I fell into musical theatre by accident in 2004 when helping a friend out with keys in Youth Unlimited’s production of Godspell at Stockport Plaza. A chance meeting in the bar after one show led me to New Mills just over the border in Derbyshire, who were looking for a rehearsal accompanist. My first show with them was South Pacific. This was followed by Hot Mikado, Guys and Dolls, Oklahoma!, Sweet Charity, Oliver, The Pajama Game, Annie and The Full Monty which became my MD debut. This was followed by Grease, made memorable one night by the sound technician yelling down my headphones to “play up as we’ve lost the sound” in the middle of the long dance break in “Born To Hand Jive”. I still don’t know how to this day how we kept in time for the vocal re-entry!!
By now, I was branching out and helping other musical theatre groups. I was rehearsal accompanist for some years at East Cheshires when they performed at the RNCM. This was a great privilege. Although not involved in the show, I remember watching Beauty And The Beast and leaving the theatre open mouthed at the high standard I’d witnessed. Following this, I MD’d several of their Christmas concerts.
In 2014 I started working with Knutsford Musical Theatre Company, a lively dynamic group not far from my home in Wilmslow. I immediately got involved in MD’ing two shows simultaneously – Stepping Out and Spring Awakening, the latter with an extraordinarily talented cast and band.
Further shows took place at the Grange, Hartford and at Northwich Memorial Hall which is now their home venue. Due to other commitments, my MD duties with KMTC ended two years ago but I have fond memories of my time with KMTC and would highly recommend them to anyone looking for high energy and contemporary interpretations of new and traditional musicals.
I have also MD’d the pantomimes for Friends Of the Art Theatre at New Mills in 2018 (Aladdin) and 2019 (Robinson Crusoe and the Pirates) and was fortunate enough to win “Most Accomplished Musical Accompaniment Live Band (Adult)” at the Association of Community Theatre awards dinner.
