"Kipps, The New Half A Sixpence Musical"
Tuesday 3rd - Saturday 7th December 2024
Arthur Kipps, an orphan, is an over-worked draper’s assistant at Shalford’s Bazaar, Folkestone, at the turn of the last century. He is a charming but ordinary young man who, along with his fellow apprentices, dreams of a better and more fulfilling world, but he likes his fun just like any other, except not quite. When Kipps unexpectedly inherits a fortune that propels him into high society, it confuses everything he thought he knew about life.
This new stage version of Half A Sixpence, which returns to the H. G. Wells semi-autobiographical novel, “Kipps”, in order to reinvent the musical “Half a Sixpence” for the modern age, has a stellar creative team and reunites bookwriter Julian Fellowes with George Stiles and Anthony Drewe, the musical team that co-creator Cameron Mackintosh first put together to create the smash-hit stage adaptation of Mary Poppins with Disney. Julian Fellowes’ masterful adaptation returns the musical to its literary roots, in a timeless and contemporary way, and Stiles and Drewe’s brilliantly infectious new score harnesses the David Heneker classics with a joyous verve.
Director: Samantha Finch, Musical Director: Steven Bean, Choreographer: Meg Beard
Key Dates:
Intro: Tuesday 3rd September, 8pm
Auditions: Sunday 15th September, 2pm
Tech: Sunday 1st December
Dress: Monday 2nd December
Performances: Tuesday 3rd - Saturday 7th December inc. Saturday Matinée
This new stage version of Half A Sixpence, which returns to the H. G. Wells semi-autobiographical novel, “Kipps”, in order to reinvent the musical “Half a Sixpence” for the modern age, has a stellar creative team and reunites bookwriter Julian Fellowes with George Stiles and Anthony Drewe, the musical team that co-creator Cameron Mackintosh first put together to create the smash-hit stage adaptation of Mary Poppins with Disney. Julian Fellowes’ masterful adaptation returns the musical to its literary roots, in a timeless and contemporary way, and Stiles and Drewe’s brilliantly infectious new score harnesses the David Heneker classics with a joyous verve.
Director: Samantha Finch, Musical Director: Steven Bean, Choreographer: Meg Beard
Key Dates:
Intro: Tuesday 3rd September, 8pm
Auditions: Sunday 15th September, 2pm
Tech: Sunday 1st December
Dress: Monday 2nd December
Performances: Tuesday 3rd - Saturday 7th December inc. Saturday Matinée
"Music Hall Extravaganza - 100 Years Of Music, 100 Years Of Memories"
Thursday 13th - Saturday 15th February 2025
Kicking off WWAOS's centenary year will be a good old fashioned Music Hall.
Celebrating song, dance and sketches, for many years, Old Time Music Hall was an annual staple for WWAOS and always proved to be a huge hit with cast and audiences alike!
Direction & Choreography: Janet Turner & Jen Jones, Musical Director: David Perkins
Key Dates:
Intro: Thursday 2nd January, 8pm
Tech & Dress: Wednesday 12th February
Performances: Thursday 13th - Saturday 15th February
Celebrating song, dance and sketches, for many years, Old Time Music Hall was an annual staple for WWAOS and always proved to be a huge hit with cast and audiences alike!
Direction & Choreography: Janet Turner & Jen Jones, Musical Director: David Perkins
Key Dates:
Intro: Thursday 2nd January, 8pm
Tech & Dress: Wednesday 12th February
Performances: Thursday 13th - Saturday 15th February
"The Mikado - Centenary Celebration Production"
Tuesday 10th - Saturday 14th June 2025
As WWAOS enters its 100th year, the society is paying homage to its past, by revisiting the first ever production mounted by the society at its life-long home The Cecil Hepworth Playhouse. With it's inaugural production taking place in the same venue which still houses our performances and with the very person whose name the building now bears waving the baton it is only fitting that WWAOS's Centenary Celebration production be The Mikado; last mounted by the society for it's 75th Anniversary.
The Mikado; or, The Town of Titipu is the ninth of fourteen operatic collaborations between W. S. Gilbert and Sir Arthur Sullivan. It opened on 14 March 1885, in London, where it ran at the Savoy Theatre for 672 performances, the second-longest run for any work of musical theatre and one of the longest runs of any theatre piece up to that time. The Mikado is the most internationally successful Savoy opera and has been especially popular with amateur and school productions. The work has been translated into numerous languages and is one of the most frequently played musical theatre pieces in history. A satire of late 19th century British institutions, society and politics, which by setting in a fantasy Japan, an exotic locale far away from contemporary Britain, Gilbert was able to satirise British politics more freely and soften the impact of his criticisms of British social institutions, in a similar way that he used other "foreign" settings in Princess Ida, The Gondoliers, Utopia, Limited and The Grand Duke.
Director & Choreographer: James Palmer, Musical Director: Richard Stockton
Key Dates:
Intro: Tuesday 25th February, 8pm
Auditions: Sunday 9th March, 2pm
Tech: Sunday 8th June
Dress: Monday 9th June
Performances: Tuesday 10th - Saturday 14th June inc. Saturday Matinée
The Mikado; or, The Town of Titipu is the ninth of fourteen operatic collaborations between W. S. Gilbert and Sir Arthur Sullivan. It opened on 14 March 1885, in London, where it ran at the Savoy Theatre for 672 performances, the second-longest run for any work of musical theatre and one of the longest runs of any theatre piece up to that time. The Mikado is the most internationally successful Savoy opera and has been especially popular with amateur and school productions. The work has been translated into numerous languages and is one of the most frequently played musical theatre pieces in history. A satire of late 19th century British institutions, society and politics, which by setting in a fantasy Japan, an exotic locale far away from contemporary Britain, Gilbert was able to satirise British politics more freely and soften the impact of his criticisms of British social institutions, in a similar way that he used other "foreign" settings in Princess Ida, The Gondoliers, Utopia, Limited and The Grand Duke.
Director & Choreographer: James Palmer, Musical Director: Richard Stockton
Key Dates:
Intro: Tuesday 25th February, 8pm
Auditions: Sunday 9th March, 2pm
Tech: Sunday 8th June
Dress: Monday 9th June
Performances: Tuesday 10th - Saturday 14th June inc. Saturday Matinée
"Wind In The Willows"
Wednesday 3rd - Sunday 7th December 2025
Continuing WWAOS's centenary year celebrations, we are marrying the traditional operettas from our past with contemporary musical theatre at it's best.
Based on Kenneth Grahame’s best-selling classic of children’s literature, and with a book by Oscar-winning screenwriter and Downton Abbey creator Julian Fellowes and songs by Olivier Award-winning composers and lyricists George Stiles and Anthony Drewe, The Wind In The Willows is a wild, thrill-seeking tale.
This riotous comedy follows Mole, Rat, Badger, and the impulsive Mr. Toad, whose insatiable need for speed lands him in serious trouble. With his beloved home under threat from the notorious Chief Weasel and his gang of sinister Wild Wooders, Toad must attempt a daring escape leading to a series of misadventures and a heroic battle to recapture Toad Hall. Full of humor, wit, a gorgeous, soaring score, and heartwarming lessons of friendship, The Wind In The Willows is the perfect fit for family audiences everywhere.
Director: Claire Leonard, Musical Director: Mark Turvill
Key Dates:
Intro: Tuesday 19th August (TBC)
Auditions: 31st August (TBC)
Tech: Monday 1st December
Dress: Tuesday 2nd December
Performances: Wednesday 3rd - Sunday 7th December inc. Saturday and Sunday Matinées
Based on Kenneth Grahame’s best-selling classic of children’s literature, and with a book by Oscar-winning screenwriter and Downton Abbey creator Julian Fellowes and songs by Olivier Award-winning composers and lyricists George Stiles and Anthony Drewe, The Wind In The Willows is a wild, thrill-seeking tale.
This riotous comedy follows Mole, Rat, Badger, and the impulsive Mr. Toad, whose insatiable need for speed lands him in serious trouble. With his beloved home under threat from the notorious Chief Weasel and his gang of sinister Wild Wooders, Toad must attempt a daring escape leading to a series of misadventures and a heroic battle to recapture Toad Hall. Full of humor, wit, a gorgeous, soaring score, and heartwarming lessons of friendship, The Wind In The Willows is the perfect fit for family audiences everywhere.
Director: Claire Leonard, Musical Director: Mark Turvill
Key Dates:
Intro: Tuesday 19th August (TBC)
Auditions: 31st August (TBC)
Tech: Monday 1st December
Dress: Tuesday 2nd December
Performances: Wednesday 3rd - Sunday 7th December inc. Saturday and Sunday Matinées