Local theatre back with a bump, two years after pandemic
The Wizard of Oz will mark the return to the stage for Glastonbury & Street Musical Comedy Society after a two-year break
Performances April 5 – 9 at Meyer Theatre, Millfield School, Street, Somerset
One of Somerset’s most successful theatre groups is returning with a bump this spring, two years after the curtain fell on its shows because of the coronavirus pandemic.
Glastonbury & Street Musical Comedy Society (GSMCS) is returning to the stage between April 5 and 9 with the hit family favourite The Wizard of Oz.
It will be the first time the society has performed for audiences for more than two years, after it was forced to cancel its production of The Full Monty in April 2020 just as the pandemic tightened its grip on the UK.
Since then, the group’s vocal and dancing talents have been put on hold, until now.
Dorothy (played by Honey Hann and Florence Milner) and her friends, the Scarecrow (Paul Brolly), Tinman (Tristan Hann) and Cowardly Lion (Christian Lockyer), will make their way to the Emerald City singing many memorable songs including If I Only Had A Brain, Merry Old Land Of Oz and Ding Dong The Witch Is Dead. Other performers include Cherry Lewis as the Wicked Witch, Jess Russell as Glinda, Barry Squance as The Wizard, Nicky Hann as Aunt Em, Dave Bonser as Uncle Henry, and not forgetting one-year-old jackapoo Reggie as Dorothy’s trusted pet dog Toto.
The society is also on the move this year; having staged its shows at Strode Theatre for the past 48 years it is heading to the 400-seater, fully equipped Meyer Theatre at Street’s Millfield School.
Director of The Wizard of Oz, which is sponsored by the aptly named The Lion at West Pennard, is Sarah Neale, who is Assistant Principal of the local South West School of Dance. She said: “I simply cannot wait to bring the Emerald City to mid-Somerset. We have an amazing, talented cast and crew ready to sprinkle some magic over this wonderful show. And our team of munchkin children and dancers are simply brilliant.
“After such a long break, some of the cast will be the first to say they’re a little rusty but they are working so hard to bring a spectacular show to our audiences. This will be a colourful, toe-tapping show that we hope will signal a return to some sense of normality after what has been an awful two years.”
The Society had hoped to return in November 2021 with its fundraising musicals weekend All Together Now! But at the eleventh hour, the society was forced to cancel its shows after a number of its cast and crew contracted covid, making the show impossible to stage.
While its ticket holders were refunded, some offered to donate their tickets to the fundraising event, but it still resulted in the group losing hundreds of pounds it had already committed to the show.
Chair of the GSMCS Laura Vernoum said: “This show is a long time coming. It’s been over two years since we set foot on a stage for an audience, so we really want to come back with a bang, and what better show to do that than The Wizard of Oz.
“Like so many other theatre groups, these past two years have been tough for us, but we have kept going as a society. We were massively disappointed when our fundraising weekend All Together Now! became yet another casualty of the pandemic.
“But I know the team are raring to go with Oz. We’re throwing everything at it to make it memorable, and really show that live, local theatre is back for good in mid-Somerset.”
Tickets for the evening (7pm start) and matinee (2.30pm start) performances start from £10 each and are available online: www.gsmcs.co.uk/wizard or by telephoning 07342 728290. There are also accessible/wheelchair access tickets and special rates for schools and community groups by emailing: boxoffice@gsmcs.co.uk.
This year’s show has been made possible thanks to its sponsor The Lion at West Pennard, partners Holland and Odam, JTS Snacks and H&M Motors, and its supporters Abbey Tea Rooms, Fit My Floor and Tranquility Hair.