Pied Piper II: The Squeakuel – Today!!! It begins!!!
Report by Richard Frazer – Producer
Come on and all to the showcase that is the Pied Piper II: The Squeakuel. This show has been produced using much sweat and blood. Not least because we were following a very interesting and new ethos with added a little extra spice to the usual pressures of bringing a show:
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We wanted to bring theatre to a region which did not normally see main stage Theatre – This was achieved by locating the Joseph Chamberlain College’s new build theatre. We are the first show on in these premises from an external company. It sounds fearsome, but we struck gold with their state of the art facilities!!!
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We wanted to bring new faces in the production of a stage show – We had a largely brand new cast and crew. Rat Productions is part of Musiconstage.co.uk a group which has been around for over 35 years. We only used 3 of the original members out of 60 people involved!!
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We wanted to use people from the local area. Now Balsall Heath is not really recognised for theatre (at this moment). We worked hard with the college and brought through a student of JCC into a main show part. Look for Rowan Lennard playing Lotty.
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We wanted to be totally funded by the community. Thank fully to our generous sponsors we were able to do this. BIG THANKS TO – Midlands Cooperative Society, Pixels and Images, Frugal Marketer, Diet Care Birmingham and Fancy Dress One-Offs! Not to mention all the individuals who have given up time and money to be involved.
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MOST IMPORTANTLY – We wanted to give back to the community we are supporting. We will be donating £1000 to the JCC’s Student Support Fund for Disadvantaged Academics.
These are certainly massive mountains to climb as they meant we started with NO CAST, NO CREW, NO MONEY, NO STAGE and on top of this we were still writing the script when the production began to ensure it was entirely locally driven.
Thank you to all for sticking with Rat Productions through this difficult project and all looks well. We hope you enjoy what you see when (and if you come). Ticket sales have been steady, but we still have more to allocate. If you wish to come to the show either purchase online, reserve on 0121 742 3021 (boxoffice@musiconstage.co.uk) or buy on door.
To all the cast and crew- BREAK A LEG
To the audience – Enjoy the show. It should be amazing
To the College – So glad you have stuck with us
To the Community – Thank you for your support
Now to put my make-up on – (I also have a role as Roland – yes the rat)
- Solihull News – Thursday 21/10/10
- Solihull Observer – Thursday 21/10/10
