A musical theatre group has been entertaining Bridgnorth for more than 70 years. Neil Thomas met its chairman to find out more.
February is a much-anticipated month in the Bridgnorth area for lovers of musical theatre.
For Spring Half Term sees the annual flagship production by Bridgnorth Musical Theatre Company (BMTC).
The group has a proud history of bringing to life some of the biggest and best-loved musicals in stage and screen history. February ’26 will be no exception when the company mounts a lavish production of Sister Act.
Based on the hit 1992 film of the same name, the stage show’s West End premiere was at the London Palladium in 2009 before heading to Broadway. It has since been performed worldwide.
It tells the story of lounge singer Deloris Van Cartier who is relocated for her own protection after seeing her mobster boyfriend Vince LaRocca commit murder. Set up in the guise of a nun in a quiet California convent, the lively Deloris is a disruptive presence. To keep her out of trouble, she is assigned to the choir, which she proceeds to coach into a vibrant soul act gaining widespread fame… rather defeating her original objective of laying low.
The show features such songs as Fabulous, Baby!, Here Within These Walls, When I Find My Baby, Do the Sacred Mass, I Could Be That Guy, Raise Your Voice, Sunday Morning Fever, Lady in the Long Black Dress, Bless Our Show and The Life I Never Led.
The show’s credentials are impressive, with music by the legendary Alan Menken – winner of eight Oscars and a Tony award who composed scores and songs for a raft of Disney films and hit stage musicals – and lyrics by Glenn Slater who was nominated for Tony awards for best original score for Broadway versions of The Little Mermaid and School of Rock, as well as Sister Act.
As ever, Bridgnorth Leisure Centre will be transformed into a 260-capacity theatre with spectacular sets, live music and vibrant singing and acting from a talented cast of performers.
Shows will take place nightly at 7.30 from 18 to 21 February, with 2.30 matinees on the Friday and Saturday.
Read-throughs and rehearsals have been under way since September at the Baptist Church in West Castle Street, the five-month lead-in time demonstrating the scale of the enterprise and the commitment of cast and production team to instil professional values into an essentially amateur endeavour.
The actors, singers and dancers are all BMTC members but the company tends to hire in musicians for its shows, ensuring it maintains the high production values for which it is renowned.
“We are very excited about our 2026 production,” says BMTC chairman Carolyn Edwards. “It has some lovely music and a nice storyline and we think a wide appeal.”
To mount productions of this scale is a major challenge but one that the 30-strong group always manages to rise to.
“We can only put on a show at the Leisure Centre when the school (Bridgnorth Endowed) is on holiday and half-term week in February is an ideal time. As soon as the school breaks up, we go in there and literally build a theatre – stage, scenery, curtains, lighting, sound system and so on,” Carolyn explains. “We can cater for an audience of 260 for each performance and, fortunately, tickets generally sell well. Company members are active in selling tickets to friends and family and we also have a dedicated following in the Bridgnorth area.”
Two key roles have been filled recently in the shape of new director Tim Brown and new musical director Steve Roberts, who both make their BMTC debuts on Sister Act. “They are bringing a fresh approach which helps the company to keep evolving.” The show’s choreographer is Cat Billingham.
Though the company boasts an established corps of talented performers, it is always on the lookout for new members.
“We need more men, which is probably the case with the majority of amateur theatre groups,” Carolyn says. “The imbalance in the number of men and women will obviously govern the type of productions that we can stage but the company has still developed a pretty wide repertoire.”
Performers interested in joining the company must be aged 16 or over. New members wishing to appear on stage as actors, singers, dancers, are asked to take part in a simple singing and movement audition.
“For those wishing to play main parts, we are looking for voice, tone and the ability to understand what you are singing,” Carolyn says. “In the chorus, it is more the ability to sing in a group. We would never ask anyone to sing solo in a production if they didn’t want to. Being part of the chorus can be a lot of fun without the added pressure of leading the show.”
Carolyn, a retired European business development manager, started her own musical theatre career as a performer with Willenhall Operatic Society in 1983. Nowadays, she admits she prefers the less pressurised roles as part of the chorus.
Some members, of course, are happier to work behind the scenes, and they play a vital role in the success of each production.
Providing essential technical back-up in the run up to, and during the week of, the show, they fill such roles as rehearsal pianist, props and wardrobe assistants, front of house staff, and stage crew, which can involve helping to put up the stage, being a lighting engineer, changing scenery, moving stage furniture between scenes and even bringing down the final curtain.
Staging big set-piece musicals, even for an amateur company without big salaries to find, is pretty expensive – and BMTC has a policy of trying to keep ticket prices under £20.
As well as the income from strong ticket sales, support comes from local firms who advertise in the programme, raising vital funds for the company – as well as promoting their own businesses.
One-off summer concerts performed by members are another important source of revenue for BMTC.
The company has its roots in the early 1950s when Arthur Fielder put an advert in a local newspaper asking whether there was interest in reforming the Bridgnorth Choral and Operatic Society, which had launched in 1922 but disbanded in the 1930s.
The result was a public meeting on 1 May 1952 and the formation of the new Bridgnorth Amateur Operatic Society. Its first show, Goodnight Vienna, was staged the following year and the group has never looked back. A highlight came in 2010 when it won the NODA (National Operatic and Dramatic Association) West Midlands Best Musical Award for Lerner & Loewe’s Brigadoon. The story of two American tourists who stumble upon Brigadoon, a mysterious Scottish village that appears for only one day every 100 years, it features a string of lovely songs including Heather on the Hill and Almost Like Being in Love. By then, the society had been renamed Bridgnorth Musical Theatre Company, a rebrand introduced in 2007.
Two years earlier had seen the launch of Bridgnorth Stage Academy, a junior company to the BMTC which caters for children aged five to 15. In 2013 the academy won the West Midlands NODA award for Best Youth Production with Alice the Musical.
In 2016 it built on that success by winning NODA’s Best Youth Production in the national drama awards for its production of Robin and the Sherwood Hoodies. At the same awards ceremony BMTC won Best Musical 2016 with its production of Fiddler on the Roof. A notable double!
Over the years, BMTC has staged some of the best-loved and most successful stage musicals of all time – The Sound of Music, My Fair Lady, South Pacific, Oliver, Annie, Carousel, Oklahoma, Fiddler on the Roof, Me and My Girl, Calamity Jane, Gigi, Kiss Me Kate amongst others.
Gilbert and Sullivan operettas have also been prominent in its repertoire, including HMS Pinafore, The Gondoliers, The Mikado, Pirates of Penzance and Trial by Jury.
And there have been the stage adaptations of hit movies including The Wizard of Oz, 9 to 5 The Musical and Made in Dagenham. Add to that Sister Act, which is set to join a long list of productions – over 72 years – that have entertained the people of Bridgnorth and its surrounding area.
This talented, dedicated group, whose faces have come and gone with the passing of time, has provided memorable moments for so many. They have made their audiences laugh, cry, tap their feet and mime to songs they love. They have brought cultural enrichment and enjoyment – and that tingle of excitement unique to live performance in a full theatre. They have demonstrated year after year, the power of song and dance, comedy and drama, to bring people together. And whose life is not a little better for that?
