Your Midlands and Shropshire am dram guide

However, the escalating cost of amateur theatre has led to the group being unable to present a full week’s run due to financial constraints and so they have taken the difficult decision to scale down their performance and fund-raise to save money.

Although this has been a very sad time for the company, the majority of the members have remained positive and have been working very hard to help to put the group back on its feet.

With this in mind, this award-winning company is now delighted to announce One Night Only, a concert compilation of show tunes, drama, dance and comedy at the Wolverhampton Grand Theatre on Sunday, September 8, at 7.30pm.

Bursting with musical theatre classics, as well as excepts from new, up and coming shows, One Night Only will appeal to all age groups and preferences from Rogers and Hammerstein to new shows just transferring from Broadway.

But this is no ordinary am dram concert, as the South Staffs MTC cast will be joined by two guest stars. Firstly, Donchez Dacres who blew the judges and audiences away on Britain’s Got Talent with his own special brand of comedy set to song, including his very own composition, Wiggle Wine.

This singing AA man, who was David Walliams’ 'golden buzzer' act, reached the final, placing third overall and has been spreading the happiness ever since.

The group’s second guest is a West End star, Aimee Fisher, who has been wowing audiences in the hit musical Wicked, appearing in the leading role of Elphaba, but after finishing her run has returned home to Wolverhampton. Aimee will be singing one of the iconic songs from the show, The Wizard and I.

Educated at The Arts Educational School in London, Aimee was nominated as a finalist for The Andrew Lloyd Webber Scholarship BA(Hons) in Musical Theatre before being awarded the Cone-Ripman

For tickets, visit www.grandtheatre.co.uk or call 01902 429 212.

The world of am dram is often hilarious, usually because you just cannot believe your eyes when you see your fellow performers dressed up in ridiculous costumes or delivering a script in a certain way.

So, any play whose subject matter is the theatre surely must be funny?

Hall Green Little Theatre, who perform at their own venue in Acocks Green are about to find out as they present Curtain Up by Peter Quilter.

This is the humorous tale of five women who inherit a dilapidated theatre and make plans to bring it back to life.

They try various fund-raising schemes but their most ambitious is to hold a concert featuring local talent and a world-famous star who agrees to appear for no fee. However, their plans go awry and it's a race to keep their audience from guessing the truth of the matter.

It’s a fast-paced and very funny comedy. For tickets visit www.hglt.co.uk or call 0333 666 3366.

Meanwhile, there’s more comedy drama at Stourbridge Town Hall, when Stourbridge Theatre Company presents Last Tango in Stourbridge and Hum Drum on September 13.

These two comedies are by David Tristram who helped create the Black Country sensation Doreen Tipton.

The first offering, as the title would suggest, is quite saucy and Hum Drum is described as a burlesque of aspiration, snobbery and monomania with a model tank fanatic in semi-detached suburbia.

Visit www.stoubridgetheatre.co.uk or call into the French Deli in Coventry Street for tickets. They are just £5 each and that includes a drink too.

In complete contrast, LADS Theatre Group is presenting William Shakespeare’s Richard III at the Walker Theatre within Theatre Severn, Shrewsbury from September 17 to 18.

Richard III is a villain, comedian, lover, devoted brother, actor, scheming liar yet loyal friend, that is until you fall out of favour with him.

Conscious-stricken and cursed to the end, his fall from the peak of his tyrannical power and his final vanquish ending the Wars of the Roses is mesmerising.

For tickets, call 01743 281281 or visit www.theatresevern.co.uk.

And finally this week, a plea for an unusual prop for Emlyn William’s play Night Must Fall, which Wombourne Players are presenting from October 16 to 19.

They are seeking a 1930’s self-propelled wooden wheelchair for use by one of the main characters in the play. If you have one in your attic or know someone who has, Richard Corser from the group would be thrilled to hear from you.

Contact him at richardcorser@btinternet.com.

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

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