Fifty not out for musical theatre group

Whitworth AMDS were founded in 1963 after the building of the Civic Hall on Market Street and have staged over 100 productions over the past half a century. 2013 also sees the 25th anniversary of JAWS - the youth section at Whitworth

Whitworth Amateur Musical and Dramatic Society will be celebrating their Golden Jubilee next month and are inviting past present and future members to join in the celebrations.

The society will be holding their anniversary dinner on Friday 10 May 2013 at Rochdale Town Hall and are inviting past present and future members to join in.

“We want as many people to come and celebrate with us at the Town Hall.” said Terry Banham the Vice Chair at WAMDS “It doesn’t matter whether you have been an audience member, performer, props person or ice cream seller, everyone is welcome. There are just a few places left now and we want to sell out.”

The event is a formal three course dinner with entertainment from The Norman Roy Orchestra, a 14 piece big band. Tickets are still available at £35.

WAMDS have also received an award through the Heritage Lottery Fund 'All Our Stories' grant programme. The project will help celebrate the achievements over the past half century and will have three creative strands- making a short film by recording peoples memories and experiences of performing in shows, a digitisation project which will archive all the programmes, photographs and newspaper reviews over 50 years and the creation of an online archive at the WAMDS website.

“We are looking for current and ex members to come forward and share their stories to camera, or bring along photos, programmes and reviews which will be scanned for archive purposes and for all to share.” continued Terry.

“We have made a good start recording current members but would like to reach out to performers, helpers and audiences who are willing to contribute. If you have an interesting story to tell then we want to hear from you. What were your first memories of the group? What was your first show? Who made a lasting impression on you? The film is shaping up to be something special as we have footage of productions stretching right back to the 60s, but if anyone has any video or 9mm film of Whitworth Amateurs then we would love to hear from you” continued Terry. ”The film and booklet that goes with it will be ready for the summer and will be available via the website www.wamds.co.uk”

2013 will be a busy year for the society with two shows currently in production. First up is the 50th Anniversary Show which runs from 16-20 July at the Curtain Theatre in Rochdale and is a showcase production of the musicals staged in the past half century. The production includes numbers from Rent, Little Shop of Horrors, Oklahoma, Chicago, Cabaret, Guys and Dolls, My Fair Lady, Chess and many others. The society is still recruiting past, present and new performers for the show and those wishing to participate should contact the society.

In October the junior section is pleased to announce it has secured the rights to the Andrew Lloyd Webber Musical “CATS” A workshop and auditions will take place on Sunday May 19th at 1.30pm

All enquiries for the Heritage project, Anniversary Dinner, 50th Anniversary show or Cats Production should be made to the society Chairman on 01706 342821 or 07947 609277 or info@wamds.co.uk