We range between 15-30 members from the local community rehearsing once a week on a Wednesday. The group was first formally associated in 1973. We have now performed over 100 shows and getting on towards 300 individual performances. Many things have developed and improved since the group began, in terms of the improved levels of singing, scenery costumes and performances, but what has not changed
is the groups ethos. The group is still made up of a broad cross section of individuals with mixed talents, we do not audition and very mixed ages, but working together to improve our performances and enhance the enjoyment shared by our audiences. We are always on the look out for new members, whether you want to be on stage performing or are interested in help out in other way. For a brief history of the group, it evolved from the Concert Party and choir of the Good Shepherd Church and from 1973 when the group was created formally, it met every Wednesday immediately after Choir practice. We moved from presenting shows for one night at Harvest and Shrovetide to doing shows for 3 or 4 performances twice a year with the aim of raising and donating funds for charity and local good causes from what became our traditional pantomime prior to Christmas. The first amount we donated was just of £20 for the Lord Mayor of Leicester's Appeal in 1978 when £1m was needed to install the first scanner at Leicester Royal Infirmary. By 1982 our fund raising from a single show had soared to the princely sum of £360 and by the early 90s we hit the £1,000 mark. In the noughties we have become somewhat accustomed to raising £2,000 or more each year which is no mean sum of money considering our restrictions in terms of audience sizes and what we can actually accomplish with the size of the hall and stage. Also in that we have not increased our admission prices for many many years. We estimate that the group has raised in the region of £45,000 (as of 2022). All in all everyone who has stepped on stage or supported us backstage, with scenery, front of house, props, costumes, sound, lighting, refreshments, or in any other way should be very proud of what we have achieved.
