LIKE many local theatre groups, Frome Musical Theatre Company (FMTC) have sadly had to postpone their productions this year, including the youth group production of Bugsy Malone which was due to take place in early August.
The group report, “The cast of Bugsy were auditioned back in February and no one imagined at the time that the show would not be able to go ahead.
“The cast of children from Frome and the surrounding areas are all from school years 3 to 11. They would ordinarily put the show together in a workshop week format, followed by a full production on the Frome Memorial Theatre stage during the summer holidays.
“The company was delighted to be able to offer socially distanced Bugsy Malone-themed workshops to 54 cast members at the Assembly Rooms.
“These were carried out over a week, with small groups of children taking part each day.”
FMTC Spellbound producer Karen Bishop said, “The cast and creative team were wonderful to work with, took on board the important requirements of Covid-19 compliance and still managed to have a fantastic musical theatre workshop day where positivity and talent shone through.”
The workshop took place from 9.30-4.30pm with activities and breaks scheduled throughout the day, including an audition preparation session.
There was focus on several musical numbers from Bugsy Malone, including ‘Fat Sam’s Grand Slam’, ‘Bad Guys’ and ‘So You Wanna Be a Boxer?’ The group was taught some choreography and worked on characterisation and New York accents for the different roles.
Finally, they had a socially distanced boxing lesson where the cast learned a few key boxing moves and choreographed their own shadow boxing in socially distanced pairs.
The FMTC ‘Spellbound’ production of Bugsy Malone will take place at the Frome Memorial Theatre from 5 – 7th August 2021, tickets will be on sale from the theatre box office next spring.
