Glee-ful show troupe keeps it in the family

It will be real family entertainment when a Black Country theatre group's show opens tonight – with eight sets of close relatives taking to the stage together.

Members of eight different families will be among the cast of 34 treading the boards in Startime Variety group's show, Startime Goes Pop, at Halesowen's Cornbow Hall from tonight until Saturday.

More than 40 songs will be performed including hits by The Beatles and Queen along with numbers from the Little Shop of Horrors and US TV show Glee.

Among the performers will be father Vic Beddoes, aged 76, a retired carer, of Pedmore Road, Lye, and his daughter Lynda Dunn, a librarian, of Long Innage, Halesowen.

They will be joined by John Wunderlich, aged 54, a landscape gardener and builder, of Farm Road, Rowley Regis, and his 17-year-old son Karl, a Dudley College student, of Quayside Walk, Netherton.

Siblings Penny Phipps, 34, a legal assistant, of Manifold Way, Wednesbury, and Justin Phipps, 39, a traffic officer for the Highways Agency, are also taking part.

Mother and daughter Kay and Kathryn Churchill, of Woodland Road, Halesowen, will be singing in the chorus.

Kay, 44, is a nursery nurse, and Kathryn, 13, a pupil at Earls High School, Halesowen. Sister act Jodie Rock, 26, and Sianne Shepherd, 44, star along with Sianne's son Ben.

Jodie is the show's producer, as well as singing, and Sianne, a teacher, is in the chorus.

Father and daughter Clive and Leanne Ditchfield, of Regis Heath Road, Rowley Regis, both have solos.

Mother and daughter Mandy, 46, and Kirsty Aldridge, 23, also star.

Mandy, of Foinavon Close, Rowley Regis, is receptionist at Lapal Medical Practice, Halesowen, while Kirsty, of Halesowen Road, in the town is a professional singer, as well as a retail supervisor.

Completing the family show are Holly Mills, 14, a pupil at Earls High School, Halesowen, and her sister, Gemma, 22, a nurse at Birmingham Children's Hospital. Call 07870 771708 for tickets.