Maggie musical top of the bill

Many people thought one Margaret Thatcher was enough, but Wolverhampton was treated to a visit by no less than nine Iron Ladies.

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Shoppers did more than a double take as the look-alikes of Britain's first female Prime Minister skipped down Lichfield Street yesterday.

But rather than marking a new Tory takeover, the madcap bunch were in the city to help launch the Grand Theatre's new spring season.

Thatcher: The Musical is top of the bill at the venue, which has a thrilling line-up planned for the next few months.

Dean Gaffney, of EastEnders fame, Paul Nicholas and leading actress Stephanie Beacham are among the many famous faces set to be treading the boards.

Kicking the season off next week is Wolverhampton-based Foursight Theatre's Thatcher, whose show chronicles the life of the Conservative leader from "grocer's daughter to the stab in the back".

Thrilled

The production is said to feature a hilarious soundtrack including the Cabinet Shuffle, True Blue, a punk rock tune entitled No No No, and the grand finale will be staged to She's The Iron in Your Bloodstream.

The Grand's marketing manager Iain Watkins said bosses were thrilled to be hosting the musical, which begins its week-long run on February 6.

He said: "Panto season comes to an end this weekend and we're really in the mood for what looks like a great spring.

"What better to start it than Thatcher: The Musical, which is going to be unlike anything that has been staged here before. It's an extraordinary piece of theatre and that show really sums up our season - it's comedy, it's drama and it's music, it's going to challenge expectations and it's certainly a bit of escapism which is what theatre is here to do."

Also at the theatre yesterday was Cheryl Enever, a soprano with English Touring Opera, who will perform Mozart's comic opera Seraglio and Tchaikovsky's masterful Eugene Onegin on April 23 and 24.

She said: "We've just started three weeks of rehearsals for these two shows then it's out on the road until the end of May."

Sally Anne Tye, who was in Wolverhampton to promote Tracy Beaker Gets Real, which runs in May, said it was something for all the family to see.

And local acting group West Bromwich Operatic Society are gearing up for their performance of hit musical The Full Monty.

Cast members Peter Worrall and Tim Brown are preparing to go starkers on stage for the saucy role, which follows a group of steelworkers who shed their clothes to make a fast buck.

l To book tickets for any of the shows, call the box office on 01902 429212.