This year’s Stephen Hill Youth pantomime is Snow White. It runs from Wednesday 18 to Saturday 21 February. Tickets are available online or from Bob Hodges on 0114 230 3207. More information is below.
It was back in 1968 when members of Stephen Hill Youth Club in Crosspool decided to stage a pantomime. A small group of young people met together over a period of months to write Puss in Boots which was staged the following year. It proved to be a great success and a new show has been performed every February Half term ever since. All the shows have been written and produced in-house.
This year the group of 40 or so 8 to 18yr olds is offering Snow White and the Seven Dwarves. The show was written by Ian Delaney together with brother and sister Lucy and Paul Nelson. The producer is Helen Gill. All these young adults commenced their involvement some years ago as members of the chorus and have graduated through starring roles into a fine production team.
Producer Helen [30] has been involved with the show since 1996 and feels that the standard of the shows on offer has increased year on year. ‘ We have been lucky enough to hold on to a significant number of young people who return each year to help with all the backstage tasks and we have a smashing team of wardrobe ladies who make the show look dazzling,’ she enthuses.
This year the Part of the Dame is played by Ian Delaney, coming back to the stage after several years on the production side. The part of Snow White is played by Rachel Lister who says that she was thrilled to be offered the title role and is enjoying the opportunities which it presents.
Katie Craig is on her fourth year, starting as a chorus member and having had main parts in following years. She is finding her part this year very interesting. ‘Working out how to project my personality onto the part of the magic mirror is quite a challenge’, she reflects.
The show is a spectacle of colour, humour, music, dance and drama with an appeal to people of all ages. Tickets are available online this year for the first time but can be purchased directly from Bob Hodges, who was at that first meeting back in 1968. ‘I have been busy selling tickets since Christmas, ‘ says Bob. ‘Lots of folk bring their children but it is wonderful that some people who are in their nineties are still amongst the first to request tickets each year, having seen every show.’
The show runs in half term week from Wednesday February 18th to Saturday 21st. There is a matinee on Saturday afternoon which always sells out very quickly.
