In February The Music Group performed their latest pantomime “Something Strange in Gruesome Grange” at our church. It was a resounding success with most performances either sold out or almost full.
Becky Vanden, Chris and Luke Garrattley wrote the show back in 2021 and it should have been on stage in February 2022. However, due to setbacks with covid it had to be put back by a year. This caused all sorts of issues including a large number of recasts and script rewrites. Karen Garrattley who produced the show worked really hard to keep everyone’s motivation going in the cast and crew and it wouldn’t have been possible without her.
The story followed Count Dracula (played by Luke Garrattley) and Dr Frankenstein (played by Lee Vanden) as they went head to head in a competition to win Madame Magnificent’s dilapidated old shop. There was “backstabbing, bribery, corruption and some sweet, sweet deals” as quoted from the script.
Chris Garrattley had his debut as a Dame playing “Madame Magnificent” and was “Magnificent” at flirting with the men in the audience. There were a number of new faces in the cast, some of which had never been on the stage before, and they were wonderful.
The audience interaction song was the famous “Ghostbusters”, everyone was encouraged to sing and join in with the actions. Act 2 opened with the classic thriller dance where skeletons, zombies and a funeral director all dropped some gruesome moves.
There were jokes for every age group and the music group have had some marvelous feedback that has left them buzzing for weeks.
Feedback included:
“You never fail to impress. Imaginative set, brilliant costumes and all-round entertainment. A lot of hard work but worth it. Thanks for a special evening.” and “Well written, well acted, well sung”.
Several members of the cast were from Turkey and one of them posted this on Instagram:
“With all the sadness in Turkiye I must say this show week come right on time, so much work we have all put in, such lovely people come together, and I had an amazing show week. I always feel at home with @musicgroupsale they are all amazing and absolutely most welcoming people I ever met. Our Dear dear producer Karen, I love you dearly the patience the optimism you have is truly not from this world. Everyone who took part all cast and crew thank you truly, those who come to see us, THANK YOU, you make this panto possible. I m full of emotions I LOVE YOU ALL.”
The Music Group would like to thank everyone who supported the show, from selling programmes to buying a ticket. The production team would like to congratulate the cast for really bringing their vision to life.
The next pantomime won’t be until February 2025 but you’re sure to see The Music Group in concerts before then.
To stay up to date with the latest you can follow the Music Group on Instagram here and Facebook here.
