12/08/2022
Meet the team! Here is our musical director, who is also the musical director of the two older groups too. Some know him as Alan, some know him as āCroppersā. š«
Alan earned a degree of G.R.S.M. (Graduate of the Royal Schools of Music) at Royal Manchester College of Music which eventually amalgamated with the Northern College of Music to become the Royal Northern College of Music. He became a music teacher at Campsmount School, later becoming Head of Music at St. Peterās High School. It eventually became part of the McAuley School. Although offered the Head of Music position there, he instead joined Hayfield School and spent the last 30 years of his career, initially as Head of Music, but later as Head of Creative Arts (Music, Art, Drama).
He has always been interested in working with young people in the fields of Music and the Performing Arts and over the years he has been Musical Director on over 50 different productions, including Grease, The Beggarās Opera, Jesus Christ Superstar, Fiddler on the Roof, H.M.S. Pinafore, Guys and Dolls, Sweet Charity, to name but a few. For some years, Alan was Musical Director of the Doncaster Youth Theatre. There were a range of productions including the British Premier of a stage version of āBugsy Maloneā. He has also written and arranged music for various productions. He has also acted as accompanist for many students taking Music Theatre examinations in Doncaster.
In recent years, Alan has been the Musical Director on a number of productions at the Phoenix Theatre. Over the years, Alan has played in various bands, dance and rock bands (including the bands playing for the joint schools āIsingā concerts at the Dome) and currently performs in a duo called āChange for Two Tenorsā.
We are extremely excited for Croppers to be a part of the Mini Players as he is an amazing asset to the team! He looks forward to meeting you all in September. šš«