Lloyd Webber's message to Wem theatre group

When musical maestro Andrew Lloyd Webber heard a Shropshire youth theatre group planned to stage one of his least-performed shows, he decided to put pen to paper to wish them well.

Now members of Wem Stage Door Youth say the wind is in their sails after receiving a letter from the star wishing them luck with their production of The Likes Of Us.

Jon Edge, publicity officer for the youth theatre in Aston Street, Wem, said members now had an extra incentive to bring the house down when the show hits the stage next month.

He said: "We wrote to Andrew Lloyd Webber saying we were putting on the production and that this was going to be only the third or fourth time it has been produced.

"So we were absolutely bowled over when we received a letter of encouragement back from him.

"It's really lifted everyone's spirits. We've done a bit of research and we think ours will be the first performance of the show in Wem and Shropshire."

The musical, which chronicles the life and times of Victorian children's cha- mpion Thomas John Bar- nardo, was the first collaboration between Lloyd Webber and co-creator Tim Rice.

In 2008, with the approval of Rice and Lloyd Webber, the show was made available to amateur theatre groups.

Mr Edge said the cast were putting the finishing touches to their production.

The musical was first performed in July 2005 at Lloyd Webber's Sydmonton Festival.

The show in Wem will run at the theatre in Aston Street each night from February 9 to 12 at 7.30pm.

Tickets priced £4.50 or £6.50, can be bought by ringing (01939) 233196.