Your Midlands and Shropshire am dram guide

With this in mind, Wolverhampton Musical Comedy Company, or Muscom as they are affectionately known in this area, will present Curtain Up, a fantastic concert offering a selection of songs from the shows from February 6 to 8, at Colton Hills Community School, Jeremy Road, Goldthorn Park in Wolverhampton.

There is a licensed bar from 6.30pm and the show starts at 7.30pm, so plenty of time to enjoy yourselves beforehand too. It is also worth mention that the venue has free car parking.

Tickets are £17 and £15 and you can either buy them on the door on the night, or visit www.seaty.co.uk/curtainup.

Bilston Operatic Company will present a favourite musical later this year; Oliver! and are holding auditions for children to appear in the show on February 23.

If you recall, this show needs a tribe of urchins and pickpockets and so both boys and girls are invited to audition.

Email bilstonoperatic@hotmail.co.uk for an application form and more details.

On March 23, there are also new member auditions for anyone aged 14 and over who would like to appear in Oliver! Email the address above for more information.

Over in Shropshire, pantomime is still very much the name of the game.

Market Drayton Amateur Operatic and Dramatic Society will present the classic panto, Cinderella at The Festival Drayton Centre from February 19 to 22.

For tickets call 01630 654444 or book online at www.festivaldraytoncentre.com.

Meanwhile the resident group at the Belfrey Theatre, Wellington will present the pantomime version of The Little Mermaid, with performances at 2.30pm on Saturday and Sunday matinees and 7.30pm nightly over two weekends - January 31 to February 2, and February 7 to 9.

The group describe their show as 'a fun-packed, rollicking nautical pantomime full of song, dance and romance.'

Prince William’s royal parents are stony broke, and would really like their son and heir to marry into wealth. But William longs for adventure on the high seas, and has caught the eye of a young Mermaid Princess, Sirena.

It is good to see a tale like The Little Mermaid being transformed into a pantomime, because it is something different from the usual Aladdin, Dick Whittington or Jack and the Beanstalk isn’t it?

With a cast of over 60, the group are determined to make a splash and apparently this is the largest underwater pantomime in the country, unless you know otherwise of course!

For tickets, priced at £8 for adults and £6 for concessions, visit www.belfreytheatre.com or call 01952 222277.

At Sutton Coldfield Town Hall from February 5 to 8, CLOC Musical Theatre Company will present Dick Whittington, with performances at 7.30pm nightly and a 2.30pm Saturday matinee.

Join Dick and his cat Tommy as they set of for London’s streets paved with gold and seek to make their fortune and foil the dastardly King Rat.

Expect toe tapping songs, laughs galore and lots of audience participation in this much-loved rags to riches story with crazy comedy and true love.

Audiences will also be delighted to hear that UV specialists Groovy UV will be creating a magical underwater ultraviolet scene full of enchanting sea creatures for the panto.

For tickets, visit www.cloc.org.uk or call 07873 192715 or 0121 244 7475.

Shrek is a very popular musical amongst amateur performers at the moment and Shropshire based group, Get Your Wiggle On is no exception.

They will perform the show from February 5 to 9 at Shrewsbury's Theatre Severn.

Once upon a time, there was a little ogre named Shrek, and thus begins the tale of an unlikely hero who finds himself on a life-changing journey alongside a wisecracking Donkey and a feisty princess.

Throw in a short-tempered bad guy, a cookie with an attitude and over a dozen other fairy tale misfits and you've got the makings of the perfect musical comedy.

Based on the Oscar-winning DreamWorks Animation film, Shrek the Musical is a Tony Award-winning fairy tale adventure featuring all new songs from Jeanine Tesori and a side-splitting book by David Lindsay-Abaire.

Performances are at 7pm on Wednesday to Saturday and there is a 2pm matinee also on Saturday and then shows at 1pm and 6pm on Sunday.

For more information and to book tickets, visit www.theatresevern.co.uk or call 01743 281281.

Local choir, Anthem Voices is presenting a Saturday afternoon workshop session entitled Pop Through the Decades on February 8, at Wednesfield Methodist Church, from 1pm to 4pm.

The afternoon will be led by Angharad Sanders, a performer whose credits include Madagascar, Thoroughly Modern Millie and Avenue Q.

You will have the chance to join in singing songs from the 1960’s, 1970’s and 1980’s.

Tickets are £25 each and places are limited, so book as soon as you can. Contact anthemvoices@hotmail.com or visit the group’s Facebook page for more information.

And finally this week, I was delighted to hear that our very own Ashley Samuels from Wolverhampton has been cast in the role of Seaweed in the forthcoming West End hit musical Hairspray, alongside Michael Ball, Paul Merton and Rita Simons.

I always follow Ashley’ career very closely as he was a member of my home company, South Staffs MTC from a tender age. I am so excited for him!

We can’t wait to see you in action at the London Coliseum from April 2020.

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

Break a leg!