Published: Friday, 16th May, 2008 10:28am

In memory of Mollie

by Local Berkshire Reporter

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OPERA singers will hope to hit the right notes when they remember an old friend in a concert held tonight. LUCY CROSSLEY looks at the eventful life of singing water skier Mollie Harle.

BALANCING singing with her love of water skiing, sailing and rambling, Parks Opera founder member Mollie Harle was certainly a lady to be reckoned with.

Joining South Hill Park's resident opera group in 1981 Mollie could often be seen and heard treading the boards at the Wilde Theatre, appearing in every production until Park Opera's version of Rigoletto in 2006.

Now her operatic friends are remembering Mollie, who died earlier this year aged 86, by holding a concert in her honour at her beloved South Hill Park.

Park Opera's Sally Ward, who knew Mollie for 25 years says this is the perfect way to say goodbye to the group's beloved singer, former Secretary and friend.

"Mollie was a really exceptional person," says Sally. "She kept going right up until the very end and she was like no one else I have ever met."

A Londoner and former government secretary Mollie moved to the Bracknell area in 1958 when she became a member of the Crowthorne Choral Society, Wokingham Choral Society, East Berkshire Operatic Society and finally Park Opera, with a stint at the Windsor & Eton Operatic Society along the way.

"She was also a water skier which was very unusual for a woman back in the 1930s," says Sally. "And she loved to sail - she was crewing for people right up until seven or eight years ago even though she was in her late 70s.

"Everything she did she did wholeheartedly, she was the parish clerk for Finchampstead, was a member of the WI and Townswomen's Guild and the National Trust and made teas for the Cricket Club where she was famous for her bread pudding."

However, Mollie's big love was singing and she served as secretary of Park Opera from 1998 until 2007 when she retired after she broke her leg in a nasty fall while out with the Ramblers Association.

But never one to give up Mollie took up the reigns of group social secretary and continued to organise her legendary annual barbeques and day trips out for her fellow song birds.

Mollie's leg break forced her withdraw from the 2006 performance of Cosi Fan Tutte but her remarkable recovery meant she was able to grace the stage for the 2007 production of Turandot, which was her favourite opera.

"When she died we were all very sad," says Sally. "We miss her terribly.

"After she broke her leg she became quite frail but she kept on and she was going to be in Cav and Pag this year but sadly she died the week before the show after she'd been to all the rehearsals."

Cav and Pag was dedicated to Mollie's memory and now Park Opera will remember her once more at tonight's concert which will feature pieces from all her favourite shows, while raising money for South Hill Park's Wilde Seat Appeal which aims to replace the aging seats in Mollie's beloved theatre.

Sally says "She loved South Hill Park very much and the theatre is badly in need of refurbishment.

"Mollie was really keen to do something for the Wilde Theatre so we thought there was no better way of honouring her than to raise money for the cause and have some seats named in her memory.

"She was just such an exceptional person and she must have trod those boards thousands of times - it will be such a fitting tribute."

A Concert for Mollie is at the Wilde Theatre at South Hill Park tonight (Friday) at 7.30pm. Tickets are £12 from 01344 484123 or www.southhillpark.org.uk