CIVIC THEATRE 50th BIRTHDAY

CIVIC THEATRE 50^th BIRTHDAY

Civic Theatre

08.09.12

The Civic Theatre invited us all to its big birthday, hosting an Open Day which proved even more popular than they'd hoped.

An exhibition of memories – stretching back beyond these Assembly Rooms to the Regent and the Theatre Royal. Displays for shows of the decades: The Madness of George III, Doctor at Sea, The Diary of Anne Frank, Rocky Horror and of course the pantomimes … And a reminder that the very first play on this stage was the "saucy" Marriage-Go-Round.

A delicious blue birthday cake, a pavement café, with, briefly, street musicians [the inimitable D'ukes], backstage tours, workshops in singing and street dance, and a chance to remember the people who've made the Civic what it is: good to see John Newman and Daphne Palmer, whose rep company held the stage for decades, and Denis Huett, a much-loved fixture in panto, and in the early days, the face of the Box Office too.

On stage, the best of the local companies – CAODS launching their Titanic [on stage later this month] and CYGAMS flying the flag for Les Misérables, coming to the Civic in November. The ever energetic Tomorrow's Talent, Springers' All Shook Up, and most impressively, Chelmsford Ballet Company in full costume for Napoli and Beatrix Potter.