Ah Players

In September 2021, a small group of friends got together to begin work on a fundraising production. ‘All Together Now!’ was developed by Musical Theatre International (who are the people that license the major musicals), and was ‘A Global Event Celebrating Local Theatre!’

All Together Now was an opportunity for schools and theatres around the world to produce and perform locally an exclusive musical revue featuring songs from MTI’s beloved shows. MTI provided the licenses, and all materials needed to produce the show, completely free of charge.

Directed, and Produced by The Albert Hall’s very own, Ben, over the course of 10 weeks, the small, but committed company worked hard, to produce a fantastic show, which raised just under £2,000 to go towards keeping the theatre open.

With the adrenaline and success of ATN!, the group were back together in early 2022, planning their next show! This time the show was needing to be developed, and together the company created another musical revue, featuring some of the greatest musical hits! ‘Here We Go Again’ took place in May 2022, and another £2000 was brought in to the coffers.

The cast from ‘Here We Go Again’ were invited to perform some of the hits from the show, at Llandrindod Carnival. As well as making their ‘Bandstand’ and public debut, the group got to perform alongside Britains Got Talent contestant, Eva Abley.

In September, it was decided to take a break from revues, and to try something different. Four members of the group, went away and wrote a new, comedic adaption of The Nativity, to be presented at Christmas 2022. Auditions were held at the end of September, and rehearsals got under in October. Whilst initially there was only a basic script, the entire company were involved in the development of the show, and construction of the set. ‘Jesus, Mary, and Joseph’ premiered in December 2022, and was a roaring success. Bringing in over £2000 to the theatre, and receiving incredible amounts of praise from all audiences, it was a great end to the year. It also brought lots of young blood into The Ah Players…

In February 2023, with the already fantastic youth members of the group, a campaign was launched, for young people under the age of 18 to come and audition for a Youth Musical production. Expecting 15 to 20 kids to turn up for auditions, the team were overwhelmed when 62 young people turned up to audition! It was clear this is what the community wanted! With a selected group of 30 youngsters, rehearsals got underway in March, and in May 2023, The Addams Family Young@Part, a youth version of the classic comedy musical, took place. Debuting with a set, like nothing had ever been seen before – A double stair case, and landing, which allowed multiple performance levels! The set lives on, and was delivered soon after the show to our friends at Windmill Theatre School! Performed by a group of young people aged between 7 and 16, with 50% of the backstage team under 18, and 50% of the production team under 22, The Addams Family Young@Part truly was a youth production! Following 3 incredibly successful performances, it was announced that a grand total of just under £4000 had been raised for The Albert Hall!

Delighted with the success of The Addams Family Young@Part, the team got to work on their next production. With the fantastic group of young performers that had been built up over the past 2 shows, it was agreed to include them all in the next show. September arrived, and work was underway to write another Christmas production – this time, a new comedic adaption of ‘A Christmas Carol’! Three months of rehearsals, script writing, set building, and designing, ‘SCROOGE!’ debuted in December 2023, to incredible reviews! Keen to keep up with their ambitious set, a revolving stage was built, and shortly after the show, was collected by our friends at Tillie’s School of Performing Arts, to be used for upcoming youth productions. With 25 kids, and 6 adults on stage, the show was an enormous success, and brought in over £2750 to keep the hall running!

In March 2024, to launch The Albert Hall’s new lighting system, a small group of the Ah Players got to work on their next production. Just 3 weeks later, ‘The Reel Deal!’ took to the stage! A concert/revue, celebrating the hits of the cinema. Anyone that’s been involved with a theatre production, will know that 3 weeks is a very short time to put a show together! However, they did it, and raised a great sum of money for the theatre. Not only that, they also raised £177 from a bucket collection, to support LATCH, a Welsh children’s cancer charity, who has supported Kathryn, an 8 year old Ah Player, and her family.

At the end of April, we announced auditions for an exciting Youth Musical! The Spongebob Musical Youth Edition was to be staged at the end of June. After a well attended audition session, and callback auditions, we cast 23 young people to take part. Rehearsals got under way, and the show was presented on the 28th, 29th, and 30th June, and was a great success!

Plans are now underway for the next production, and further details will be uploaded below!

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