Your latest Midland and Shropshire am dram round-up

Inspired by Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet, the original Broadway production opened in 1957, with a book by Arthur Laurents, music by Leonard Bernstein, lyrics by Stephen Sondheim and conception and choreography by Jerome Robbins. This show marked Sondheim’s Broadway debut.

A 1961 movie of the musical followed, with Tony and Academy Award nominations galore, bringing the raw reality of gang life on the streets of New York to the whole world.

Depicting the struggle between rival gangs, The Jets and The Sharks, West Side Story is essentially a love story, where an all-American boy, Tony, falls in love with a Puerto Rican girl, Maria, the sister of Bernado the leader of the Sharks. Amid racial prejudice and cultural differences, how can their love survive?

The score is unforgettable and includes One Hand, One Heart, Somewhere, I Feel Pretty, America, Tonight and Maria.

The choreography in the film version is legendary, as are the performances of Natalie Wood as Maria and Richard Breymer as Tony and also brought to the fore the talents of Russ Tamblyn as Riff and George Charikis as Bernado.

The dance element of this show is difficult, as are the dramatic and vocal aspects and for that reason, it is rarely performed by amateurs, but one group who have been brave enough to take it on is TAB Operatic Society. It’ll be on stage from March 6-10 at Stourbridge Town Hall.

In TAB’s production, Mitchell Bastable appears as Bernado, with Dan Smith as Tony, Beth Berwick-Lowe as Maria and Grant Chapman as Riff.

l For tickets priced at £17-£13 call 07722417962 or visit www.taboperatic.com Evenings at 7.30pm and a Saturday matinee at 2.30pm.

You’ll recall the recent problems that the Grange Playhouse in Walsall have experienced, but they are working hard to raise money to repair their theatrical home.

The group’s patron, the popular actor Jeffrey Holland, is supporting them whole-heartedly by performing his one-man-show, And This is My Friend Mr Laurel, on June 8 and 9 at Aldridge Youth Theatre. Best known for playing the role of Spike in the hit BBC comedy, Hi-De-Hi!, Jeffrey was born in Walsall and began his career there. It seems a little early to promote the show yet, but it should be a sell-out.

l For tickets call 07909036835 or email ptsmith@talktalk.net for more information.

The Codsall Arts Festival opens next week, with some special things to look forward to.

On March 10, the Morriston Orpheus Choi will be performing part of their vast repertoire, including gospel music, West End favourites, operatic pieces and Welsh classics at Perton Civic Centre at 7.30pm.

l Tickets are £17 each, available at www.codsallartsfestival.org.uk

In Birmingham at the Crescent Theatre, from March 3-10 there is a production by the resident company of Agatha Christie’s murder mystery, And Then There Where None.

Although there have been countless versions over the years, this tale of 10 strangers tricked into visiting a remote island only to be killed off one by one for the dark secrets they hold, I think the more sinister the better. This play should work perfectly.

l For tickets priced at £16-£9, visit wwwlcrescent-theatre.co.uk or call 0121 643 5858.

There’s a new youth group called Watch This Space Youth Theatre.

It’s at Arleston Community Centre near Telford. The group has been rehearsing and is ready to present their first performance, made up of three, 20-minute pieces, at Holy Trinity Academy on March 10.

The youngest members will present We’re Going on a Bear Hunt, followed by Cinderella by the older members and then a surprise performance by the whole group to round up the evening.

l For tickets, contact watchthispacetelford@gmail.com or call 07398854468.

Regular readers will recall that last week I opened a discussion on the number of new am dram musical theatre groups which are forming in the Wolverhampton area lately.

Well my comments sparked a response from Magz Page, a founder member of Lupin Theatre Company, who says: “I think it’s great that members have the choice of shows; more companies mean more shows, more shows mean more musical theatre. This is a good thing for amateur musical theatre.

“On the downside, members migrating to other societies puts committees under increased pressure to pick a show that will keep their members, when it used to mainly be about picking the show that will sell the most tickets and secure the future of the next show; a constant pressure and challenge for any am dram society, large or small.

“About paying audiences, I liken this to members migrating to other societies for the love of their next ‘fave’ show. Audiences will spend their money on what they want to see. Older societies may have a deserved following, whereas newer groups rely on their cast more so to sell the tickets. But then this should be reflected in their choice of venue and overheads.”

I wondered what a chairperson of a well-established, larger group thought, so I asked Holly White, of Wolverhampton Musical Comedy Company.

Holly says: “I think it’s always good to have fresh new companies and I enjoy watching them perform. My only concern is that members may struggle and spread themselves too thinly between groups.”

Let me know what you think.

l Well that’s all for this week. Keep those emails and quality colour photos coming to a.norton@expressandstar.co.uk or call me on 01902 319662.