Singers wanted for new musical in Bewdley

Musical director Jim Inesonand and artistic director Steve Conway are the team behind the successful Bewdley Passion Plays, which earned them the nomination for the prestigious national Jerusalem Award.

They also staged “Forest, River and Royals”, a musical celebration of Bewdley's Heritage. The pair were keen to build on this success and once Covid restrictions were eased, they set about creating a production which would feature local actors and singers.

Their new venture, “Guillotine!” is a fully sung-through musical based on Charles Dickens’ novel, “A Tale of Two Cities”.

It is based on a version Jim originally staged in the USA as a play with music. On seeing a video of the original production, Steve realised there was potential to turn it into a full-scale musical, and Jim has reworked the original music and lyrics to achieve this.

As a first step, “Guillotine!” will be staged as a concert version in February 2023 as part of the Bewdley Festival.

Jim said: “I approached the festival because their mission is to ‘bring the best to Bewdley, and bring out the best of Bewdley” with regards to the arts. It’s a bit of a departure from their usual musical genres, but the Festival community received the idea with great enthusiasm.”

The production team, which also includes former BBC producer, Lizzie Lane, will be holding auditions at St. George’s Hall in Bewdley on the evening of Monday, May 16.

Preparations for the show will be in two parts. Steve said. “During the summer we’ll hold workshops to develop the production to its full potential and formal rehearsals will then start towards the end of the year.

"It’s a great opportunity for singers and actors to be involved in creating and performing an exciting new musical which has the potential to go far.”

For more information about the auditions, and a list of character descriptions, please contact Steve Conway on 01562 850054 or 07774 252992, or email Steve at Stephen.conway2012@btinternet.com