Your Midlands and Shropshire am dram guide

Viva Musica Choir from Stourbridge is holding their popular Christmas concert on December 14, at St. James’ Church in Wollaston.

This year Viva Musica is celebrating its 30th anniversary and this is a special concert reflecting on the choir’s highlights over the years.

Guest stars, the choir of Ham Dingle Primary School, will be joining Viva Musica on the evening.

The concert includes traditional Christmas pieces, modern classics and Christmas carols for the audience to join in with and there is also a surprise visitor for the children during the evening. Mince pies, wine and refreshments will be served afterwards too.

All proceeds from the evening will go to support Mary Stevens Hospice.

For tickets, which are £10 for adults and free for children, call 0121 550 5581 or 01562 883480.

The choir will be holding an open evening on January 28 for anyone looking for something new to do in 2020.

This is a great opportunity to sing with the choir and to meet its members. They rehearse on Tuesday evenings at Ham Dingle Primary School, Pedmore, Stourbridge.

For further information please see the Viva Musica Facebook page or visit http://www.viva-musica.co.uk.

Over in Shropshire at Holy Trinity Church in Wrockwardine Wood, Telford Youth Theatre is also performing a Christmas concert, aptly entitled Christmas at the Theatre, on December 13.

As the title suggests, it is a celebration of all things Christmas and musical theatre.

The concert starts at 7.30pm and tickets are £7.50 each, which includes a glass of wine or a soft drink.

To book, call 07772389883 or email telfordyouththeatre@mail.com.

There is a Christmas double feature at Newhampton Arts Centre on December 10, presented by Discoverers Drama and Take a Bow theatre groups.

These amazing young performers are disabled or have learning difficulties and having rehearsed in the next room to these wonderful guys for a while now, I know just how hard they work, but also how much fun they have.

Their first offering is entitled The Clock. When the time clock goes wrong, everything goes wrong. When future and past happen in the wrong order and yesterday could happen again tomorrow, what happens next?

The groups’ second piece is called Dick Whittington Saves Christmas Stars in their Eyes.

When Dick and his faithful cat, Tomina, travel to London to perform on Matthew Kelly’s well-known show, they meet some surprising stars along the way. Will the duo get past the Three Kings to beat Bono to the Christmas number one slot?

The shows are at 3pm and 6.30pm on the day.

Tickets are just £6 each, available on the door or by calling 01902 572090 or visiting wwww.newhamptonarts.co.uk.

There is just about time to catch The Grange Players and Script Youth Musical Theatre Company’s concert, Christmas at the Musicals at the Grange Playhouse from December 6 to 7.

This is a fundraiser for both companies involved, so why not pop along and join in their carol sing-a-long and enjoy songs from Oliver! Les Misérables, The Wizard of Oz and many more.

Tickets are £10 for adults and children under 16 are free, with a drink and a mince pie included.

Contact www.ticketsource.co.uk , call 07909036835 or visit www.grageplayers.co.uk/christmas-at-the-musicals to book.

A Comedy Theatre Group from Stourbridge is presenting the pantomime, Sleeping Beauty, written by the very talented Laura Liptrot and directed by Phill Liptrot from December 13 to14 at Gig Mill Church Hall, with performances at 7pm on December 13 and at 2pm and 7pm on December 14.

Sleeping Beauty tells the story of Rose, a princess who falls asleep and wakes up 900 years later in the year 2019.

Rose needs to find a way to travel back to her own time to put things right, so enter a time traveller who offers to help. Can he get her to return to where she belongs to find her true love?

With a multitude of characters, heroes to cheer at and a villain to boo and hiss at, plus plenty of songs and jokes, this panto is an exciting festive experience for all the family and the perfect way to get in the Christmas mood.

Tickets, priced at £5 each can be booked by emailing acomedytheatregroup@hotmail.co.uk or by calling 01384 824766 or 07954692593.

Finally this week, West Bromwich Operatic Society is presenting the uber chic Chicago from December 9 to 13 at The Mill Theatre in Sedgley, with performances at 7.30pm nightly.

When nightclub singer Velma Kelly murders her philandering husband for playing around with her sister, Chicago's slickest lawyer Billy Flynn is set to defend her and set her free from Cook County Jail.

The notorious Velma becomes a media sensation, but when Roxie Hart also winds up in prison, Billy takes on her case as well and it isn’t long before there is a new star in town.

Neither Velma nor Roxy intend to be outdone in their fight against each other and the public for fame and celebrity, and so the battle begins.

Chicago boasts a host of recognisable numbers including Razzle Dazzle, All I Care About is Love, The Cell Block Tango and of course, All that Jazz and is guaranteed to entertain.

After all as the script says, “This is a story of murder, greed, corruption, violence, exploitation, adultery and treachery, all the things we hold dear in our hearts.”

In this production, Claire Flavell appears as Velma, with Jessamine Cox as Roxy, John Wetherall as Billy Flynn and Tim Jones as Amos Hart.

For tickets, call 01384 377402, email sales@wbos.co.uk or visit www.ticketsource.co.uk/wbos.

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

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