 7:45pm for anyone who is interested in taking part, during which we will read through the play and discuss the audition pieces for each character. There are 5 female and 4 male roles to cast, in addition we always welcome any interest in off-stage roles so please do come along if you would like to be involved in any capacity with the production.

If you are interested in taking part, or just coming along to see what the society is all about, please contact the director, Bobs Guy, via telephone: 01425 472792 or get in touch using the contact form on the website to register interest or ask any questions you may have.

We look forward to seeing you there!

Summer Show 2020 – Cancelled

Apr 19, 2020

To all member, patrons and supporters of RMDS

I am sure it will come as no great surprise to you that with the ongoing restrictions and difficulties around Covid-19, we have taken the difficult decision to cancel the Summer Show for 2020. We have taken this decision with great regret but in light of the likelihood of when, and maybe more importantly how the current restrictions are lifted, we cannot see a practical way to both prepare a show which our audience would feel worthy of the Summer Show and even if gatherings of such size will be permitted in July of this year. As ever we have taken this decision with the health and well-being of our membership, volunteers, and the wider community as our highest priority.

We would like to thank everyone for their continued support and look forward to seeing you at one of our future productions.

If you have any questions about the event, please get in touch via the Contact Us page and in the meantime most importantly, stay safe.

Barnum – Postponed

Mar 18, 2020

To all patrons and supporters of RMDS

I am sure it will come as no great surprise to you that we have had to make the difficult decision to postpone our forthcoming Easter musical Barnum. We are taking this action in response to the announcement by the government that members of the public should avoid theatres due to the ongoing Covid-19 situation. This is a very difficult decision to make, but it is a necessary one in consideration for the health and well-being of our membership, volunteers, and the wider community.

We would like to thank you for your continued support and very much hope that you will come and support us at Easter 2021 when we plan to put on this amazing show. In the meantime we will be offering full refunds for all tickets purchased. If you purchased your tickets with a card payment through the TicketSource website, you will shortly receive another notification from TicketSource explaining that your refund will be credited back to the card you paid with. If you purchased your tickets from our Greyfriars box office. Please pop in to see them and they will refund you. If your payment was by cheque, we will simply hand your cheque back to you as these have not yet been paid in.

Once again we’d like to thank you for your patience and understanding in this matter, please do come and support our next show (whatever and whenever that may be) and in the meantime most importantly, stay safe.

If you have any questions about the event, please get in touch via the Contact Us page

Drama at Sea

Mar 1, 2020

Sailors, canoeists, paddleboarders and surfers can feel safer off the coast of Bournemouth and Christchurch thanks to fundraising by Ringwood Musical & Dramatic Society. The society’s Ringwood Soirée chose the National Coastwatch Institution (NCI) Hengistbury Head coastguard lookout station as the focus for its charitable fundraising in November. And appropriately the NCI is now able to keep members of the public enjoying the sea very much in focus: the £1,000 donation from RMDS has enabled them to buy a £4,000 observation scope for use from the rejuvenated Hengistbury Head station, allowing them to keep a lookout for anyone who gets into trouble off the coast.

The NCI runs a network of volunteer coastguard stations around the UK, assisting HM Coastguard and RNLI lifeboats in keeping people safe at sea. RMDS, meanwhile, is very much back on dry land and currently rehearsing for it’s Easter musical, the circus spectacular Barnum, with the cast learning to juggle, tumble, tightrope walk and ride unicycles.

Pictured with the cast of Barnum, are the NCI’s Hengistbury Head station manager Peter Holway, deputy station manager (operations) Ed Essery and watchkeeper Bryan Scarfe.

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