Haywards Heath Operatic Society

Blitz!

27 - 31 October 2009

A few words from the director:

Well as they sang in the 40's: "We'll Meet Again" and here we are again. The team that brought you "Annie"; Richard Haslam, Tracey Trubridge and myself, have returned, this time with the war time knees up "Blitz". We aim to make this a fully interactive show for both the audience and the cast. We guarantee it will be fun!

As Blitz! is a Lionel Bart show (it was his follow-up to Oliver!], the score features his usual variety of quality tunes, covering everything from heartfelt ballads to 40s big band swing tunes and even a Vera Lynn-style ballad that sounds so authentic it's hard to believe it was written 20 years after the war."

Based loosely on Bart's childhood memories of The Blitz, the show is set in London in 1940 and tells the story of two families fighting their own battles, finding love and simply surviving on the home front while taking the worst that Hitler can throw at them.

Its themes of family, community and togetherness are as important now as they were in 1940.

At the heart of the story are a Jewish matriarch and her next door neighbour, a boorish Cockney greengrocer. Their fractious relationship, the relationships of their teenage children and their battles and love form the background through which the bigger stories – that of The Blitz and World War Two itself – are told.

There are a wide variety of solo roles, large and small. The whole show really is about team work. We need a wide and varied cast from age 5 upwards and lots of men!

So please come along and join us! See you in the air raid shelter!

Juliet Mckinnell-Merrett

DIRECTOR

Registered Charity Number: 800597