Now that its merger with the Petersfield Operatic Society is finally completed, it seems a good time to look back over the forty illustrious years of the Petersfield Amateur Hi-Lights Society, known to thousands simply as the Hi-Lights. It was the brainchild of two teachers at Dunhurst School, Rosemary Swan, then Rosemary Wood, and the late Kenneth Snuggs and who, along with many others,  felt there was a niche in Petersfield for light musical entertainment other than the annual Gilbert and Sullivan presented by the Operatic Society.   They devised a musical revue which was staged at the Town Hall (now the Festival Hall) for three consecutive evenings in June 1968, including highlights from Salad Days, Kismet and Calamity Jane.   Thus the company’s name was born,  Hi-Lights.

Each sequence was fully staged in costume and featured familiar names like Joyce Upton, Nancy Parker, Malcolm Woodcraft, Keith Anderson and Kenneth Hick.   The accompaniment was provided by Kenneth Snuggs on the electric organ and Lyndon Davies, who also contributed a piano medley.   Remarkably, £60.00 profit was shared between Shelter and the Boy Scouts of Petersfield and Sheet.

Such was its success that a further performance the following year was deemed essential, and the choice fell upon Julian Slade’s 1957 hit, Free as Air, staged by the same team, who went on to present other frothy musical comedies of the time like Pyjama Game and The Boy Friend.  Two shows, the homegrown Please Don’t Take Offence and The Card, were staged by Ron Bowler, but a suggestion of what lay in the future came in 1977 with Richard Wilshin’s  production of Oklahoma.. Ken Snuggs retired in 1978 to concentrate on his career as an organist and director of the Hi-Lights Singers, a highly successful offshoot of the original Hi-Lights, incorporating many of the same singers.  They had inaugurated the very successful Hi-Lights at Christmas, an annual Festival Hall treat that lasted until very recently.   Ken’s place as Musical Director was taken by Michael Hurd, who had conducted the Petersfield Operatic Society since 1970.    He remained at the helm for twenty years, before giving way to Dennis Brombley and David Rudling. His main interest was in operettas of an earlier period, and so during the next few years Petersfield audiences were treated to a succession of hits like The Arcadians, The Quaker Girl and A Country Girl, all composed by Lionel Monckton during the first decade of the last century, together with classics such as The Merry Widow, Orpheus in the Underworld and The Vagabond King.

 In 1976 two newcomers, Pat and Roger Wettone, appeared in the cast for the first time in The Card, by Tony Hatch and Jackie Trent, and within three years they had become leading lady and producer respectively.   

Joining them in Orpheus in the Underworld were Ruth Firth, Ken Hick and Bill Bignell.   Pat retained her position for many years, and more recently her place has been taken by Jane Baron and Amanda Morris.   Opposite them Richard Cousins, Barry Palmer, Roger Wettone himself and on three occasions Michael Harding all appeared in principal parts. An important event took place in 1989, when the Junior Hi-Lights were born, who, within four years became the Petersfield Youth Theatre.   But that, as they say, is another story. The development of the Hi-lights was such that productions became bigger and more spectacular during the 1990s.   This was partly due to box office demand and partly to the work of imaginative choreographers like Anne Blumlein, Jennifer Wettone and more recently Lisa Eddy.   Song and dance routines became ever more spectacular, culminating perhaps with the magnificent Anything Goes in 2004.

NODA accolades of excellence have frequently been awarded to the company, for the shows themselves, for the spectacular sets of David Stephenson and Andy Tubbs and for the quality of the programmes.   It seemed ironic that the last production, Calamity Jane, which gave Jayne Elsey her first starring role, was cut short by the disastrous fire at the Festival Hall. Yet out of the ashes, so to speak, has arisen the Petersfield Theatre Group, and we can all look forward to Kenn Macdonald’s production of Guys and Dolls next May.  Tom Muckley, November 2008

The author wishes to thank Rosemary Swan and Roger Wettone for their help in preparing this article.

This article was originally published by the Petersfield Post

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