Hello everyone, it's Michelle McIntyre here

Hi all - greeting from Michelle McIntyre. Time has marched on but the memories remain strong. Rick and I have kept in spasmodic contact over the years with luck playing a major part in our reunions. Discussions some time ago led us to think that we should hold a Genesis reunion - can you believe its 30 years - where has the time gone. Tracking down people has been a nightmare and Rick has done most of the hard work with success. Me, I've made lots of phones calls to answering machings with little success however we have at no stage given up. We would have loved to be able to trace everyone but unfortunately the women have been our greatest problem - name changes are so difficult to trace.

A very short history - I have spent most of my working life employed by the Australian Customs Service. I am an intelligence specialist and work at targeting organised crime syndicates involved in importing large quantities of narcotics into Australia. I have also worked at the National Crime Authority. In Customs I have spent 8 years in Townsville, three years in the Torres Strait as the District Manager and a year in Adelaide pulling together their intelligence area. My partner Neil and I were blessed with our daughter Zoe's arrival whilst in Thursday Island - my 40th birthday present. To be an only but treasured child she is full of the breath of spring.

My only guitar playing these days is twinkle twinkle little star and associated childrens songs which is fun.

I am so looking forward to the reunion and wish to thank Rick for the enormous amount of work he has put in. Without him there would be no reunion. Lets hope over the next month we can somehow track those few that we have not been able to find.

looking forward to seeing you all in June.

love

Michelle

Genesis Reunion interview with The Chronicle

With the reunion 'just around the corner' Rick is busy with preparations for the big event. This Friday (May 11) he has organised an interview with Merryl Miller from The Toowoomba Chronicle. Michelle McIntyre will be in Toowoomba on Friday and they will meet up at the GPO Cafe in Margaret St at 9:30 am. Rick is trying to see if Tony Kyprios will be avilable for the interview as well (Tony, if you are reading this & Rick hasn't been able to contact you, consider it an invitation to join them at the GPO Cafe on Friday). Rick, Michelle, Tony and Merryl will then proceed to the Empire Theatre for a photo shoot.

So stay tuned to the Genesis BLOG and we will let you know which edition of The Toowoomba Chronicle the interview will be printed in so you can dash out to get your copy:)

It's hoped that with the wide spread coverage of The Toowoomba Chronicle across the Darling Downs region, word of the reunion may reach other DDYT members that Rick & Michelle have not yet been able to contact. Finger crossed!

Hello everyone, it's Jeff Williams here

Has it been 30 years and where are we all now. I was lucky 6 weeks ago my dad (you know thee guy that had to put up with you all in that double decker bus) contacted me and told me Brenda was trying to track me down as the was a Genesis Reunion.

I finally got in touch with Rick to arrange a time to meet him. Well this was not to be I ended up in intensive care at St Vincents - Toowoomba. I recovered quick and got to meet Rick.

We had a great time and talked about the past. Since then I have meet Leo and Di so now I am looking forward to meeting you all on the 16th June. Who am I Jeff your Sound Technician.

Jeff originally posted this as a comment on 9th April 2007

Hello everyone, it's Rick Ireland here

Hello everyone, it's Rick Ireland here. I had to go under the 'Anonymous Option' as it would not accept the 'comments' any other way! I'm still trying to figure this 'blog thing' out! Amazing to look at these pics of the Empire and to think back to when we performed GENESIS and BOTTOM's ... all those years ago! Since living back in Toowoomba for the last 13 years or so,I've been to quite a few productions at the Empire Theatre, and I often think back to my experiences of Darling Downs Youth Theatre. All good of course! In fact I often share with people how 'life changing' those 2 years of DDYT were for me. It gave me the medicine that I 'much needed' in my life back then, and the artistic and therapeutic value for me was immense. I moved to Melbourne in 1979 and spent nine years there. During some of that time I was contracted to Arena Theatre and Handspan Theatre Companies, as an actor, touring plays Australia wide, performing in Festivals and Schools. It was great experience. I also did the occassional televison gig back then,as well as playing a BAT on a Children's Radio Series called BANGOTCHER JUNCTION. We recored 65 eps and it was sold to the BBC. That was fun! Never dreamt I'd play a bat, but now that I think about it, I was an Armadillo in GENESIS and played a WOMBAT in a TIE show on the environment once!!
I worked as a barman at a few hotels/restaurants in Melbourne over the nine years. The Chevron Hotel was one place I worked and back then it was one of the top spots for quality live bands. So I got to sing and groove to some of the best musicians while pouring beers & shaking cocktails. I also worked at a very popular Jazz Pub, and again I was able to experience some of the best Jazz performers from O/S and Aus. Great hospitality gigs! I kept in touch with Judy White (Acting team Genesis) and Deb Little (Secretary Genesis)when in Melbourne and am still great mates with Deb. Unfortunately I do not know where Judy is anymore. Still trying to find her. Deb lives in Melb and visits Toowoomba often, as her Mum is in a nursing home here. So that's it for my blog rave, for now. Karyn Simmons suggested that we share something of our lives on the BLOG and I thought that was a great suggestion. If you are reading this, maybe you could consider sharing something? Until next time, wishing all the very best of everything! Kind regards,
Rick.

Rick originally posted this as a comment

Rob Kingham has kindly offered to be the MC for the evening

Excellent news!!!! In case you have not seen the news, here is a copy of the email broadcast from the reunion organisers, Rick & Michelle:

Hello everyone!

Well not long now until our reunion!! June 16th! (Attached is another invite just incase you need it).

Leo Keane and Jeff Williams are working on a WEBPAGE especially for our reunion purposes. They are also going to set up some technology on the night so that we can view pics, interviews, music etc. Thankyou very much to Jeff and Leo for their efforts.

Rob Kingham has kindly offered to be the MC for the evening, so a big thankyou to Rob!!

Andrea Dye, Brenda Liesegang and Rick Ireland have supplied photographs from their photo albums and you can check these photos out by going to www.ddyt.blogspot.com/

It would be great if you could add some comments to the blog also, as this is what it's all about. This is a great way to hear from you all before the reunion and this could simply be a HELLO, or you may wish to share more extensively about what you've been up to?

The RSVP's are coming in (over 12 so far) but their are still many more of you that have said that you will be attending the reunion, but have not yet paid or RSVP'd. Please do this as soon as you can so that we can confirm numbers with the Empire Theatre for catering purposes.

Until we meet again!

Kind regards,
Rick and Michelle.


If you have not received this email or your invitation please contact Rick via email or phone with your contact details and he will send your invitation.

Rick's phone: 07 4635 8590

Rick's mobile: 0417 716 261

Rick's email: solar9 (at) bigpond (dot) com

Genesis email: DDYT (dot) Genesis (at) gmail (dot) com

(remember to replace the (dot) and (at) with the keyboard character - we're trying our best to avoid 'bots' that scour the web harvesting email addresses for spamming purposes)

Web Album update - images from Andrea Dye

Has it been that long since my last post?? Guess the batteries in my calendar have gone flat:)

Guys check out the new album that has been added to the Genesis web album site. Andrea has captured some great memories. Thanks for your contribution Andrea!

My apologies for the delay. Andrea forwarded me the images in March and I've only just managed to get the album uploaded before the end of April - in the mean time the earth has managed to hurtle another 104 million kilometers in its orbit around the sun - shame on me!! - hmmm perhaps it was travel sickness? Anyway I shall try to atone for my slackness with more regular posts given that we are just over a month away from the reunion.

Album - Andrea Dye

Empire Theatre - Photos from Jeanette Wedmaier

Rick has been in contact with Jeanette Wedmaier from the Empire Theatre and has received these photographs from her.

Our thanks to Jeanette for the kind help she has given us.

Welcome aboard! John McNamara joins the blogging team

A big welcome to John who has accepted his invitation to join the blogging team! We look forward to your hearing from you. I'm sure there are many interesting stories from the political arena just waiting to be told.

What have you been doing the last 30 years?

Karyn Simmons (Writing Team - GENESIS) wrote: "It was so great to look back at the programme on the blogspot! Do you think we could have everybody do some sort of update on where they are now and what they have been doing for the past 30 years? I would love to see what became of everyone and it would make fascinating reading!".

What an excellent idea, Karyn!!

Already Mary Anne Jackson (web site) has responded by providing us with a link to her web site. Have a look at the "CHECK OUT THESE LINKS" section to the left.

"How can I participate?" I hear you ask.

Here are some simple ways:

(1) If you have a web site that already has information about you, simply send us an email with the web link to use & we will add it to the 'Links' section.

(2) Send us an email with the text you would like included and we can add it to the blog for you.

(3) At the bottom of each blog entry there is a 'comments' link. Click on that link and it will take you to a form that you can use to record your comments (you should also see comments already added to the blog entry in this screen). Once you have recorded your comment and returned to our blog's home page, you can view a blog entry and the comments associated with it by clicking on the Title Line for a blog entry you are interested in (eg click on this link and it will display this blog entry plus the associated comments).

(4) Become a Blog Author and you can create your own blog entry! Invitations to become 'Blog Authors' for this site have already been sent. We don't have email addresses for everybody yet so if you haven't received your invitation (or know someone who hasn't), please send us an email with the contact details.

DDYT (dot) Genesis (at) gmail (dot) com
(remember to replace the (dot) and (at) with the keyboard character - we're trying our best to avoid 'bot' programs that scour the web to harvest email addresses for spamming purposes)

Web Album update - images from Brenda Liesegang

The web album site has been updated and now contains images that Brenda has sent us.

The general entry point (why not add it to your bookmarks) to view these images is:

Gallery - Darling Downs Youth Theatre


Each album (which can be viewed as a slide show) has its own link. Brenda's album can be found here:

Album - Brenda Liesegang or Slide Show - Brenda Liesegang

Thanks for the memories Brenda!

Don't forget, if you have any images (photos, scans etc) you want to share with us, send us an email. The address can handle emails up to 10 MB (inclusive of overheads so try for file attachments around 8MB or less).

DDYT (dot) Genesis (at) gmail (dot) com
(remember to replace the (dot) and (at) with the keyboard character - we're trying our best to avoid 'bots' that scour the web harvesting email addresses for spamming purposes)

Welcome aboard! Mark Morwood joins the blogging team

A big welcome to Mark who has accepted his invitation to join the blogging team! Mark is no stranger to the 'blogging' world. Check out Mark's blog site: Por Dos - Catana 48

Mark looks to enjoy a bit of sailing (check out the photos on his blog site). Looks like some great stories to be told!

BTW if you were involved with DDYT and haven't received your invitation to become an 'author' to our Blog site, please send us an email. We may not have the correct email address for you yet. Our email address is:

DDYT (dot) Genesis (at) gmail (dot) com
(remember to replace the (dot) and (at) with the keyboard character - we're trying our best to avoid 'bots' that scour the web harvesting email addresses for spamming purposes)

Photos of the Empire Theatre (56 Neil St, Tmba)

For those of you who have not visited Toowoomba in a long time, you may not be aware that the Empire Theatre has been through a substantial refurbishment (since the days of Genesis performances) and is a major venue for theatre in the region.

Here are some photographs of the Empire Theatre from the outside. We hope to gain access to take photographs of the inside sometime soon.

For more information on the history of the Empire Theatre (but alas omitting our use of the theatre), check this web page: Empire Theatre - Theatre History

It is fitting that 30 year anniversary for the Darling Downs Youth Theatre's production of Genesis coincides with the 10 year anniversary for the restoration & reopening of the Empire Theatre.

BTW the old church grounds are now part of the Empire Theatre complex.

Nooooooooo .... not the coffee!!

Alas my 'blogging' is behind schedule this week. Sadly on Sunday I discovered that my longtime writing partner, Qwetry, had secretly been a '43 beaner'. I should have seen the signs coming! Failing to type in a straight line; uttering gibberish (hmmm or was that me?); failing to understand instructions (how can 'cut and paste' be misinterpreted as open the calculator?).

It all came to a head on Sunday afternoon. The pungent odour and gurgling sounds alerted me to the need to perform first aid. However a quick check of my first aid cert and I realised that it was out of date (damn that fine print on the back of the Kellogg's packet). It was time for a quick refresher!


A couple of hours of 'Bondi Rescue' was all I needed. I was ready to swing into action.


With tortoise-like speed (hey we all know the tortoise beat the hare), I returned to administer first aid. I turned Qwetry on his side to clean the passage ways.


In an effort to overcome this addiction, Qwetry has acknowledged the problem and is seeking help from his peers.


Happily I can report that Qwetry is well on his way to making a full recovery!

The Reunion we had to have

So much better than Paul Keating's 'Recession we had to have' is the Genesis Reunion we had to have. Unfortunately Phil Collins and Co have tried to steal our thunder by having their own Genesis Reunion and not inviting us! Well phooey to them. They can't come to our reunion (unless they really, really want to :)

A special thanks to Rick Ireland and Michelle McIntyre who have gone to a tremendous effort in tracking us down and organising this reunion. I'm sure it will be an enjoyable night and provide us with fresh memories to last us the next 30 years.

We'd like to build momentum over the months leading up to the reunion on June 16. Do you have any photos, scanned images, stories etc that you'd like to share? Please send us an email with your comments, files etc to:

DDYT (dot) Genesis (at) gmail (dot) com
(remember to replace the (dot) and (at) with the keyboard character - we're trying our best to avoid 'bots' that scour the web harvesting email addresses for spamming purposes)

To whet your appetite, why not check out the current images at the following web site. This site will be updated with images you send us, so feel free to send us heaps!

http://picasaweb.google.com.au/DDYT.Genesis/