Your am dram round up from the Midlands and Shropshire

So, let’s begin with our first show.

Bridgnorth Players are embarking on a four-day tour of the local area, as they present Charles Dickens’ most famous tale, A Christmas Carol, from December 6-9.

They begin at 7.30pm nightly at Priory Hall in Much Wenlock, moving on to Worfield Village Hall and Chelmarsh Parish Hall, before ending their run at Bridgnorth Leisure Centre on the Saturday where they will present a 2.30pm matinee as well as the evening performance.

Local pubs and restaurants are keen to support the group by offering a pre-theatre supper from 6pm. Participants include The Talbot at Much Wenlock, The Dog Inn and Davenport Arms at Worfield, The Bull’s Head in Chelmarsh and Peepo Café in Bridgnorth. Sounds good to me.

l For tickets for this classic Christmas haunting, visit www.bridgnorthplayers.wordpress.com or call 01746 767425.

The Ellenvale Singers, who perform at the Civic Hall in Brierley Hill, will be delighting audiences with their yuletide offering, a concert entitled Wonderful Christmas Time on December 13 at 7.30pm.

The group regularly perform in local nursing homes, community centres and churches and can be hired for private parties and functions. They have been entertaining in the Black Country area for more than 40 years now.

At this concert, the singers are joined by local brass band, Sovereign Brass and the children of Glynne School Junior Choir. It promises to be a heart-warming evening full of festive favourites.

l For tickets priced at just £7.50 for adults and £3.50 for children, call 01384 252771 or visit www.ellenvalesingers.org or the group’s Facebook page.

This next Christmas show did raise a smile when I first read about it! Entitled The Mince Pie of Doom! and written by Simon Baker and Richard Walter, this Christmas comedy will be performed at Highbury Theatre by the Highbury Players from December 5-9.

Christmas is such a wonderful time of the year, but what would happen if it were cancelled? Throw in an inebriated narrator, four Santas, a secretive detective and a stolen sleigh and goodness knows what will happen.

It sounds like a crazy one to me, but I am sure some of you will be rolling in the aisles.

l For tickets priced at £9.50, visit www.highburytheatre.co.uk or call 0121 373 2761.

There’s the perfect traditional pantomime at Forest Arts Centre from December 9-23, as the resident group there present Cinderella.

We all know the storyline of this one; beautiful girl in rags, wicked ugly sisters, Prince Charming, Fairy Godmother, lost shoe, pumpkins etc. but this version has been updated to create a modern, fun-filled pantomime suitable for all the family.

There are a variety of show times to choose from, so visit www.forestartscentre.co.uk to book. It’s great value for money too with tickets from £7.50 each.

Wombourne and District Choral Society will be presenting Christmas Cracker, an evening of seasonal words and music, at Beckminster Methodist Church in Penn on December 16, starting at 7.30pm.

Under the excellent musical direction of Ian Clarke, this eighty-strong mixed choir, together with soloists and their orchestra, will certainly put you in the yuletide mood.

l Tickets are £10 each and light refreshments are available in the interval. Visit www.wombournechoralsociety.org.uk or call 01902 744447 to purchase. Or simply buy on the door on the night.

From December 6-9, you can catch the pantomime Sleeping Beauty, presented by Cannock Wood and Gentleshaw Musical Society at the Prince of Wales Theatre in Cannock, with performances at 7.30pm nightly and a 2.30pm Saturday matinee.

Will the beautiful Princess be awoken with a kiss by a handsome prince and live happily ever after? I hope so because you have to believe, especially at Christmas time, don’t you?

All will be revealed in the group’s exciting pantomime with colourful costumes, stunning scenery and something for absolutely everyone.

l For tickets, priced at £11.50-£14.50 visit http://www.cwagms.co.uk or www.princeofwales.live or call 01543 578762.

Am dram performers never cease to amaze me with the amount of money they raise for local charities and another choir who are helping to support youngsters at Christmas is Hospice Voices, as they present a series of Christmas concerts in aid of Acorns Children’s hospice.

Their first concert was last weekend, but they are also performing on December 3 at Holy Cross Church in Bilbrook at 6pm and then on December 9 at St. Michael’s and All Angels Church in Tettenhall at 7pm, at which they will be joined by the Oakengates Salvation Army Band.

This is a very new group. Formed in February 2017 by Steve Cooper, the former MD of Compton Hospice Choir, they are a four-part mixed choir comprising of eleven ladies and five gentlemen.

They will be performing music from John Rutter’s Nativity Carol, Bethlehem from the musical Martin Guerre (which I have performed myself many times and really love), Candlelight Carol for the ladies in the choir, which Steve composed himself, as well as Giving We Receive and Come and See the Babe to name but a few songs.

All in all, it promises to be a wonderfully atmospheric evening, especially in St. Michaels at Tettenhall, which is a beautiful church. I know because I was married there and I love to go back at Christmas time.

l For tickets, email steveecooper1971@gmail.com or simply purchase on the door.

l Well that’s all for this week. If you would like to nominate someone as my Am Dram Star of the Week, please do so, telling me why they are such a star and include a colour photo of the person too, and as always, please keep your news and good quality photos coming to a.norton@expressandstar.co.uk, call me on 01902 319662 or follow me on Twitter @AlisonNorton