Tributes paid to former Wolverhampton Civic Choir and Penn Singers member Claire - you Midlands and Shropshire am dram guide

I cannot wait for the day when we are all on stage again, enjoying our rehearsals and having fun with friends.

But for now, we have to be content with online streaming and movie versions of our favourite musicals and plays and planning for the future.

These are already sad times but I am even sadder to have to report that am dram land has lost a dedicated, hard-working performer, Claire Hallett, who was a member of Trinity Musical Theatre Company, based in Wolverhampton.

Claire was just 59 years old and died of Ovarian Cancer, a horrible disease which largely goes unnoticed and the mortality rate is very high. In short it is just awful.

Those of you who knew Claire may recall she was born in Chesterfield.

She was a very private person yet passionate about many things; Ballroom and Latin dance, her faith, music, medieval re-enactment and of course her family.

She was a carer for her mom who suffered ill health for over 20 years, often putting her mom’s needs before her own.

Claire’s husband Chris said, “I’d sum Claire up like this; she always said to me that we didn’t have many friends, just acquaintances.

"Since she fell ill in September however, she was astounded by the messages of concern and wellbeing for her and also for our daughter Georgina and myself. She kept on saying to me, 'I didn’t know these people', but my answer was that they knew her.

"Claire touched many lives with her caring way and was saddened that she now was the one requiring care.”

In just the last 10 years Claire learned to drive, learned to swim, cycle, and ran a 10k race.

She loved the family’s camping holidays, canoeing, surfing and even learned Italian for their annual trips to Tuscany.

Chris continued, “Claire loved to dance having learned ballroom, old time and modern Latin as a teenager.

"We both had lessons progressing to the highest possible amateur level with the International Dance Teachers Association, as well as dancing socially as a family including at the famous Blackpool Tower Ballroom.”

Claire also sang with Wolverhampton Civic Choir for many years. With hubby Chris she joined Penn Choral Society, which is now known as Penn Singers.

The couple then joined Trinity Operatic Society for a concert as part for the Codsall Arts Festival in 1990 and remained members for thirty years.

Claire had a wonderful soprano voice and played many principal parts, including one of the three little maids in The Mikado, Lady Sangazure in The Gondoliers and also performed many solos in the company’s concerts.

Together with Georgina, she joined Wolverhampton Grammar School Choir too.

When Georgina performed with the WGS choir or Egham Choral Society, she said she would look out into the audience and “see Mom singing all of the words, whether it a Vivaldi Gloria, Messiah or something more popular.”

Claire also served for over 25 years on the Trinity Musical Theatre Company’s committee as the patron secretary and then later as the society’s secretary.

When Trinity Operatic Society changed their name and began to favour musical theatre, Claire took to it naturally.

Her favourite show was Chicago and favourite song from it was Mr Cellophane. Her musical diversity stretched from Baroque and Classical, to Musical Theatre, to Jazz and Rock and she was also a fan of Queen and Rod Stewart.

Claire’s funeral is planned for April 17, with mass at 10am at St Peter and Paul’s Church, Wolverhampton, followed by committal at Bushbury Crematorium at 11.15am, although during this uncertain period of time, plans may change of course.

Feel free to contact Chris Hallett at chris.hallett01@gmail.com in order to check these arrangements.

So, a sad week all round, but I hope a fitting tribute and celebration of the theatrical career of a committed, devoted and well-loved am dram performer.

Rest in Peace Claire. You will be sadly missed and never forgotten.

That’s all for now. As you can imagine, my page will be sporadic over the next few weeks, but hopefully we thespians will soon be performing again, so if you have details of shows planned for later in the year, please continue to send details of them to me at a.norton@expressandstar.co.uk, follow me on Twitter @AlisonNorton or Facebook.

All the best and stay safe everyone.