Musical to showcase at Racecourse

Aug 29 2008 by Allison Dickinson, Flintshire Chronicle

Musical to showcase at Racecourse

CHESTER Racecourse Pavilion is the venue for an exciting new musical based on a Chester neighbourhood.

Garden Lane – The Musical is the latest production by Theatre in the Quarter, Chester’s leading community theatre company.

Following the sell-out success of Some Sunny Day, Sweet Sixteen and The Twelve Days of Christmas, this is the company’s fourth exciting production.

Rehearsals have been taking place for the last three weeks with a cast of more than 20 young people learning lines, songs and choreography for the show under the musical direction of Matt Baker, the man behind the music of Chester Mystery Plays 2008.

Matt said: “This is an exciting opportunity to see a cast of talented young actors and musicians perform an original piece of musical, comedy theatre inspired by the increasingly diverse lives of the people of Garden Lane, one of Chester’s most cherished neighbourhoods.”Š

Faced with the bulldozer, our hero Tim, has to prove once and for all that a community still exists in Garden Lane.

The future of the lane lies in an all important five-a-side football match, and the most unlikely players are cobbled together.

One of the people picked for the team, camp hairdresser Maurice, is played by actor and magician, Paul Dabek, whose last role was as Lucifer in the Mystery Plays.

He said: “Considering we are supposed to be amateurs, it has been an amazing experience and everyone has been utterly professional.

“To be able to put together a musical of such a high standard in just three weeks is really something.”

Garden Lane – The Musical is written by Rob Edmonds with choreography by Lindsay Ingleby.

Performances at The Pavilion, Chester Racecourse are on Wednesday to Saturday, September 3 – 6 at 7.30pm with a matinee at 2pm on Saturday September 6. Tickets are £12 (£10 concessions) from Chester Tourist Information Centre on 01244 402111.