The Henfield Theatre Company has reached the final stages of preparation and rehearsal for its exciting new venture, the home grown musical show which opens at the Henfield Hall on New Year’s Day 2015. This world premier is the culmination of much hard work by Jane Haines, a long standing member of HTC and a professional music teacher who also completed a Master’s Degree in Musical Theatre at Goldsmiths University in 2012. Jane created and submitted a short musical as a part of the degree and, since then, has developed it into a full-length family show. It is packed with beautiful, catchy tunes and the large cast of adults and children have grown to love the music and storyline.
As the title gives away, the story is based around well-known nursery rhyme characters but with many twists and plenty of humour to entertain all age groups. Mystery surrounds the ominous Castle Dez Pair and the Old Woman, living in her very overcrowded shoe, is terrified by the threat of soldiers coming for her. Where is her dear old friend the Duke who she thought would help her? Never fear, there are some heroes on the scene who might just solve the mystery while having some adventures and romance along the way. The show is directed by Di Norman, with Jane Haines as the Musical Director and Ann Atkins as choreographer.
The Theatre Company have engaged the local community in other ways during the run up to the show. It opened one of the rehearsals to the public as part of the Henfield Living Advent initiative. It also invited children and adults to enter a competition to create mixed media representations of the musical that could be displayed in the Henfield Hall during the production run. Ray Osgood, Chairman of the Parish Council, presented prizes to the winners which had been donated by the Henfield Leisure Centre and by the show’s sponsor, Wickwoods Country Club Hotel & Spa. The standard of the entries impressed the judges enormously, as well as all others who have seen them. Look out for the display at The Henfield Hall when you go to see the show.
The competition winners were: Ashtyn Roworth (3 – 7 age group), Samantha Foster (8 – 13 age group), and Sarah Hinton (14+ age group). A special mention was given to the Law family whose innovative entry depicted an intricate set design including the shoe with its living accommodation.
Another exciting development is that the cast from the show have been involved in making recordings, at a professional recording studio, so that CDs of all the music can be made available at the performances.
Martin Love