Am-dram stars take stage for golden year
AN AMATEUR dramatic group that has performed at least one show a year for half a century is celebrating 50 years of entertaining crowds.
Macclesfield Majestic Theatre Group put on its first production of Oliver at the Majestic Cinema in 1971.
Since then not a year has gone by without its members taking to the stage, 2008 was their busiest year with four shows - Puss in Boots, Night of Musicality, the Little Mermaid and Oliver again.
Despite being hit hard by the pandemic - like all parts of the entertainment industry - the group managed to squeeze in a production of Snow White prior to Covid to maintain this run in 2020.
And for 2021 there will be a 50th anniversary show containing a selection of songs from the past five decades at St Michael’s Church, Macclesfield Market Place, next month.
Dawn Dale, from the group, said: “We have been part of Macclesfield’s live theatre scene for a very long time. We are part of the town’s history.
“Live theatre is very different from the cinema, you can interact with the audience and feed of their reaction.
“We provide a feelgood factor in all our shows, it’s a place for people to go to get away from the day to day stresses of life, especially at the moment.”
The venue for the first show back in 1971 is what gave rise to the group’s name - although the cinema has long since closed.
Needing a new home members spent a few years as ‘nomads’ before settling at MADs Little Theatre, on Lord Street.
Since the first performance of Oliver there has been a total of 100 others, including Footloose, the Sound of Music, Cinderella, The King and I and Die Fledermaus.
Some of those who have starred on stage have gone onto have careers in the West End.
Following Sleeping Beauty the group has been unable to perform and that year’s productions of Chicago and the Wizard of Oz were cancelled.
So was this year’s panto and the loss of revenue hit them hard so a gofundme page has been set up for donations.
Looking forward the group plans to perform Wizard of Oz in January and later in 2022 aim to be the first north west group to put on the show of Kinky Boots.
Dawn said: “We try and cater for all ages, people come to us children and remain as adults. We see each other as family, It’s great to rehearse together again and we can’t wait to perform.
“It will be a magical two evenings of music. Hopefully the audience will leave with a smile on their face.”
The 50th anniversary show takes place on September 24 and 25, call 0333 6663366 for tickets (£8, £5 for under 16s).
To donate to Macclesfield Majestic Theatre Group visit www.mmtg. co.uk.