Looking ahead to our March and April shows and much more...

Here come the girls!

Our 'Calendar Girls' live on stage March 12 - 16

This very special play by Tim Firth - full of laughter and maybe a few tears - is selling well, and we're delighted to welcome some group bookings from organisations including the Women's Institutes of Linton and Burton Belles and a party from the business networking group Women In Rural Enterprises (WiRE Burton and WiRE Lichfield).

As you know, the ladies of Little Theatre Company created their own 2013 Calendar Girls-style calendar. But our girls haven't stopped their fund-raising. During show week there will be buckets on the bar collecting donations and a raffle each night for prizes including items signed by the professional touring cast of Calendar Girls including Ruth Madoc, Lesley Joseph, Kacey Ainsworth and Camilla Dallerup. The girls are also crocheting calendar girl dolls to raise funds.

If you missed getting a calendar - you may also be able to snap up a souvenir copy during show week in return for a donation.

Because so many ladies are in the show and backstage we COULD use some extra help from friends of LTC who would be prepared to help sell raffle tickets in the bar before the show and during the interval. If you can help please email elaine@little-theatre.co.uk and she'll pass your contact details on to Kay St Clair who is organising a front of house rota for the week.

The girls have set a target of raising £2,500 for Leukaemia and Lymphoma Res earch and have already passed the half way mark.

Donations can still be made at their JustGiving Page and you can donate £1 by text by simply texting "BCGS90 £1" to 70070. All the money raised goes to help in the fight against blood cancers.

Thanks to EVERYONE who has supported our fund-raising so far. To check ticket availability for the play, ring the Brewhouse on 01283-508100 or LTC's box office on 01283-542446.

Forward to Friend

As this is our first newsletter of 2013, we wanted to share this lovely picture montage created by Geoff Thompson. It features some of the images he captured of the shows we presented in 2012. Hope it brings back some happy memories of Our Town, Les Miserables (School Edition), The Rise and Fall of Little Voice and The Sound of Music.

Our December AGM saw Kay St Clair step down as Vice Chair of Little Theatre Company. We would like to record our grateful thanks to her for all her years of service in this role. We are delighted that Kay has agreed to stay on the committee as Front of House Manager. Elected as our new Vice Chair is Leon Ratcliffe who first joined LTC as a youth member during our days based at Guild Street.

Jack Dent is now over half way through his six month contract as an entertainment host on board the Thomson Majesty.
He's been keeping us up to date with his adventures through a Cruise News newsletter which he emails out to family and friends. He also made a surprise 'appearance' at our December LAFTAS party via a video filmed in his cabin.
Jack will be back in Burton in May when he's looking forward to celebrating Christmas and New Year all over again with girlfriend, Sarah, mum and dad Dave and Angie and twin brother Tom - who takes the title role in our April 2013 youth production Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat.

We've wanted to perform the Andrew Lloyd-Webber and Tim Rice musical Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat for a long time and were delighted when we finally secured the rights to perform it this Easter.
The show includes well-loved musical numbers including Any Dream Will Do, Close Every Door, Go,Go,Go Joseph and Joseph's Coat which will be performed by our LTC Youth group from April 2 - 6.
As mentioned above, Tom Dent takes the lead role of Joseph with Shannon Lenton as the Narrator,
The production will also feature a young choir from William Shrewsbury Primary School.
Tickets are going fast but can still be obtained in person at the Brewhouse box office, by telephoning 01283 508100 or online via our website.

Sam Goldsworthy, who plays Jacob in our youth production of Joseph, had a day out to remember when he was chosen to appear with fellow Burton Albion fans on the Sky TV live Saturday morning football show, Soccer AM on February 2.
Sam is pictured above - far right of the sofa - with his fellow fans and the show's presenters Helen and Max.

A memorial concert was held on Saturday February 2 to remember the life and work of former de Ferrers head of music Philip Marshall who died last August.

During his 40 year career Mr Marshall inspired many with his talent and enthusiasm.

Little Theatre members and patrons were among the audience. Those who performed during the unique tribute concert included former LTC member Adele Bates - now a professional singer based in Brighton.

Pictured left: Tom Powis and Hannah Mason in Tom's Midnight Garden.
Former LTC member Tom Powis - now living and working in the London theatre world - is climbing Kilimanjaro - the world's highest freestanding mountain in October.
He'll be raising money for both Headway, the brain injury charity, and MIND the mental health charity and needs to raise a minimum of £3,800.
We'll bring you updates on Tom's preparations in all our future newsletters.
Meanwhile, you can visit his fund-raising page and donate securely online at http://uk.virginmoneygiving.com/TomPowis

NEW for all members of the Little Theatre Company is a members' handbook which was issued by email at the start of February.
This will be a 'living' digital document that will be updated as needed.
It contains all the information members need about the company, its policies, rehearsal and show week procedures and who to contact about different areas of our membership and production.
Please will all members (and in the case of youth members their parents) make sure they have read it as even if you have been a member for some time you may find useful advice and information you may not have known.

We are grateful to all our private and corporate patrons who support our work with an annual donation.
Patrons are thanked through publication of their names in our souvenir programmes sold in the foyer and bar area at all our shows.
Corporate patrons - all local businesses - are also thanked through a section of the website where they each have a page.

The following corporate patrons have all given or renewed their support in recent months:

To see the full list of all corporate patrons - click here

To enquire about becoming a patron, email elaine@little-theatre.co.uk

And finally......
Calendar Girl cast members Elaine and Caitlin Pritchard, had a surprise meeting with Donny Osmond - who played Joseph in theatre tours and in the 1999 film version - when he and sister Marie brought their UK tour to Birmingham's LG Arena in January.
Marie picked out a 'tweet' from Elaine - who had posted about being at the show on the social media network Twitter - and invited the Pritchards to watch the show from front row seats, enjoy a backstage tour and meet Donny and Marie for photos and autographs after the show.

Thanks for subscribing to our newsletter. The next edition will be out in April 2013. Send any news you'd like to see to elaine@little-theatre.co.uk

Forward to Friend