School is one of first to tackle Loserville

A FORMER West End show has been chosen for Steyning Grammar School's summer musical.
The cast of 55 students comes from across all the year groups at Steyning GrammarThe cast of 55 students comes from across all the year groups at Steyning Grammar
The cast of 55 students comes from across all the year groups at Steyning Grammar

The school wanted to produce ‘something special’ for its 400th anniversary and chose to pioneer a new show, Loserville.

A cast of 55 students from across all the year groups will be involved in the production, which opens on Friday.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

Written by James Bourne and Elliot Davis, Loserville had a West End run in 2013 and Steyning is one of the first schools in the country to take it on.

Suzanne Terrington, marketing and lettings officer, said: “Steyning Grammar School is celebrating its 400th anniversary this year, a momentous year for the school that we want to celebrate by producing something special for the summer musical.

“It is shaping up to be hugely entertaining. James Bourne is a band member of Busted and now part of MacBusted, so the music for this show is very contemporary.”

The musical is set in 1971 and follows the story of a young man at school who is trying work out how to send the first email.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

It is funny, fast and the perfect vehicle for the cast, who are aged 11 to 19, to showcase their musical theatre talents.

Show director Jan Hobson, a governor at the grammar school, said: “This is one of the most talented casts we have had the pleasure of working with.

“Some of them have never done a show before and some are very experienced – but they all give everything they have to the process.

“It is a very high-energy production, which is guaranteed to entertain.”

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

She said students had started on the production in March and were ‘working incredibly well together’, engaging with the story and the characters.

The lead role of Michael Dork is played by year-12 student Will Carey, next year’s deputy head boy. Amber Wadey plays Holly, Katie Duke plays Leia and Fraser Sheath plays Eddie.

Mrs Terrington said: “They are working incredibly well together to produce what will be a superb celebratory show for our 400th year.

“Bringing something new and largely unknown to the stage is exciting and challenging.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

“The production team has every confidence that Loserville will be another roaring success in the long line of great Steyning Grammar School musicals.”

The show is on Friday at 7.30pm, Saturday and Sunday at 2.30pm and 7.30pm. Tickets are £10 for adults, £6 children, available from the school offices at both the Shooting Field and Church Street sites, or from Steyning Bookshop, in High Street, Steyning.

For further details, contact the main school office (daytime) 01903 814555 or Jan Hobson (evenings or weekends) 01903 814998.

Related topics: