Dick Whittington - Community Pantomime

Following the huge response to a "Panto Idol" appeal in September 2003, many budding actors, actresses, singers, dancers and stagehands came forward for our community pantomime "Dick Whittington".  Along with help from the Scarman Trust, NewSong Community Church wanted to find a way to bring a heart back into the community of Bromsgrove.

Building a heart for community is a core value at NewSong Community Church.  NewSong's Programming Director, Maggie Bishton, had identified that the local community was rich with people whose assets, skills, abilities are untapped and often go to waste, none more tragic than those with hidden abilities in the creative arts.  NewSong sees the town and local community as being full of remarkable people with a 'can do' attitude and we want to practically get involved and make a difference in peoples' lives.  Aware that creative theatre arts builds confidence, public speaking skills, communication skills, social skills and self-esteem, NewSong decided that a Community Pantomime would be a great way to tap into this terrific resource of local talent.

The performance of Bromsgrove's biggest Community Arts event soon sold out. Within a very short time over a 1000 tickets were sold! The lavish event had a cast from the community of 60 actors and actresses, a chorus of 30 singers and a 30 strong children's dance troupe even a camel and belly dancer made their way into the performance!

The event was hugely successful in many ways. First the amazing teamwork and "esprit de corps" that developed as the staging, costumes and rehearsals took shape. The excellence and dedication of the people involved was so encouraging for all those involved. But it is the numerous new friendships that were formed and the amazing talent discovered in our local community that will leave a lasting impression on all those who either saw or contributed to the community arts event. Click Here for more photos.