Stagestruck returns for a West Side Story

WITH the summer approaching, parents are probably getting a little nervous at the prospect at all those bored children at home.

However, help is at hand as preparations have started for the 18th annual Stagestruck summer drama, music and dance school.

Once again, Stagestruck has the use of the theatre in the Iveagh cinema complex! Since the start of the school, which has being going on in Banbridge on an annual basis since 1985, changed to its new formula based on musicals, no fewer than 23 shows have been performed by the young people of the area.

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In 1997 Stagestruck 1 started with the Wizard of Oz followed by Stagestruck 2 with Grease and Oliver and then Hello Dolly in 1999.

The Millennium year saw the first winter Stagestruck with a performance of Hello Dolly and a summer performance of Bugsy Malone.

Stagestruck 5 in 2001 saw Cats and Calamity Jane take to the stage and 2002 saw an adaptation of Dirty Dancing and Oklahoma.

Winter Stagestruck 7 went to New York for Guys and Dolls and then in 2003 Stagestruck 8 finished with Guys and Dolls and Joseph and his Amazing Technicolour Dreamcoat!

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Stagestruck 9 was based on Annie and the musical for Stagestruck 10 in 2005 was Summer Holiday. Stagestruck 11 was another winter Stagestruck which in the 60th anniversary of the end of World War 2 chose the Belfast Blitz as the theme.

Recently Stagestruck produced The Sound of Music, Bugsy Malone and in 2010 The Wizard of Oz. In 2011 Stagestruck took on the challenge of a new show very similar to Grease called Back to the 80’s and was full of well known hits.

This year Stagestruck 18 will tackle an Oscar winning show, West Side Story, which is based on Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet but instead of two warring families in medieval Italy it is set in New York with two street gangs, the Jets and the Sharks.

So if you are between 7-18 and would like to go back to New York in the 1950’s to be a Jet or a Shark or any of the characters in the show or just be a dancer, a singer, an actor tackling a big role or a small one, helping with lighting or sound then this could be for you.

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Kids can come for one week or two! Given that the show will be done in four days there will also be lots of main characters. There will be opportunities to sing, dance, act and /or work microphones or even do all four.

Week one runs from Monday July 30 to Saturday August 4 and week two from August 6-11. Week one will be based on Act 1 of West Side Story and Week 2 on Act 2 of the same show.

For application forms, please contact stage struck director, Mrs Patricia Mulligan, at 028 406 23748.