Ilkley Upstagers' Theatre Group, or simply Upstagers, is a well-known amateur theatre group based in Ilkley

Ilkley

Ilkley is a spa town and civil parish in West Yorkshire, in the north of England. Ilkley civil parish includes the adjacent village of Ben Rhydding and is a ward within the metropolitan borough of Bradford. Approximately north of Bradford, the town lies mainly on the south bank of the River Wharfe...

, West Yorkshire.

Upstagers perform primarily at Ilkley's King's Hall, Bradford Alhambra

Bradford Alhambra

The Bradford Alhambra is a theatre in Bradford, West Yorkshire, England. It was built in 1913 at a cost of £20,000 for theatre impresario Francis Laidler, and opened on Wednesday 18 March 1914. In 1964 Bradford City Council bought the Alhambra for £78,900. In 1974 it was designated a Grade II...

 and occasionally Guiseley Theatre. The group is a registered charity (no. 1041989) and received substantial National Lottery

National Lottery (United Kingdom)

The National Lottery is the state-franchised national lottery in the United Kingdom and the Isle of Man.It is operated by Camelot Group, to whom the licence was granted in 1994, 2001 and again in 2007. The lottery is regulated by the National Lottery Commission, and was established by the then...

 funding in the late 1990s to acquire a purpose-built headquarters. 'The Barn' comprises two dance studios, a set and materials workshop and a large wardrobe department.

Reputation

Upstagers have been generally well-received by local and national press for over twenty years. Most recently they managed to earn the opportunity to perform "Stars Look Down" from Billy Elliot the Musical

Billy Elliot the Musical

Billy Elliot the Musical is a musical based on the 2000 film Billy Elliot. The music is by Sir Elton John, and book and lyrics are by Lee Hall, who wrote the film's screenplay. The plot revolves around motherless Billy, who trades boxing gloves for ballet shoes...

as part of the Billy Youth Theatre at the Victoria Palace Theatre in the West End. They met and worked with the resident cast and creatives in doing so. The company's reputation was recognised in 2006 by Sir Cameron Mackintosh, who hand-picked the group to be one of just 12 amateur companies in the UK to stage The Witches of Eastwick

The Witches of Eastwick (musical)

The Witches of Eastwick is a 2000 musical based on the novel of the same name by John Updike. It was adapted by John Dempsey and Dana P. Rowe , directed by Eric Schaeffer, and produced by Cameron Mackintosh....

fresh from the West End

West End theatre

West End theatre is a popular term for mainstream professional theatre staged in the large theatres of London's 'Theatreland', the West End. Along with New York's Broadway theatre, West End theatre is usually considered to represent the highest level of commercial theatre in the English speaking...

.

Upstagers is renowned locally for producing energetic, spectacular musical theatre

Musical theatre

Musical theatre is a form of theatre combining songs, spoken dialogue, acting, and dance. The emotional content of the piece – humor, pathos, love, anger – as well as the story itself, is communicated through the words, music, movement and technical aspects of the entertainment as an...

 to large audiences. In the past, it has been suggested that the group placed an emphasis upon dance at the expense of strong singing. However, in the last few years Upstagers' vocal and musical output, bolstered by a strong regular orchestra, see it regarded as one of the all-round leading amateur groups in the north of England.

Alumni

Upstagers is known for having a high standard of youth intake, and members of the company have gone to study at leading drama and dance schools, including The Arts Educational Schools

The Arts Educational Schools

Arts Educational Schools, London is an independent co-educational school specialising in the performing arts and based in Chiswick, London in the United Kingdom...

, Mountview Academy of Theatre Arts

Mountview Academy of Theatre Arts

Mountview Academy of Theatre Arts is an independent drama school situated in the Wood Green area of North London. It was founded in 1945 by Peter Coxhead and Ralph Nossek as 'The Mountview Theatre Club', an amateur repertory company staging a new production for a six-day run every second week...

 and Guildford School of Acting

Guildford School of Acting

Guildford School of Acting is a drama school located in Guildford, Surrey, England. It is an affiliate of the University of Surrey and is an accredited member of the National Council for Drama Training and The Conference of Drama Schools.-Overview:...

, as well as entering the mainstream entertainment industry.

Current members and alumni include:

• Georgie Henley
  Georgie Henley
  Georgina Helen "Georgie" Henley is a British teen actress. She is known for her portrayal of Lucy Pevensie in The Chronicles of Narnia film series, for which she won the Phoenix Film Critics Society Award for Best Performance by a Youth Female in a Lead or Supporting Role in The Lion, the Witch...
  
  , who starred as Lucy in Walt Disney
  Walt Disney
  Walter Elias "Walt" Disney was an American film producer, director, screenwriter, voice actor, animator, entrepreneur, entertainer, international icon, and philanthropist, well-known for his influence in the field of entertainment during the 20th century. Along with his brother Roy O...
  
  's film production of The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe
  The Chronicles of Narnia (film series)
  The Chronicles of Narnia is a series of English fantasy films from Walden Media that are based on The Chronicles of Narnia, a series of novels written by C. S. Lewis...
  
  and the young Jane in the BBC
  BBC
  The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
  
  's adaptation of Charlotte Brontë
  Charlotte Brontë
  Charlotte Brontë was an English novelist and poet, the eldest of the three Brontë sisters who survived into adulthood, whose novels are English literature standards...
  
  's Jane Eyre
  Jane Eyre (2006 TV serial)
  Jane Eyre is a 2006 television adaptation of Charlotte Brontë's 1847 novel of the same name. The story, which has been the subject of numerous television and film adaptations is based on the life of the orphaned titular character...
  
  
• Rebecca Louis, currently in the cast of Betty Blue Eyes at London's West-End, who also appeared in the final cast of Oliver! , Cats
  Cats (musical)
  Cats is a musical composed by Andrew Lloyd Webber, based on Old Possum's Book of Practical Cats by T. S. Eliot...
  
  at the New London Theatre
  New London Theatre
  The New London Theatre is a West End theatre located on the corner of Drury Lane and Parker Street in Covent Garden, in the London Borough of Camden...
  
   & Mary Poppins
  Mary Poppins (musical)
  Mary Poppins is a Walt Disney Theatrical musical based on the similarly titled series of children's books by P. L. Travers and the Disney 1964 film. The West End production opened in December 2004 and received two Olivier Awards, one for Best Actress in a Musical and the other for Best Theatre...
  
  .
• Wayne Perry, currently starring as DC Lateef in the BBC
  BBC
  The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
  
  's Dalziel and Pascoe
  Dalziel and Pascoe (BBC TV series)
  Dalziel and Pascoe is a popular British television crime drama based on the Dalziel and Pascoe books by Reginald Hill, which was first broadcast in March 1996. It is set in Yorkshire, and is about two detectives...
  
  , who also appeared in Bombay Dreams
  Bombay Dreams
  Bombay Dreams is a Bollywood-themed musical, with music by A. R. Rahman, lyrics by Don Black and the book by Meera Syal and Thomas Meehan,and produced by Andrew Lloyd Webber. The London production opened in 2002 and ran for two years...
  
  at the Apollo Victoria Theatre
  Apollo Victoria Theatre
  The Apollo Victoria Theatre is a West End theatre, located on Wilton Road near Victoria station in the City of Westminster. Opened as a cinema and variety theatre, the Apollo Victoria became a venue for musical theatre, beginning with The Sound of Music in 1981, and including the long-running...
  
  , London
• Richard Lloyd, star of Carlton Television's The Railway Children
  The Railway Children
  The Railway Children is a children's book by Edith Nesbit, originally serialised in The London Magazine during 1905 and first published in book form in 1906...
  
  and ITV's Band of Gold
• Ellie Sager, lead in the BBC Radio 4
  BBC Radio 4
  BBC Radio 4 is a British domestic radio station, operated and owned by the BBC, that broadcasts a wide variety of spoken-word programmes, including news, drama, comedy, science and history. It replaced the BBC Home Service in 1967. The station controller is currently Gwyneth Williams, and the...
  
  's drama production of Charlotte Cory's The Brave New World of Allaetitia
• Lois Taylor and Jack Hanson, stars of BBC Radio 4
  BBC Radio 4
  BBC Radio 4 is a British domestic radio station, operated and owned by the BBC, that broadcasts a wide variety of spoken-word programmes, including news, drama, comedy, science and history. It replaced the BBC Home Service in 1967. The station controller is currently Gwyneth Williams, and the...
  
  's drama production of Sharon Oakes' Blind Eye
• Ash Caton, an up and coming comedian who has been signed to several live stand-up's around the north of England, and whom will be appearing at Edinburgh's comedy festival in 2010.

Official Shows

Upstagers typically put on three main productions a year: Pantomime

Pantomime

Pantomime — not to be confused with a mime artist, a theatrical performer of mime—is a musical-comedy theatrical production traditionally found in the United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand, Canada, Jamaica, South Africa, India, Ireland, Gibraltar and Malta, and is mostly performed during the...

, running from January into February; the Spring Show in March/April, usually featuring a cast of 11-18 year olds; and Summer Show in July, usually featuring a cast of 18+ year olds. On occasion Upstagers have also put on a play in September/October. On top of this the group stage several other niche productions in the year, from workshop showcases to Festival Competitions. An incomplete list of shows performed are as follows:

• 2011: Billy Elliot
  Billy Elliot
  Billy Elliot is a 2000 British drama film written by Lee Hall and directed by Stephen Daldry. Set in the fictional town of "Everington" in the real County Durham, UK, it stars Jamie Bell as 11-year-old Billy, an aspiring dancer, Gary Lewis as his coal miner father, Jamie Draven as Billy's older...
  
  (musical), A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum
  A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum
  A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum is a musical with music and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim and book by Burt Shevelove and Larry Gelbart....
  
  (musical), Aladdin (pantomime)
• 2010: West Side Story
  West Side Story
  West Side Story is an American musical with a script by Arthur Laurents, music by Leonard Bernstein, lyrics by Stephen Sondheim, and choreographed by Jerome Robbins...
  
  (musical), Return to the Forbidden Planet
  Return to the Forbidden Planet
  Return to the Forbidden Planet is a Jukebox musical by playwright Bob Carlton based on Shakespeare's The Tempest and the 1950s science fiction film Forbidden Planet ....
  
  (musical), Dick Whittington (pantomime)
• 2009: Oliver!
  Oliver!
  Oliver! is a British musical, with script, music and lyrics by Lionel Bart. The musical is based upon the novel Oliver Twist by Charles Dickens....
  
  (musical), Annie
  Annie
  Annie is a Broadway musical based upon the popular Harold Gray comic strip Little Orphan Annie, with music by Charles Strouse, lyrics by Martin Charnin, and the book by Thomas Meehan. The original Broadway production opened in 1977 and ran for nearly six years with a blonde Annie as the poster...
  
  (musical), Mother Goose (pantomime)
• 2008: Upstagers' Christmas Spectacular (variety), The Full Monty
  The Full Monty
  The Full Monty is a 1997 British comedy film directed by Peter Cattaneo, starring Robert Carlyle, Mark Addy, William Snape, Steve Huison, Tom Wilkinson, Paul Barber, and Hugo Speer. The screenplay was written by Simon Beaufoy...
  
  (musical), Disney's High School Musical
  High School Musical
  High School Musical is a 2006 American television film, first in the High School Musical film franchise. Upon its release on January 20, 2006, it became the most successful film that Disney Channel Original Movie ever produced, with a television sequel High School Musical 2 released in 2007 and...
  
  (musical), Sinbad
  Sinbad
  Sinbad or Sindbad may refer to:* Sinbad the Sailor, from The Book of One Thousand and One Nights, also known as Arabian Nights* Sinbad the Sailor, an alias of Edmond Dantes in the novel The Count of Monte Cristo...
  
  (pantomime)
• 2007: An Upstagers Christmas! (variety), Biloxi Blues
  Biloxi Blues
  Biloxi Blues is a semi-autobiographical play by Neil Simon. The second chapter in what is known as his Eugene trilogy, it follows Brighton Beach Memoirs and precedes Broadway Bound....
  
  (play), The Wiz
  The Wiz
  The Wiz: The Super Soul Musical "Wonderful Wizard of Oz" is a musical with music and lyrics by Charlie Smalls and book by William F. Brown. It is a retelling of L. Frank Baum's The Wonderful Wizard of Oz in the context of African American culture. It opened on October 21, 1974 at the Morris A...
  
  (musical), Les Misérables
  Les Misérables (musical)
  Les Misérables , colloquially known as Les Mis or Les Miz , is a musical by Claude-Michel Schönberg, based on the novel of the same name by Victor Hugo....
  
  (musical), Beauty and the Beast
  Beauty and the Beast
  Beauty and the Beast is a traditional fairy tale. The first published version of the fairy tale was a rendition by Gabrielle-Suzanne Barbot de Villeneuve, published in La jeune américaine, et les contes marins in 1740...
  
  (pantomime)
• 2006: Xmas Showcase! (variety), Stepping Out
  Stepping Out (play)
  Stepping Out is a play written by Richard Harris in 1984. It was produced in the West End, London, where it received the Evening Standard Comedy of the Year Award, and on Broadway, New York.-Plot:...
  
  (play), Billy Liar
  Billy Liar
  Billy Liar is a 1959 novel by Keith Waterhouse, which was later adapted into a play, a film, a musical and a TV series. The work has inspired and featured in a number of popular songs....
  
   (musical), The Witches of Eastwick
  The Witches of Eastwick (musical)
  The Witches of Eastwick is a 2000 musical based on the novel of the same name by John Updike. It was adapted by John Dempsey and Dana P. Rowe , directed by Eric Schaeffer, and produced by Cameron Mackintosh....
  
  (musical), Babes in the Wood
  Babes in the Wood
  Babes in the Wood is a traditional children's tale, as well as a popular pantomime subject. It has also been the name of some other unrelated works. The expression has passed into common language, referring to inexperienced innocents entering unawares into any potentially dangerous or hostile...
  
  (pantomime)
• 2005: Rock Nativity (musical), Summertime Special (variety), Guys and Dolls (musical), Fame
  Fame (musical)
  A stage musical based on the 1980 musical film Fame has been staged under two titles. The first, 'Fame – The Musical' conceived and developed by David De Silva, is a musical with a book by Jose Fernandez, music by Steve Margoshes and lyrics by Jacques Levy. The musical premiered in 1988 in Miami,...
  
  (musical), Robinson Crusoe
  Robinson Crusoe
  Robinson Crusoe is a novel by Daniel Defoe that was first published in 1719. Epistolary, confessional, and didactic in form, the book is a fictional autobiography of the title character—a castaway who spends 28 years on a remote tropical island near Trinidad, encountering cannibals, captives, and...
  
  (pantomime)
• 2004: The Boyfriend (musical), The Wiz
  The Wiz
  The Wiz: The Super Soul Musical "Wonderful Wizard of Oz" is a musical with music and lyrics by Charlie Smalls and book by William F. Brown. It is a retelling of L. Frank Baum's The Wonderful Wizard of Oz in the context of African American culture. It opened on October 21, 1974 at the Morris A...
  
  (musical), Red Riding Hood (pantomime)
• 2003: Barnum
  Barnum (musical)
  Barnum is a musical with a book by Mark Bramble, lyrics by Michael Stewart, and music by Cy Coleman. It is based on the life of showman P. T. Barnum, covering the period from 1835 through 1880 in America and major cities of the world where Barnum took his performing companies. The production...
  
  (musical), Godspell
  Godspell
  Godspell is a musical by Stephen Schwartz and John-Michael Tebelak. It opened off Broadway on May 17, 1971, and has played in various touring companies and revivals many times since, including a 2011 revival now playing on Broadway...
  
  (musical), Sleeping Beauty
  Sleeping Beauty
  Sleeping Beauty by Charles Perrault or Little Briar Rose by the Brothers Grimm is a classic fairytale involving a beautiful princess, enchantment, and a handsome prince...
  
  (pantomime)
• 2002: 42nd Street
  42nd Street (musical)
  42nd Street is a musical with a book by Michael Stewart and Mark Bramble, lyrics by Al Dubin, and music by Harry Warren. The 1980 Broadway production, directed by an ailing Gower Champion and orchestrated by Philip J. Lang, won the Tony Award for Best Musical and became a long-running hit...
  
  (musical), The Demon Headmaster
  The Demon Headmaster
  The Demon Headmaster is a series of books by Gillian Cross which were later adapted as a television series starring Terrence Hardiman in the title role and Frances Amey as Dinah....
  
  (musical), Jack and the Beanstalk
  Jack and the Beanstalk
  Jack and the Beanstalk is a folktale said by English historian Francis Palgrave to be an oral legend that arrived in England with the Vikings. The tale is closely associated with the tale of Jack the Giant-killer. It is known under a number of versions...
  
  (pantomime)
• 2001: Seven Brides for Seven Brothers
  Seven Brides for Seven Brothers (musical)
  Seven Brides for Seven Brothers is a musical with a book by Lawrence Kasha and David Landay, music by Gene de Paul, Al Kasha and Joel Hirschhorn, and lyrics by Johnny Mercer, Al Kasha and Joel Hirschhorn...
  
  (musical), Snow White
  Snow White
  "Snow White" is a fairy tale known from many countries in Europe, the best known version being the German one collected by the Brothers Grimm...
  
  (pantomime)
• 2000: Back and Forth (variety), Fame
  Fame (musical)
  A stage musical based on the 1980 musical film Fame has been staged under two titles. The first, 'Fame – The Musical' conceived and developed by David De Silva, is a musical with a book by Jose Fernandez, music by Steve Margoshes and lyrics by Jacques Levy. The musical premiered in 1988 in Miami,...
  
  (musical), Mother Goose
  Mother Goose
  The familiar figure of Mother Goose is an imaginary author of a collection of fairy tales and nursery rhymes which are often published as Mother Goose Rhymes. As a character, she appears in one "nursery rhyme". A Christmas pantomime called Mother Goose is often performed in the United Kingdom...
  
  (pantomime)
• 1999: Grease
  Grease (musical)
  Grease is a 1971 musical by Jim Jacobs and Warren Casey. The musical is named for the 1950s United States working-class youth subculture known as the greasers. The musical, set in 1959 at fictional Rydell High School , follows ten working-class teenagers as they navigate the complexities of love,...
  
  (musical), Aladdin
  Aladdin
  Aladdin is a Middle Eastern folk tale. It is one of the tales in The Book of One Thousand and One Nights , and one of the most famous, although it was actually added to the collection by Antoine Galland ....
  
  (pantomime)
• 1998: Guys and Dolls (musical), Dick Whittington and His Cat
  Dick Whittington and His Cat
  Dick Whittington and His Cat is an English folk tale that has often been used as the basis for stage pantomimes and other adaptations. It tells of a poor boy in the 14th century who becomes a wealthy merchant and eventually the Lord Mayor of London because of the ratting abilities of his cat...
  
  (pantomime)
• 1997: Oklahoma!
  Oklahoma!
  Oklahoma! is the first musical written by composer Richard Rodgers and librettist Oscar Hammerstein II. The musical is based on Lynn Riggs' 1931 play, Green Grow the Lilacs. Set in Oklahoma Territory outside the town of Claremore in 1906, it tells the story of cowboy Curly McLain and his romance...
  
  (musical)
• 1996: A Slice of Saturday Night
  A Slice of Saturday Night
  A Slice of Saturday Night is a musical with book, lyrics and music by The Heather Brothers: Lea, Neil, Charles and John. The songs are a nostalgic pastiche of 1960s music, and the story tells a tale of teenage dreams and young love set around 1964 in a nightclub called Club-a-Go-Go.The Heather...
  
  (musical)
• 1995: Anything Goes
  Anything Goes
  Anything Goes is a musical with music and lyrics by Cole Porter. The original book was a collaborative effort by Guy Bolton and P.G. Wodehouse, heavily revised by the team of Howard Lindsay and Russel Crouse. The story concerns madcap antics aboard an ocean liner bound from New York to London...
  
  (musical)
• 1994: Sinbad the Sailor
  Sinbad the Sailor
  Sinbad the Sailor is a fictional sailor from Basrah, living during the Abbasid Caliphate – the hero of a story-cycle of Middle Eastern origin...
  
  (pantomime)
• 1993: Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat
  Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat
  Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat is an Andrew Lloyd Webber musical with lyrics by Tim Rice. The story is based on the "coat of many colors" story of Joseph from the Hebrew Bible's Book of Genesis. This was the first Lloyd Webber and Rice musical to be performed publicly...
  
  (musical)
• 1992: Little Shop Of Horrors
  Little Shop of Horrors (musical)
  Little Shop of Horrors is a rock musical, by composer Alan Menken and writer Howard Ashman, about a hapless florist shop worker who raises a plant that feeds on human blood. The musical is based on the low-budget 1960 black comedy film The Little Shop of Horrors, directed by Roger Corman...
  
  (musical)
• 1991: Grease
  Grease (musical)
  Grease is a 1971 musical by Jim Jacobs and Warren Casey. The musical is named for the 1950s United States working-class youth subculture known as the greasers. The musical, set in 1959 at fictional Rydell High School , follows ten working-class teenagers as they navigate the complexities of love,...
  
  (musical)
• 1990: Godspell
  Godspell
  Godspell is a musical by Stephen Schwartz and John-Michael Tebelak. It opened off Broadway on May 17, 1971, and has played in various touring companies and revivals many times since, including a 2011 revival now playing on Broadway...
  
  (musical)
• 1989: The Wiz
  The Wiz
  The Wiz: The Super Soul Musical "Wonderful Wizard of Oz" is a musical with music and lyrics by Charlie Smalls and book by William F. Brown. It is a retelling of L. Frank Baum's The Wonderful Wizard of Oz in the context of African American culture. It opened on October 21, 1974 at the Morris A...
  
  (musical)
• 1988: The Young Ones
  The Young Ones
  The Young Ones may refer to:* The Young Ones , a 1961 musical starring Cliff Richard.** The Young Ones , the soundtrack to the film.*** "The Young Ones" , the film's title track....
  
  (musical)
• 1987: Tin Pan Ali (musical)

Unofficial Shows

As well as performing shows on a large scale Upstagers also put on performances and shows which are rooted from Upstagers' Dramovox drama, movement and singing classes. These include summer workshops and family performance and a Christmas Showcase. Here is an incomplete list of 'mini-performances' which have taken place over the years.

Summer Workshops

• 2008: Les Misérables
• 2007: The Boyfriend
• 2006: Guys and Dolls
• 2005: Grease
• 2004: Joseph and the Amazing Technicoloured Dreamcoat
• 2003: Seaspell
• 2002: Rats
• 2001: Oliver
• 2000: Our Day Out

Wharfedale Festival Performances

Every year Upstagers enter one or more group (s) into the 'Group (under 18's) adaptation and performance of a listed Musical' category. Upstagers have been entering groups since 2002. The first three annual entries won the category which achieved Upstagers their first three Wharfedale #1's (as listed) but were beaten to the top in 2005 by 'Performance' drama and there adaptation of 'Annie'. In 2006 they re-gained their title by achieving their 4th #1 performance then, in 2007 Upstagers reached their peek were they entered two groups into the same category and took the #1 and #2 positions in the category, this was then repeated again in 2008 with the addition of winning 3rd, making them the most successful theatre group in Wharfedale History. To date they have six #1 performances, three #2 performances and one #3 Performance.

• 2009: No Entry.
• 2008: High School Musical (#1), Billy Liar (#2), Our Day Out (#3).
• 2007: Les Misérables (#1), Annie (#2)
• 2006: Bugsey Malone (#1)
• 2005: Fiends Reunited (#2)
• 2004: Hoodwinked (#1)
• 2003: Godspell (#1)
• 2002: The Lemonade Kid (#1)

Drama Classes

• 2008: Charlie And The Chocolate Factory
• 2007: The Christmas Carol
• 2006: Fiends Reunited, Children of Eden
• 2005: Hoodwinked, The Christmas Carol