Colour, drama and spectacle

BATH Light Operatic Group celebrates 50 years of performing at the Theatre Royal Bath with Rodgers and Hammerstein's musical, Carousel next week.

Filled with all the colour, drama and spectacle of the fair, Carousel features one of the most powerful books of the musical theatre and an extraordinary score making it one of the greatest of all musicals.

The show takes place between 1873 and 1888 in a small New England fishing village. Billy Bigelow is a travelling carnival man who falls in love with Julie Jordan, a local factory worker. But shortly before the birth of his daughter and desperate for money, Billy is killed while committing a robbery. Now in heaven, years later, he is allowed to return to earth for just one day to attend his daughter's high school graduation and teach her one very important lesson about life.

Both Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein II said that Carousel was the favourite of their works together and many of the songs are amongst their best-loved including Mister Snow, If I Loved You, June is Bustin' Out All Over, and, of course, You'll Never Walk Alone.

Bath Light Operatic Group makes a very welcome return to the Theatre Royal with a company of 67 performers, including 40 adults and 27 children. Rehearsals for Carousel, which features 200 costumes, started in June. Bath Light Operatic Group draws its members from across the local region and the cast for Carousel, who are aged between 6 years to 75 years, hail from Bath, Bristol, Bradford on Avon, Swindon, Trowbridge, Wells, Keynsham, Corsham and the surrounding area.

Helen Feierabend plays the role of Julie Jordan. Helen learnt to dance at the Morphew School of Dancing, Trow-bridge, and played several principal roles as a member of BODLETS, including Sandy in Grease and Anita in West Side Story. Since joining BLOG, her roles have included Hope Harcourt in last year's production of Anything Goes and Maria in The Sound of Music, for which she received a nomination for Best Actress in a Musical in the Evening Post Rosebowl Awards. Helen's son Sam makes his stage debut in Carousel, as one of the Snow children, the same role which Helen played in her debut at the Theatre Royal 22 years ago.

James Canning plays the role of Billy Bigelow. Originally from Keynsham, James first joined BLOG in 1985, performing in Seven Brides for Seven Brothers, West Side Story, The Pyjama Game and Hello, Dolly! After studying in Cardiff and London, he moved to Swindon where he has performed with Swindon Light Operatic Society (SALOS) for several years.

The cast for Carousel also includes Helen Avent as Carrie; and, Nick Feierabend as Jigger, whose previous shows at the Theatre Royal with BLOG include The Sound of Music, Oliver!, Crazy for You, Me and My Girl, and last year, the role of Lord Evelyn Oakleigh in Anything Goes. Jason Bradbury plays the role of Enoch Snow. Since joining BLOG, Jason has performed in Songs from the Shows, and in Me and My Girl, The Pirates of Penzance, and Anything Goes at the Theatre Royal.