FCT is proud to announce details of next year’s productions.
At Easter we will perform “Thoroughly Modern Millie”.
The show will be directed by Katie Renton, Choreographed by Jack Nixon and Md’d by Alex Lyne.
Our Fringe show will be “Barnum” directed and choreographed by Cameron Dyer.
Excitement starts NOW.
Forth Children’s Theatre is delighted to present a new production of “Once On This Island” by Ahrens and Flaherty for their 2012 Edinburgh Festival Fringe offering.
This vibrant and stunning musical is set in the French Antilles in the Caribbean Sea. The show includes elements of the Romeo and Juliet story intertwined with the fairy tale of the Little Mermaid. With a range of imaginative characters and an innovative score, the production is an exciting challenge for the award winning Youth Theatre who presented an ENDA winning Ahrens and Flaherty show, Ragtime, in 2009
This production boasts a cast of thirty eight ranging from the ages of ten to seventeen. The company are proud to introduce a surge of new younger members as the cycle of the Youth Theatre continues to evolve.
Director Claire Stewart explains her choice of production; “I chose the piece after hearing the soundtrack several years ago and falling in love with it. I have almost staged it several times over the years but it has never felt quite the right time. This year, the company is at an exciting point where several of our younger members are starting to grow and evolve. This piece has just the right balance of challenge that I feel allows them to flourish and develop as performers. The storytelling and the totally unique score make it a very special piece of theatre and one that the entire company adore.”
Chairman, Mark Gorman added; ” FCT is always changing as our young cast come and go, often to begin careers in the professional theatre but it’s clear that this year’s offering is particularly strong with a show that’s always extremely popular no matter where it’s performed. We’ve done some pretty special things too our beloved auditorium at Inverleith Church Hall this year so come prepared for pleasant surprises!”
Once On this Island runs at Edinburgh’s Inverleith Church Hall, Ferry Road Top of Granton Rd) from 3-11 August from 9-11 April at 7.30 pm with a 2.30 pm Matinee on Saturdays 4 and 11 August.
Tickets £12.00 Concessions £10.00 Family Tickets (2A 2C) £30.00
All tickets £8 on Saturday 4th at 2.30pm
Tonight’s dress rehearsal for The Chess Game was fantastic. We need an audience now as Vic eloquently put it and tomorrow night we get one. Not as big an audience as we’d like but an audience.
But this picture taken at the dress sums up what the whole thing is about.
We’re all dead proud of our gang. Adults and kids alike . Because so many people make so much effort for no personal gain.
Other than to say. I helped make this photo happen.
Look at those faces and that commitment. Oggy Oggy Oggy...
I think a special thanks to Vic Laing and Kirsty Shaw is in order.
In the 30+ years of FCT’s existence only one actor in Hollywood achieved back-to-back Oscar success. Well, FCT have done the equivalent in their field with consecutive Best Musical ENDAs in 2008 and 2009. An incredible feat given the competition.
Read on….
Yes, a bit difficult to read – here is the full article…
Theatre groups full of cheer after second award in a row
LIAM RUDDEN and LAURA CUMMINGS
Evening News 29 Aug 2009
TWO amateur theatre companies are celebrating after winning Evening News Drama Awards for the second consecutive year. Edinburgh Theatre Arts received the award for Best Play on this year’s Fringe at a glittering awards ceremony on the roof of The Gilded Balloon, in the Loft VIP Bar last night. The biggest cheer of the night came when Forth Children’s Theatre was named the winner of the Best Musical award for its production of Ragtime. It follows the youth theatre company’s success at the 2008 awards when it won the same accolade for its production of Jekyll and Hyde. Cabaret star Camille O’Sullivan presented Edinburgh Theatre Arts with the Best Play award for A Tale Of Two Cities, which centred on the French Revolution. Cabaret act Frisky and Mannish – also known as Laura Corcoran and Matthew Jones – presented Forth Children’s Theatre with its award. Frisky had the audience in fits of laughter when she said that both her and Matthew started off in the amateur world, which is “a great place to learn a sense of irony”. Chairman of Edinburgh Theatre Arts and director of A Tale Of Two Cities, John McLinden, 62, said: “It is fantastic to win the award because it is great recognition for six months of really hard work putting the show together. “It was quite a complicated show with 34 scenes, which we had to cram into St Ninian’s Church hall.” He laughed: “We also had to build a working guillotine for people to have their heads chopped off!” Director of Ragtime, Andrew Dyer, 23, added: “It is the second year in a row that we have won the award and we are very grateful. It was a very proud moment for everyone and the children are all fair away with themselves!” Around 100 actors, directors and producers from all 12 nominated amateur companies witnessed the presentation of this year’s awards. The awards were introduced by the Evening News two years ago to recognise the work of local companies during the Fringe. Edinburgh Theatre Arts, whose Fringe history dates back to the early seventies, won the Best Play for its production of Dennis Potter’s Blue Remembered Hills at last year’s awards. The drama awards were judged for the second year running by Scottish Community Drama Association adjudicator Ron Cattell, Evening News theatre critic Thom Dibdin, and Fiona Rogan – an arts professional with more than 30 years’ experience working with amateur groups across Scotland. The award for Best Musical was judged by Edinburgh actor Arron Usher, musicals producer Eleanor Brown, and James Haworth, general manager of the Edinburgh Playhouse. Mr Haworth, 39, said: “Many of the shows that the Edinburgh amateur companies have put on have actually been better than the professional productions I have seen this year. “The thing that you get from amateurs is an incredible enthusiasm.” “For amateurs to be able to perform in front of worldwide audiences is just an incredible treat for them.”
Sorry folks……
You could take your chances on returns. We get a few. But not many…
In fact, the returns waiting lists for each of the remaining performances are running to 5-10% of total capacity.
Good luck.
The following quote is very topical in the world of showbiz… (Somehow though we think it should be taken with a Tarantino-sized pinch of salt – most of the kids in the show won’t be able to watch this movie for a good few years!)
Article/interview from Observer Magazine (Sunday 9th August) about Tarantino’s new movie, Inglourious Basterds….
This plotline is the Dirty Dozen remade as torture flick with a nod, I kid you not, to those old-fashioned, stiff upper-lip British war films of the 60s. “I sat down to write a bunch-of-guys-on-a-mission movie,” says Tarantino, “and that happens, but it’s closer to, say, the film of EL Doctorow’s Ragtime than it is to The Devil’s Brigade.”
Well – we’ll have to see about that…..someday.
Ragtime opened last night to hysterical acclaim. And a standing ovation on the first night. Today the matinee is sold out, as is the last night. This show is extraordinary. Breathtaking. What a stellar cast. It’s essentially an ensemble piece but that leaves room for several very big performances as well as a chorus to die for. The technical and musical sides of the equation take ones breath away too.
And in Andew Dyer…well, what can we say? Amazing vision.
If you miss this eveyone will tell you how daft you were.
So, don’t.
Forth Children's Theatre 