ATC's Journey so far

After the success of this year's pantomime Audlem Theatre Company found themselves welcoming new members to the group. Initially we thought roughly ten under eighteens were going to join the group and this for the first time in years provided us with a youth group large enough to do a major production for them. As a group we were blown away by the response and found thirty six members in total, WOW! This gave us a brilliant opportunity to put on a truly amazing show so we started the process back in March with "Bugsy Malone".

David Davenport is leading the production which has been an ambition for many years, and the older members of the group soon slot into place to form a production team in support. First meetings were held featuring "get to know you" games and we had a movie night to watch the Film together. Auditions were planned and we were ready to go with excitement over set designs, costumes, choreography, vocal coaching and American accents to name but a few.....

Then Mr Boris Johnson made that fateful announcement, "non- essential social contact" on the 16th March should be avoided. This was a heart breaking message to send to the team but it was the right thing to postpone (not cancel) the production.

We however will not be defeated and began looking at ways to get this production moving again. The first meet and great was via Skype and was okay but not great for the format we needed. The feedback from the parents was amazing and all seemed grateful that we had provided a forum where by the kids could meet up and have a much needed chat. Social contact for the group was key and all ages enjoyed seeing those smiling faces.

We moved over to Zoom and via video auditions the casting team were able to form a cast of key characters from the older members of the youth group. Our fabulous choreography team have already sent out some of the dance moves and the vocal coach has given a video to practice as well. The next step was to introduce our younger members, all of whom have been extremely patient with us during this difficult time. So as it stands we are finalising the remaining characters, of which there are many, and we are continuing to meet every week to keep this production alive.

Audlem Theatre Company want to share this fabulous story with you because

We have a group of the most talented and dedicated kids I have ever had the pleasure of working with.

• When we can get back into the rehearsal space we will be celebrating... BIG TIME!

• Out of all the bad things that are currently happening across the world, we are not going to stop this superb group of kids from achieving great things.

• They have been so professional throughout this process and have given the older team members so much support.

• When we can perform this amazing production, they will want to celebrate this with you all and your support will be most welcome.

We intend to keep you updated as this fabulous production continues and for now all there is to say is stay safe and we look forward to seeing you when we can. In the meantime, we are really enjoying this opportunity to work with this outstanding group of kids and we can't wait to show case their talent.

Many thanks

Lucy