100 years gone now for next century

Spenborough Amateurs

The next hundred years!

We couldn’t help but use this wonderful photograph from 1923 of one of the earliest productions by Spenborough Amateurs. The group, founded in 1918 by members of St John’s Church, Cleckheaton had only the previous year changed its name to Cleckheaton and Spenborough Amateur Operatic and Dramatic Society. This cast was responsible for Veronique, a musical/opera that is rarely performed these days and which made its professional debut in 1905 at the Broadway Theatre in New York clocking up 81 performances. As we reported earlier in the year 2018 has been the cause for huge celebrations for Spenborough Amateurs who marked their centenary with a number of productions including Boogie Nights in May and latterly Evita which took its bow in November. Now the society is looking forward to the start of the next 100 years and achieving the same levels of success that has gone before. In May they present the iconic ‘Brassed Off’ the drama set in Yorkshire during the 1980s miner’s strike and based on Grimethorpe Colliery’s (and particularly its brass band) struggle against pit closures. It comes with much humour, a great deal of pathos and excellent music which will be provided by Clifton & Lightcliffe Brass Band. Following this the youth section ‘SAYS’ presents the fun-filled musical ‘Legally Blonde’ in July. The Society’s November performance is the classic ‘West Side Story’ -loosely based on Shakespeare’s ‘Romeo & Juliet’ with fantastic music written by Leonard Bernstein. The society is looking for young men to form the gangs of the upper west side of New York. So anyone out there who fancies letting off some steam as part of this magnificent show should apply to take part using the Society’s website www.spenboroughamateurs.co.uk