Your Midlands and Shropshire am dram guide

There isn’t a Sheffield steelworker in sight however, as the musical version of this funny show is set in the USA and follows a group of six unemployed workers from Buffalo, New York.

The storyline is similar to the original and the finale is the same, but starring our American cousins rather than the gritty northern lads we all know and love from the film.

The music may not be familiar either, but the score is definitely a winner and includes Scrap, Big-Ass Rock, Big Black Man, You Walk With Me and Let It Go.

Company spokesperson Laura Caradine says: “The rehearsal process has been very different to our usual shows, I’m certainly not used to rehearsing with men in their underwear!

“We’ve had lots of fun along the way making rehearsals thoroughly enjoyable. The show has lots of humour as well as a few touching moments. The company have really worked hard and can’t wait to get into the Grand.”

Catch The Full Monty at the Wolverhampton Grand Theatre from November 6-10, with performances at 7.30pm nightly and 2.30pm matinee performances on Wednesday and Saturday.

l For tickets, call 01902 429212 or visit www.grandtheatre.co.uk. For on joining Bilston Operatic Company, visit www.bilston-operatic.co.uk

Elsewhere, it’s a dramatic start to the month of November, with plenty of choice presented by Am Dram groups across the whole area.

On the Floor Theatre Company will present A Journey Through War, a play comprising famous First World War literature as well as some new original pieces, at The Blue Orange Theatre in Birmingham from November 5-10.

Performed by a cast of four actors and covering 1914-1918, the play addresses lots of themes of the time, from life in the trenches, death at war, conscription, shell shock and the roles women played during this terrifying and awful period of history.

l For tickets, visit www.blueorangetheatre.co.uk or call 0121 212 2643.

Meanwhile, Enville Street Dramatic Society will present Agatha Christie’s A Murder is Announced from November 7-10 at Holy Trinity Church Hall in Amblecote.

An announcement in the local newspaper states the time and place when a murder is to take place in Miss Blacklock’s Victorian house. Curious guests gather, expecting it to be a joke of some sort, but then when the lights go out and a shot is fired and things suddenly take a very different turn.

This play is a classic Agatha Christie puzzle of mixed motives, concealed identities and twists and turns, guaranteed to intrigue fans of the queen of crime.

l For tickets call 01384 356600 or 07941906069 or visit www.envillestreetdramatic.org.uk

From November 6-10 at the Stafford Gatehouse Theatre, you can catch a production of The Game by Harold Brighouse, to celebrate the 75th anniversary of popular drama group, Stafford Players.

Blackton Football Club is in trouble and the chairman is about to sell his star player to save both the club and himself from ruin, as well as indulging in a little match fixing. However, his daughter who just happens to be the star player’s fiancée, has other ideas.

A heart-felt tale about love, honour and class by the author of Hobson’s Choice, The Game will feature many of Stafford Players’ stalwarts.

Performances are nightly at 7.30pm in the Malcom Edwards Theatre within Stafford Gatehouse.

l For tickets priced at £10.50-£9.30, visit www.staffordgatehousetheaatre.co.uk or visit the group’s Facebook Page.

Everyone loves a black comedy and so audiences will be pleased to hear that the Whittington Players are staging Caramba’s Revenge by William Norfolk, at Whittington Village Hall, from November 23-24.

Four elderly ladies have been sharing their lives in Violet’s rented house, pooling their financial resources and the chores. But when Violet dies following a mugging incident, Marg, Lottie and Doris omit to tell the authorities, leaving her body peacefully in the cemetery.

When Violet’s granddaughter, Ronnie, arrives from Australia however, they have some explaining to do.

Dark, but still amusing!

l For tickets visit www.whittingtonplayers.co.uk or call 01543 490355. Performances start at 7.30pm.

The resident group at The Crescent Theatre in Birmingham will present Shakespeare’s classic love story Romeo and Juliet from November 3-10.

And to celebrate 20 years on Brindleyplace, there’s a great ticket offer of two adult tickets and a programme for just £20.

A chance encounter between two young people from warring families leads to first love, but then to murder and eventual suicide.

Romeo is in love with Rosaline and Juliet is promised to Paris, but when they meet, it changes the course of their lives with tragic circumstances.

Set over four days in the heat of the Italian summer, this contemporary version of the most famous love story of all time is guaranteed to shock and entertain in equal measures.

l For tickets visit www.crescent-theatre.co.uk. For a school group offer and education pack, please call 0121 643 5858. Quote CRESENT20 when booking to receive the special ticket offer, but please note that it’s not applicable to the Sunday matinee performance on November 4.

Finally this week, Gilbert and Sullivan fans will be delighted to hear that Erdington Operatic Society will be presenting their diamond jubilee show, The Pirates of Penzance at Sutton Coldfield Town Hall from November 6-10, with performances at 7.30pm nightly.

Generally regarded as one of their most popular operettas, the show includes classic G&S tunes such as Poor Wandering One, A Policeman’s Lot and I Am The Very Model Of A Modern Major General.

l It fun, frothy and fine! For tickets priced at £15-£17, visit www.erdington-operatic.co.uk or call 0121 355 2542.

l Well that’s all for this week. Please keep your news and good quality colour photos coming to a.norton@expressandstar.co.uk, call me on 01902 319662 or follow me on Twitter @AlisonNorton