BACK With A Brand New Show!

We're BACK!

Welcome one and all to another utterly fabulous year of fun and laughter, song and dance as we launch rehearsals for our latest show:

We are ALL so thrilled to be able to perform this wonderful show, based on the award-winning Disney animated film, with songs by the Disney dream-team of Alan Menken and Howard Ashman.

Our first rehearsal on 31st August 2014 was a resounding success! We are ecstatic to be together once again, our young troupe throwing themselves enthusiastically into the fabulous choreography. Not only that, but we are completely bowled over by the influx of NEW talent raising the rafters with joyful voices and eager tapping toes! I would personally like to extend a HUGE Stage One WELCOME to each and every young person at the rehearsal this week, and we ALL look forward to swelling the ranks even more in weeks to come.

So - dinglehoppers at the ready, best fin forward! Onwards to new adventures! Hope you'll join us!

*   *   *

Rehearsals take place every Sunday between 10am and 1pm at the Grosvenor Annex behind the Grosvenor Ballroom in Liscard, Wirral (Grosvenor Street, off Manor Road). Fees are £5 per week and there is a yummy fund-raising tuck shop when everyone feels peckish!

A Fang-tastic Finale!

Our final performance has been and gone and we've saved the best to last! Our audience had damp eyes in the emotional scenes....and damp seats in the funny ones! Not a dry bladder in the house - thanks especially to Drac, Genghis and Wraith who had the punters rolling in the aisles!

Thankfully, Herr Hans and the be-plaited Frau Gretel remained calm and braced (haha) for terror in the face of Drac and his entourage, including the marauding Glublick addicted Wellie-Boot Dancers....a stalwart pair, afeared of naught...although they'd probably flee in terror in the face of determined morris dancers....

 Determined though Dracula may be to add young Ms. Naive to his harem of demonic brides, he's not going to get away with it!

 Along with Sister O'Stake, they provide essential backup to our pristine hero as he faces down the Prince Of Darkness, battling for the soul of his beloved Nadia. Who would have thought that the local brew would prove even more fatal to the Dark Prince and his cohorts that it has to the poor brain-addled locals? Have at thee, fang-face!

And evil is no more!!! (probably)......and loooove.......TRUE looooooove..... will triumph over all!

Let's dance.....

Awwwwwwwwww......  Not wanting to pass up the chance of a profit, Herr Hans and Frau Gretel rustle up a quick cold buffet to attract the tourists, and the wandering wellie-boot weirdos ...

With the sardine sandwiches curling nicely at the corners, and the last of that fatal, fang-busting, festering brew warming on the bar, it's time to join our happy hero and heroine

...in holy matrimony...

And they all lived happily ever after!

*   *   * 

Thank you to EVERYONE who made this production possible - you are ALL....EPIC! Awesome congratulations to each and every one of our wonderful cast for a performance to be PROUD of!

Now the costumes are packed, the props are stored, Dracula's nailed up in his casket and the wellie-boot dancers are in rehab. It's been a splendid journey and now there's just one more thing to do - plan a party! (I'll take pics, I promise!).

So farewell for now. Hang up the garlic, sharpen your stakes and watch the windows in the dark of the night.... you never know when Dracula himself will drop in for a bijou nip-ette of your life's blood....or at the very least, a nice slice of quiche...

Put On Your Dancing Fangs, Dracula!

Welcome back, fearless mortals, to the lair of the Prince of Darkness himself!

When last we visited our stage, Dracula HIMSELF had appeared,  become captivated by the innocent loveliness of young Nadia Naive (much to the chagrin of Nick Nicely - a genuine young man of good breeding, with excellent taste in white suits) and instilled a sense of awe and impending gothic comedy on our audience (or - "lunch" as Drac calls them).

But he is not alone! All evil villains need cohorts, and Dracula is assisted/harassed/plagued (delete as applicable) by the stunning Wraith, a ravishing beauty - as mad as a bag of especially energetic frogs - who knows the Dark Prince all too well as she is his MOTHER....the elemental force that is WRAITH -

..and the enthusiastic genetic anomoly that is Genghis.

It's hard to maintain a mysterious persona when you have your mother and a hopped-up hunchback cramping your style, but Drac is one determined bad guy!

Really.....if it's not one thing, it's your mother.....

But when the going gets tough for the Vampire Lord, the solution is clear. Break out the hat and cane and get your dance on!

To the North Tower! Evil plotting in the laboratory! (If you can spot and name all of the scenery components then you will WIN a special PROP MASTER'S PRIZE......  some especially bruised ankles, a stubbed toe and a utility belt fully stocked with string, spray paint and thirty-six rolls of gaffer tape).

Hark! Do I hear the voice of angels? NO! It's the stunning Spectacularettes, rocking the Rhesus Negative in style with the Brides of Dracula!

NOTHING can distract Drac from his goal... He WILL succeed! With the 'help' from his mental mother and his humpty henchman, his plans are in motion.

What will become of the lovely Nadia? Will Nick save the girl he loves whilst maintaining his pristine heroic appearance? Will Dracula ever escape his embarrassing mother, or stop Genghis chewing his own feet in front of guests? In the immortal drum-beats that signify the end of EVERY episode of 'Eastenders'.......

DUM...DUM....DUM DUM DUMDUMDUMDUM...!

Join us tomorrow - our final performance -  to find the answers to these questions and enjoy the rest of the show with us! See you then!

Ladies and Gentlemen! We Proudly Present......

..................*drumroll*...............

The

DRACULA

SPECTACULA!!

We've had our OPENING NIGHT SUCCESS!!

A TRIUMPH of a performance, with our talented and versatile young performers coping masterfully with the transition from rehearsal rooms to stage - even handling some last minute choreography like true professionals. We could not be PROUDER of each and every one of them!

This Little Theatre in Birkenhead on the Wirral Peninsula is a charming place and such a fun, cosy place to perform; take a look:

The view from outside -  on a chilly February evening it's an inviting, warm respite from wind and rain!

We decorated the theatre as much as possible in the short time available between technical and dress rehearsals - capturing that fun, spooky feeling....moowahahahahaha!

The auditorium is welcoming and an ideal size for our shows -

We saved a lot of time and money by choosing to use 'spectacula' (I can't help it....shush...) lighting projected onto the backdrop, stage and minimal scenery. It's tremendously effective and really adds mood to each scene.  My camera liked it so much that it took this picture all by it's jolly little self -

I know, right? So pretty.  And now - here are the first photographs fresh from the theatre, showing our A*M*A*Z*I*N*G cast in their GORGEOUS costumes all being A*W*E*S*O*M*E:

Opening scene! Yeah - we went DEMONIC! Go for spooky laughter - MOOWWAHAHAHA!

Holy habits - it's Sister O'Stake! NOW - Welcome to Transylvanian Airways! Flying Air Drac with the captain and his all-singing, all-dancing cabin crew, along with the lovely and talented 'Spectacularettes'!

...then back to the classicly rural Transylvanian mode of transport - yes, you guessed it...the reckless and scary coach and driver!   (I'm really resisting the 'moowahaha' but it's losing battle!)

 Our lovely young heroine, Miss Nadia Naive and her eager students arrive at the tavern, run with enthusiasm by Herr Hans and Frau Gretel...

 .....they know how to party in Transylvania!

Enter now our young hero, Nick Nicely, ready to capture the heart of young Nadia...

Love at first sight! Of course it helps when our young hero and heroine are serenaded by those splendid Spectacularettes!

BUT - their bliss is soon to be interrupted.... a dark shadow lurks, a sinister presence......

ENTER THE PRINCE OF DARKNESS - 

Eyes for innocent Nadia.....evils for young Nicely!  Oh, heck, you know it's a-comin' -

MOOOOOOWAAAAHAHHAHAHAAAAAAA!!!!

What will happen now? Will Nadia avoid the Dark Lord's advances? Will young Nick Nicely win the heart - and soul - of his young love? Will Dracula triumph? Will the Spectacularettes wear even more fabulous frocks? Will the tavern finally install a carvery?? 

MORE TO COME TOMORROW!!! KEEP WATCHING!!!!