18/04/12…Talented Thame youngsters take to the stage

SINGERS, dancers and actors from the Oxfordshire Youth Music Theatre will tread the boards at an Oxford theatre this month when they perform their annual production.

A total of 32 local secondary schoolchildren, including some from Lord Williams’s in Thame, will bring their own touch of glamour to The Theatre at Headington by performing the popular musical Evita, a production about the life of Argentine political leader Eva Peron with music written by Andrew Lloyd Webber and lyrics by Tim Rice.

There will be four 7.30pm shows at the 240-seat venue, which is situated within Headington School on Headington Road, from Wednesday, April 18 to Saturday, April 21. A matinee will also be performed on the show’s last day at 2.30pm.

The pupils were auditioned for parts last year and have been learning lines and perfecting dance routines since September.

Future success

Past members of the Oxfordshire Youth Music Theatre, a group run by the county council’s Music Service, have gone on to huge successes in the professional theatre and music world, including the lead parts in West End hits such as Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat and Mamma Mia.

Liz Stock, Oxfordshire County Council’s Assistant Head of the Music Service, said: “Productions in previous years have been fantastic and I am sure that the current crop of talented performers from the Oxfordshire Youth Music Theatre will impress theatre audiences.

“The county council’s Music Service works closely with the students in schools all over Oxfordshire in a variety of ways and this production is one example of how successful that partnership is.”

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