.... SO NOW WE HAVE TWO SHOWS IN REHEARSAL !
.... SO NOW WE HAVE TWO SHOWS IN REHEARSAL !
I suppose it isn ’ t really surprising – after all , 2026 is HHTC ’ s Centenary Year – and a month and a bit since Christmas ; but an awful lot has to happen in terms of budgeting , licence acquiring , set designing , script buying , technical team gathering , publicity , introductory evenings and auditions before you are finally able to start rehearsing anything .
But we are there now , with rehearsals in full swing for the comedy Bedroom Farce by Alan Ayckbourn , which will be on-stage from Wednesday March 26 to Saturday , March 29 ; and the musical Sister Act - hugely popular since the Whoopi Goldberg film hit the screens - which will be at The Boxmoor Playhouse from Tuesday , June 24 to Saturday , June 28 .
Bedroom Farce involves four couples and is set in the bedrooms of three of them , where any attempt at tranquillity is disrupted by the marital problems of the fourth couple . The set involves the creation of three separate rooms containing double beds – an interesting challenge for set designer / builder John Eames , since the stage at the Playhouse could not be described as vast ! Come to see it to find out how this space issue is resolved !
Sister Act , with its large chorus of singing nuns presents a different challenge : everyone was warned by choreographer Gisele Yoh Fowles that although there might not be too much moving around ( because choirs tend to stay in one place ) the amount of energetic action in each number would : “ amount to a workout at every rehearsal ”!
“ We had some excellent but very long auditions , followed by two hours of deliberation ,” said director Iain Fowles , “ and we have a first-rate cast of over 20 , all of a very high calibre .” In the leading role of Deloris , the nightclub singer forced to hide in a convent from her gangster ex-boyfriend , is Sarah Winter , very well-known on the local amateur stage with a string of leading roles from musicals ranging from Cabaret , to Into the Woods .
Clearly , there ’ s plenty to keep everyone busy for the next few months , without even mentioning our week-long youth summer school , a musical revue planned for the autumn and then - guess what ? – Christmas panto .
After all , a Centenary Year only happens every hundred years !
/ HHTheatreCo @ hhtheatreco www . hhtheatreco . com hhtc . membership @ gmail . com
Box Office : 0333 666 3366
8 < Boxmoor Direct < February 2025 <