Before the curtain rises on this year's Stage Experience at Milton Keynes Theatre next week (August 4 & 5), director Robert Marsden talks to Total MK about the community production with the professional appeal and a keen cast...
"Stage Experience, run by the Ambassadors Theatre Group and MK Theatre, is a fabulously rewarding two weeks, where young performers come together to produce a professional standard musical guided by industry creatives. It gives a realistic flavour of how theatre is produced, including the exhilaration, creative input and stamina needed!
"Working alongside myself as musical director is Matthew Reeve (based in Milton Keynes), who has undertaken the Stage Experience project for the last four years, and has numerous credits to his name including regional theatre, West End and international work.
"We have a new member of the team this year, Bethany Hague, who is an experienced dancer and choreographer and currently teaches dance at some of the top raining academies in the UK.
"Having this wealth of experience means that the two weeks project becomes much more about the production. Young performers learn skills in acting, dancing and singing, as well as understanding what it means to become an ensemble member in the theatre making process.
"This year's summer musical is Bugsy Malone. Audiences will most likely know Alan Parker's film version starring the young cast of Jodie Foster, Bonnie Langford and Dexter Fletcher. This is a vibrant musical full of acting, singing, dancing and much slapstick comedy!
Set against the backdrop of Chicago's prohibition era in the 1920s, this musical isn't afraid to unearth some of the darker side of the world of gangsters and mafia bosses, whilst maintaining all the fun and colour of a musical.
"Following an intensive two days of auditioning where over 100 young people from across Milton Keynes and Bucks were put through their paces, a young company have now been cast.
"The project has many young actors who are returning to us again following appearances in Footloose, The Wiz and last year's production of Fame. We also love welcoming several new performers, which ensures that the project keeps fresh with new talent and allows opportunities for development.
Bugsy is one of the few in-house productions that the theatre produces around the year.
"Made for Milton Keynes by creatives and artists working in Milton Keynes, this is a community production not to be missed."
If you let it, Bugsy Malone will knock your socks off with its cast and delivery!
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