Society celebrates 100th birthday by bringing Me and My Girl to Rotherham

Lee Hilton-Brammer and his colleagues at CAOS have already started preparing for the celebration of the society’s 100th birthday with a production of Oliver next year.

But before that, they will perform Me and My Girl at the Rotherham Civic from next   Tuesday to Saturday.

Lee, the chair of CAOS, explained the show is a musical based in the late 1930s and centering on a Lambeth wide-boy called Bill Snibson.

He said: “He finds out he is the rightful heir to millions of pounds — but he is a cockney wide boy so he does not meet the criteria of the upper-class family.

“So they intend to make him ‘fit and proper’ to take on the title – and in order to do this he needs to leave all his past behind him, including his girl, and the love of his life, Sally Smith.

“Thus why it’s called ‘Me and my Girl’.

“We started to rehearse in September and we’re now just putting the final touches to it all.

“It’s a really funny show, and it’s for anyone — families, people of all ages, they will enjoy it.”

Lee explained the centenary production next year will bring all ages of the company together.

“We have an academy [for children between ages eight and 17] so we wanted to choose a play next year to bring our academy and adults together,” he said.

“It’s a real honour to lead the society into the 100th year.

“For anyone to survive 100 years in the current climate it’s just down to the members and the customers who come and see our shows. We’re trying to keep the cost low — in terms of ticket prices.

“Although we’re an amateur theatre group, we want to put on shows that people can see anywhere else.

“It’s great to see our academy and adult society are being brought together.

“What we’ve seen before is that many of our academy kids graduated and are now part of the adult society as well.

“We just want a big celebration.”

Lee said the society was in good hands and it could very well eventually celebrate its 200th anniversary one day.

He said: “We’ve got all generations in our society — parents, children, grandchildren, great-grandchildren on stage.

“We want that to continue.”

Me and My Girl runs from April 18 to April 22, with a Saturday matinee performance and a BSL signed performance on April 19.

Tickets are available from Rotherham Civic Theatre box    office either online at www.rotherhamtheatres.co.uk or on 01709 823621.