Bingley Little Theatre

06/09/2026

🎶FINAL REMINDER TO REGISTER FOR GYPSY AUDITION DAY 🎶
Sunday 27 September - Time TBC - Bingley Arts Centre
Director: Ian Wilson | MD: Rob Durkin | Choreographer: Gillian Ellis | Burlesque Facilitator: Stacey Gilliard

Fancy joining us and auditioning for one of the lead roles or as part of the ensemble in this great musical? Please express your interest BY TOMORROW (Monday 7 September) by emailing [email protected] and we will be in touch with audition material and further details in due course.

Gypsy is the ultimate tale of mothers, daughters, ambition and the cost of chasing a dream. On the dying vaudeville circuit of 1920s America, the indomitable Gypsy Rose drags her two daughters from town to town and from audition to audition, determined to make them stars whether they want it or not. As shy Louise grows up in the shadow of her favoured sister and Rose’s grip tightens, the family barrels toward a reckoning, and toward one of the most famous scenes in all of musical theatre.....

04/09/2026

📚 The Reading and Casting team is nearing the end of its summer of reading.... so it's all hands on scripts for the final push!

Don't miss your chance to tell us what you want to see in our Season 80 - we'll be moving on to whittling down our long list into a shortlist before beginning to apply for licences..... we love what we do 😍

Email [email protected] with your suggestions

02/09/2026

📻 Tune in to BCB Radio .6fm today at 11.30am to hear cast member Andrew Long chatting about our next production To Have and To Hold...

He'll be talking about the play, his role and sharing some insights and updates from the rehearsal room. Andrew shared this with us ahead of the interview:

“Bean treats all the characters with a kind of sentimental compassion; there is strong comedy and some emotional conflict: jokes diffuse all of the dangerously taboo moments about death and terminal illness. Playing Jack, I have some moving speeches where I recount stories of my life as a policeman, providing contrast to the crack-fire of the gags. A tribute to Bean’s own father, these add depth to this really engaging – and laugh-out-loud - comedy.”

This uplifting comedy about family is a must-see!

📅 Tues 15 to Sat 19 Sept (plus Sat matinee)
BSL performance Wednesday 16 September
📍 Bingley Arts Centre main auditorium
🎟 https://bit.ly/ToHaveHold
Age suitability 14+

📸 by Graham Mouat

31/08/2026

📰 Read all about it! Then get on the phone (or website) to grab your tickets for To Have and To Hold !

"Bingley Little Theatre is launching its autumn season with a spirited revival of Richard Bean's To Have and to Hold...." says the Ilkley Gazette:
www.ilkleygazette.co.uk/news/26493839.comedy-to-hold-bingley-little-theatre/

This uplifting comedy about family is a must-see!

📅 Tues 15 to Sat 19 Sept (plus Sat matinee)
BSL performance Wednesday 16 September
📍 Bingley Arts Centre main auditorium
🎟 https://bit.ly/ToHaveHold
Age suitability 14+

📸 by Graham Mouat

29/08/2026

🎶GYPSY AUDITION DAY
Sunday 27 September - Time TBC - Bingley Arts Centre.
Director: Ian Wilson | MD: Rob Durkin | Choreographer: Gillian Ellis | Burlesque Facilitator: Stacey Gilliard

Fancy joining us and auditioning for one of the characters listed or part of the ensemble? Please express your interest by Monday 7 September by emailing [email protected] and we will be in touch with audition material and further details in due course.

🎭 Rose (35-50 female). Singing: Mezzo-soprano, Alto F3-C5 Belting Legit - the formidable stage mother who pursues her ambitions through her daughters.
🎭 Louise/Gypsy Rose Lee (17ish - 30ish, Female, actor must be 18+). Singing: Mezzo-Soprano C #4 – Eb5 Belting / Legit - Female lead; transforms from shy child to famous burlesque star.
🎭 June (16ish - 20ish, Female). Singing: Mezzo-Soprano Alto G #3 – D5 Legit - Rose’s talented younger daughter who eventually leaves the act.
🎭 Herbie (40s - 50s, Male). Singing: Baritone G #2 – B3 Legit - Rose’s longtime partner and the show’s main male lead.
🎭 Tulsa (17ish - 22ish, Male). Singing: High Baritone F2-G3 - Young dancer with the featured number “All I Need Is the Girl.”
🎭 Baby June (8-10, Female, actor must be 9yrs or older by the show). Singing: Mezzo-Soprano Eb4 – Eb5: Legit / Mini belt
🎭 Baby Louise (10 - 12, Female, actor must be 9yrs or older by the show). Singing: Mezzo-Soprano Eb4 – Eb5
🎭 Tessie Tura (30-50 +/-, Female). Singing: Mezzo-Soprano C #4 – Db5 Belting. A stripper just past her prime whose “gimmick” is that she is a ballerina.
🎭 Mazeppa (30-50 +/-, Female). Singing: Alto G3 – A #4 Belting
🎭 Electra/Miss Cratchitt (30-50 +/-, Female). Singing: Mezzo-Soprano G #3 – D5 Belting
🎭 Pop (60 +/-, Male). Spoken, non-dancing. Pop is Mama Rose’s father
🎭 Uncle Jocko/Mr Goldstone (40-50 +/-, Male). Spoken, comedic role.
🎭 Farmboys (Male Dance Team) Yonkers, LA & Angie (teens - 20s, Male)
🎭 Female Dance Team (young adults, Female). Toreadorables / Hollywood Blondes (Majorie-May, Delores, Thelma, Gale) & the Burlesque Ensemble,

Look forward to hearing from you!

27/08/2026

🎥 To Have and To Hold - the trailer 🎥

From the writer of One Man, Two Guvnors (Richard Bean) comes an uproarious comedy about the prickly business of dealing with ageing parents who would really rather not be dealt with.....

Check out our fab trailer!

📅 Tues 15 to Sat 19 Sept (plus Sat matinee)
BSL performance Wednesday 16 September
📍 Bingley Arts Centre main auditorium
🎟 https://bit.ly/ToHaveHold
Age suitability 14+

📽 by Dave Ayres

26/08/2026

Let's continue to meet our teams. Hello Sal Edwards, chair of reading and casting. We asked Sal for a mini cv, before you read on you should know that Sal is an accomplished writer .....

Sal Edwards was born in Peru in 1775. After an early experiment in cryogenics went awry she was reborn in Shipley in 1975 and was forced to learn Yorkshire from scratch. After her adoptive parents abandoned her as a toddler, repulsed by her natural odour, she was found by police on the moors as a child, surrounded by ferret skulls. Taken under the wing of Bob Carolgees and his dog, Spit, she discovered theatre and chairs. She has never looked back.

26/08/2026

Exciting! Looking forward to welcoming our Kaleidoscope Youth Theatre students back in September 🎭

Not long now until classes start again!
Bingley Arts Centre
Bingley Little Theatre

25/08/2026

🎭 Let's meet our final character in To Have and To Hold 🎭

Pam (Deborah Mouat) is the cousin of Jack and Flo. She lives locally and visits regularly, runs errands, helps with banking/shopping, and looks after the ageing couple. She has a watchful eye on practical details and doesn't hesitate to voice sharp opinions or guilt-trip the couple's grown-up children when they return home... helpful or a hindrance? Come and find out!

This play is a warm blend of Northern grit and real heart. It tackles memory, ageing and all things family with a smile and a laugh. Anyone who has watched their own parents grow older will find something and someone to recognise here.

📅 Tues 15 to Sat 19 Sept (plus Sat matinee)
BSL performance Wednesday 16 September
📍 Bingley Arts Centre main auditorium
🎟 https://bit.ly/ToHaveHold
Age suitability 14+

📸 by Graham Mouat

23/08/2026

🎭 Let's meet Flo and Jack's grown-up children in our upcoming comedy To Have and To Hold by Richard Bean....

Rob, a wryly humorous and successful writer (Andrew Edwards) and his younger sister Tina, a confident and ruthless business manager (Trish Ellis) have arrived up north from London and the South on a rare visit to support their parents. These characters bring humour in their interactions with each other and with their parents - it's perceptively observed and has an instant familiarity.

This is a delightful, laugh-out-loud comedy to open BLT's new season!

📅 Tues 15 to Sat 19 Sept (plus Sat matinee)
BSL performance Wednesday 16 September
📍 Bingley Arts Centre main auditorium
🎟 https://bit.ly/ToHaveHold
Age suitability 14+

📸 by Graham Mouat