Shropshire Star

Midland and Shropshire am dram guide: Magic of Disney for all the family

The magic of Walt Disney is dear to our hearts no matter how grown up we are.

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Old or young, there is nothing like fairy dust over the Disney castle to send us into a fantasy

And from September 22-24, Walsall Operatic Society will be delighting audiences with their concert entitled WOS Does Disney at Forest Arts Centre. This society has a reputation for producing outstanding musical theatre throughout the Walsall and Lichfield areas.

With members aged from seven to 70, who share a passion for musicals and are dedicated to their art, the group is always ready to welcome performers, back and front stage staff, and those with an ability for marketing to join them.

Their latest concert is packed with Disney classics, including numbers from Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, Beauty and the Beast, Pinocchio, Toy Story and High School Musical.

For tickets priced at £10 for adults, and £5 for children and over 60s. Visit www.forestartscentre.co.uk or call 01922 477001.

As autumn approaches, drama is the name of game and who better on a late September evening than the Queen of Crime herself, Agatha Christie? Black Coffee features none other than her most infamous sleuth, Hercules Poirot, even though it is one of her lesser known works.

When Sir Claude Amory's revolutionary new formula for a powerful explosive is stolen, his house guests fall instantly under suspicion.

He therefore locks them in the library and switches off the light in the hope that someone will replace for formula and no questions will be asked. However, when the lights come back on, Sir Claude is dead and it is left to Hercule Poirot and Captain Hasting to unravel a web of family deceit, old flames and suspicious foreigners to find the killer in order to prevent a global catastrophe. Dudley Little Theatre, which performs at Netherton Arts Centre, will present Black Coffee from September 21-24, with performances nightly at 7.30pm.

For tickets visit www.dudleylittletheatre.org, email riclee@blueyonger.co.uk or call 01384 872583. From September 10-17, Oldbury Rep is performing What the Butler Saw by Joe Orton.

Dr Prentice is a psychiatrist who believes that the best way to interview a girl for a job is to seduce her. Would be candidate, Geraldine, does her best to comply, but with hilarious consequences. Meanwhile, Mrs Prentice decides to play her husband at his own game and duly seduces a page boy and brings him home with her, just as a state inspector pays a visit. What follows can only be described as complete chaos and mayhem. For tickets, visit www.oldburyrep.org or call 0121 5522761.

Alan Bennett is surely one of the most prolific playwrights of the 20th century, with his completely unique method of story telling.

Love him or hate it, you have to agree that his characters are real and his plots thought-provoking. Dame Maggie Smith recently starred on the big screen in one of his classics, The Lady in the Van, offering as you would expect an exceptional performance as an elderly eccentric who arrives with her van on the doorstep of the author's Camden Town home and proceeds to tell him he agreed that she could stay there for three months.

Fifteen years later, however, she is still there.

Their relationship is fascinating and makes for excellent entertainment, with of course many comical moments, but in true Bennett style, a few tears and moments of melancholy along the way.

The popularity of the movie has inspired local groups to perform the stage version of The Lady in the Van, and you can catch a production of the play at The Crescent Theatre in Birmingham, presented by Crescent Productions, from September 10-17.

The group is extremely pleased to be performing it as the opener to their new season and promise it will be a hugely entertaining evening. For tickets, priced £15 for adults, £14 for concessions and £8 for the Sunday matinee performance, call the Crescent Theatre Box Office on 0121 6435858, or visit www.crescent-theatre.co.uk for more information.

Music lovers can look forward to an evening of swing, jazz, pop and show biz tunes at Streetly Community Centre on September 24, as Tudor Musical Comedy Society presents Jack the Knife, a concert which they tell me is guaranteed to get you swaying those shoulders, tapping those toes and dancing in the aisles.

Expect some classic tunes including That's Life, Feeling Good, Fly Me to the Moon, Sweet Caroline and of course, everyone's favourite dance floor filler, New York, New York.

The ticket price is £10 per person and E-tickets are available from charlie_gaunt@hotmail.com or you can call 07850 537978.

Those who attended theatre summer schools and have been bitten by the theatrical bug as a result of it can still look forward to joining an am dram group in their area. On September 17, the Pauline Quirke Academy, in Stourbridge, is holding an open day for parents and children to see how they achieve their goals, hear a brief introduction to musical theatre, comedy, drama, film and TV skills and generally get a flavour of what is on offer.

The day is being held at Haybridge High School in Hagley and for more information visit www.pqacademy.com

Well that's all for this week. Please keep those emails telling me all your news coming to a.norton@expressandstar.co.uk and remember to include good quality photos too. Alternatively, you can call me on 01902 319662 or follow me on Twitter @AlisonNorton

Break a leg!

By Alison Norton

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