As well as being pretty amazing in our concerts, the company has been delighted to perform at other events to make them personal and special. This video is from a recent wedding where we sang to welcome guests to the church - initially Christmas carols outside, then moving inwards as the bride was imminent.
We worked closely with the bride and groom to make sure that our song list matched what they wanted. In this video you can hear two of our talented ladies sing the Flower Duet from Lakme as the bride made her way down the aisle.

All the company enjoyed singing at the wedding and helping to make the day a little more special.

Raise your voice!

I thought you would love this shot of the ladies rehearsing for our Autumn concert. You can see how much fun they are having. Come and see the final version on 12th or 13th of September.

A smashing show!

Anyone who was fortunate enough to have bought a ticket for the Belper Junior Musical Theatre performance of Olivia! this weekend managed to get a real treat; it's just a shame that a few more folk didn't avail themselves of the opportunity.

It's not a show that I knew anything about (and yes, I am aware that's a familiar phrase for me when it comes to musicals) but I read up on it a bit beforehand to make sure that I could put something half way accurate into the programme. It's clear that a lot of thought has gone into the script and the style of many of the songs within it. And that made it a great show to see, trying to pick up on the links.

Niamh Pugh, who took the part of Olivia, threw herself into the role with a high level of enthusiasm and energy - right up to the last moment and her hamming it up for the Convict's Child lament was a real joy.

Lucy Taylor, taking her last role in a Junior performance as she moves up to the adult company, was excellent in her portrayal of Eliza and her voice showed a great deal of maturity as she sang her songs with accent and aplomb. Great stuff.

Daniel Shaw and Jacob Mellors as the Artful Dodger and Fagin entranced the whole audience whenever they were on the stage. It was an incredible partnership and worthy of a west end show. I know that I am a little biased on this one, but I reckon that their performance more than justifies my praise.

The best part was that there were so many other parts for people to shine in. With Samuel Brookes quite literally high kicking his way across the stage as George Bernard Shaw, Ben Thompson's Dr Watson rescuing Joseph Hext's Sherlock Holmes. Queenie, Doris and Flo (Katy Varney, Carys Lesley and Holly Pridmore) were a hoot as they both gave continuity in Covent Garden and offered sage life advice to Jess Henshaw's Annie. It was lovely to see that Poppy Hargrave had a chance to demonstrate her dancing skills as Derbhile. All of the cast were great - I just don't want to risk boring people more than usual by commenting on Oscar Hewitt-Richard's Bristolian accent (Donkeys?) or Ben Hewitt-Richards Dumbledorian lamp lighting (was it magic?). Molly Hewitt-Richards was amazing as Mrs Murdstone, Robert Mosley was a great Ebenezer Scrooge, Lucy Jennison's usher was pedantry personified and Jack Mosley made an awe inspiring white wigged judge.

Actually the one last person that I will make a special mention of was Sophie Hext who shone as Mrs Dilber. She had a great voice and acted the part really well.

So a huge thank you to everyone who took part. You looked like you loved every minute and that made sure that the audience did too. We can't wait to see and hear you on the stage for the Autumn Concert!

What's next?

As our long hot summer period rolls around again I know that many of you find your thoughts turning longingly to the arrival of our cooler September again. And what could be cooler than the Belper Musical Theatre Annual concert! Ok so maybe icecreams could, and possibly a long cold drink, or penguin's feet. In fact many things could be cooler than our concert, but that really wasn't the point that I was trying to make. What I wanted to get across here was that our rehearsals are now up and running and ready for our Autumn Concert and this year is going to be great.

Before I try to whet your tastebuds with thoughts of listening to Bohemian Rhapsody or a great Les Miserables medley though, I thought that you would all be pleased to hear that a dedicated group of our ladies is once again taking to the streets for the moonlight walk to raise money for Treetops hospice.

It will be exactly two years since Linda Furnival died from cancer when this year's moonlight walk takes place. The team at Treetops were there for her when she needed them, and when her family needed them. Raising money for them is one way that we can say thank you. I know that there are many good causes out there asking for you to dig deep and help them to keep going. If you can spare some cash, then please click on this link https://www.justgiving.com/jen-lewis and add a couple of pounds to the funds. Thank you.

Olivia?

Now that some of the excitement after our amazing production of Annie Get Your Gun has died down, I thought that it was a good opportunity for me to start to build the hunger for folk to come along to our next Belper Junior Musical Theatre production.
This time around they are putting on 'Olivia!'
As many of you know I have a very limited knowledge of musicals although I do try hard to learn the words and the tunes (and occasionally the rhythms) of all the ones that we do. So I had no concept at all of a musical called Olivia and my anticipation was that it would just be some tiresome feminist rewrite of Oliver! However, I am assured that this is not the case.
The script is full of humour and is well written and it follows the progress of a young girl (who just happens to be named Olivia) from a downtrodden beginning in an orphanage through the streets of London and, who knows, possibly a happy ending.
The production is well written and offers a real showcase for our junior talent, male and female. You can look forward to meeting Eliza Dolittle (My Fair Lady), Artful Dodger, Fagin, Sherlock Holmes and George Bernard Shaw. Mix that with great songs and the hard work of our production team and it's a show that will not disappoint.
You've seen some of the stars on stage with us in Annie Get Your Gun, so now is your chance to support our stars of tomorrow and give them a full house at each of their three shows.
As always you can buy your tickets through our website at bmt.ticketsource.co.uk

I will find an electronic copy of the flyer and see if I can work out how to upload it to here as well! (Sometimes my IT skills are more limited than my knowledge of musicals)

Review number three - NODA

You can find this review on the NODA website at NODA Annie 2014 and I have to say that I am delighted with this one as it stresses that Charlie Davenport was splendidly portrayed by Matthew Shaw. Ok, sadly it runs out of steam after that and bangs on about Jen Lewis and Chris Grantham yet again. But it's still a great review of a fun show.

And for those of you who enjoy watching our annual parodies (you can always buy tickets to our annual dinner) then this link may work 2014 parody if it doesn't then let me know and I will try to get the original file off whoever recorded it - judging by the accompanying laughter it was Liz!

Review number two

Here's our second review. You can find it online at ArtsBeatBlog

REVIEW: ANNIE GET YOUR GUN, BELPER MUSICAL THEATRE

February 20, 2014

Belper Musical Theatre has hit the bull’s eye with its latest production – Annie Get Your Gun.

The team staged the colourful and lively show with plenty of panache and a whole heap of enthusiasm.

Annie Get Your Gun is a show within a show and tells the story of Colonel Buffalo Bill Cody’s famous Wild West Show and the tempestuous on/off romance of sharp shooters Annie and the chauvinistic Frank Butler.

This version, revised by Peter Stone in 1999, has been updated to be a little more social acceptable than the 1940s original but you still have to remember that some of the lines are from a bygone era.

The one element of this Irving Berlin classic which has given it is enduring popularity is its astonishing collection of songs and this group made sure that they had the perfect cast to perform them in this stellar production.

There was impressive dancing, some hilarious comic moments and just the right amount of aaaah moments when it came to the charming young siblings of Ms Oakley. And to top it all the ten-strong orchestra was performing as part of the set on stage.

Jen Lewis has been a passionate member of the Belper Musical Theatre for more than a decade and she was absolutely fabulous as Annie.

Her powerful voice took the house down and each number was met with rapturous applause. I Got The Sun In The Morning was a triumph. There was no way anyone could have left the building without humming one of the tunes.

As the dashing leading man, Chris Grantham had a challenge on his hands to match up to her but he pulled it off with a commanding stage presence. He was terrific in their toe-tapping duets An Old Fashioned Wedding and Anything You can Do.

As the supporting romantic leads Tommy Keeler and Winnie Tate played by Dominic Osin and Hannah Beastall were a delight and are certainly ones to watch for the future – even though they are already stalwarts of the stage they are still young guns.

Their singing and dancing in the rendition of Who Do You Love, I Hope? was thoroughly enjoyable.

Sarah Stone as the indomitable Dolly Tate headed up the comic players with a commendable performance and David Orange as the mincing Foster Wilson was a scream.

The whole show was extremely slick – it had to be as there was a large cast moving around at speed on what is a relatively small stage.

The set design and construction was spot on and they made a very clever use of minimal props. I was particularly impressed by the creation of the bunk beds for the little ‘uns.

Congratulations must go to all the production team but particularly to director Larry Waller who was new to the team and not a man who has worked with a lot of musicals.

If you want a great family night out with some rousing sing-a-long music then get yourselves down to the community theatre at Belper School. The show is on until Saturday with a matinee that day. For more details go to http://www.belpermusicaltheatre.co.uk

The rest of the cast were: Matthew Shaw, as Charlie Davenport; Ian Jennison, Buffalo Bill; Brian Counter, Chief Sitting Bull; Mike Osborne, Pawnee Bill.

The dancers were Lucy Hassall, Megan Harman, Charlie Orme and Jess Hutton. The children the night artsbeat went along were Jess Allinson, Jess Henshall, Daniel Shaw and Jess Waller. The children for some of the other shows were Daisy Bunting, Molly Hewitt-Richards, Oscar Hewitt-Richards and Anya Staton.

The orchestra were Helen Shelton, drums; Jeff Widdowson, bass; John Hudson, keys; Tim Wright, guitar; Sophia Rudd, reed I; Paul Scott, reed II; Chris Toon, reed III; Gordon Truman, trumpet I, Mathew Knowles, trumpet II and Guy Burrows, trombone.

The rest of the production team were: musical director, Dave Adey; choreographer, Becky Dunning; assistant director Elizabeth Brooks; production assistant Sophie Mander.

The support team were: prompt, Anne Dunning; production co-ordinator, Richard Poole; stage manager, Richard Harman; set design and construction, Ian Jennison; artistic design, Carolyn Hardy; lighting and sound, Paul Frost, Nigel Johnson, Henry Pratt; projection Darren Salt and Mark Jennison; audiovisual design Louis Vella and Jamie Vella; props master, Pete Neale, assisted by Sophie Mander and Katy Neale; wardrobe, Mary Jackson, assisted by Judith Marsden, Helen Allsop, Rachel Allsop and Val Stone.

Front of house, Helen Beastall assisted by Bridgette Dolman-Milner, Maureen Hodgkinson, Howard Jackson, Alison Jennison, Lucy Jennison, Phoebe Jennison, Ron Mander, Sue Manning, Judith Marsden, Barbara Matin, Chris Moorcroft, Steve Morcroft, Linda Oldknow, Daniel Shaw, Sue Shaw, Andrea Sparham, John Stone, Val Stone, Cerys Swift and Eilisha Swift

Thoughts on facial stubble

It seems that today I had to apologise for my failure to shave at a weekend now; the benefits of exfoliation are lost on my stage partner, the amazing Sarah. As if it’s not hard enough having to cope with an increasing amount of white appearing in my beard, my two days off from shaving are out of the window until the end of February – or at least until the end of the show.

Sarah did offer to moisturise my beard thoroughly before I jumped in to my moments of passion on stage, but for some reason the thought of rubbing goose fat or similar on to my stubbly chin failed to enthral her. Beats me.

Anyway, looking on the bright side I don’t think that I need to grow a facial masterpiece like Ian has done to recreate Buffalo Bill. The thrill he gets from sharpening the ends of his moustache prior to taking to the stage is potentially all out of proportion.

I promise to try to remember to shave before rehearsals next Sunday – but we’re off to Cadbury’s World for the day on the Saturday, so would a chocolate moustache do?

Preparing for the show

It’s always somewhere between exciting and petrifying when the show starts to get closer and this year is no different. It’s exciting because the show really starts to come together. And that’s definitely true this year as Ian has already mostly constructed the set. We can stand on the stands, or whatever they are officially called. We can practise carrying on our boxes, guns and racks so that we get a better idea of the space that we need and how long it’s going to take to manage things. That means that the show will be even better – right from the first night! So if I were you I’d be getting online and booking my seat just as soon as I possibly could. Since over half of our seats had sold out for the Saturday matinee before the year began, it’s great to know that tickets are already selling fast. Who knows we may be in the situation we were in with the King and I, where we had to turn people away from the shows as there were no tickets left and we couldn’t get any more seats into the theatre hall. Seriously – book soon to avoid disappointment.

As well as all the excitement of a show that’s starting to come together so well, it’s also kind of petrifying! There are only about four weeks left to the show and that means only four Sunday rehearsals left to get everything in place and make sure that we are as slick as possible with our lines, positions, dances, songs and characters. It’s not easy at all.

But when you are sitting there, watching the set come together, the interplay between the characters and the effort that every member of our cast puts into making the whole show come to life for you. You know that it’s going to be worthwhile We’re looking forward to putting on a fabulous show for you. And we’re sure that you’re looking forward to coming along to enjoy it.

The first review of Annie Get Your Gun

The Derby Telegraph, bless them, have published this first review of our amazing 2014 show - Annie Get Your Gun. And even though they have accidentally failed to mention of the rather brilliant Charlie Davenport, I thought that I would share the link here for posterity.

http://www.derbytelegraph.co.uk/Review-Annie-Gun-Belper-Music-Theatre/story-20658377-detail/story.html Derby Telegraph Review