Biggest Cats to celebrate 25 years (From Richmond and Twickenham Times)

Hinchley Wood performers help Stagecoach celebrate 25 years

2:20pm Tuesday 12th March 2013 in Leisure By Laura Proto

Young performers from Hinchley Wood will be among more than 3,000 taking part in Britain’s biggest performance of Cats.

Stagecoach Theatre Arts, the part-time theatre school network, will celebrate its 25th anniversary with a performance of the renowned Andrew Lloyd Webber musical at the National Indoor Arena in Birmingham on Sunday, March 24.

As part of the celebration, 29 singers and dancers from the Hinchley Wood branch of Stagecoach will be taking part.

The main cast will comprise 50 specially selected dancers and 500 singers in a grand choir from 13 Stagecoach schools, plus another 2,500 youngsters who have been allocated a selection of the Cats score to bring their own creative dances to life.

The students will be supported by a virtual choir of international students from Stagecoach schools overseas, visible on large screens.

Veronica Bennetts, director of education for Stagecoach, says: “We are honoured to have been allowed to perform Andrew Lloyd Webber’s musical and are hugely excited to celebrate our quarter-century anniversary in this way.

“To bring together so many students from across the UK, and globally, has truly been team work on a vast scale and the final outcome will be something to remember forever.”

Lord Lloyd-Webber said: “I’m absolutely thrilled that so many young people will be able to take part in this very special performance of Cats.”

For more information or to purchase tickets, visit stagecoach.co.uk/cats.