Elizabeth Adlington, New Theatre area theatre manager on the great shows which have been staged in Oxford...

Last week, the New Theatre was filled with the sounds of 20 talented children warming up their voices before taking to the stage in Andrew Lloyd Webber’s Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat. This perennial favourite has played here at least 11 times in the last 20 years, and sees local children take on the role of the chorus, guiding the audience through the trials and tribulations of Joseph’s adventures. This time round, three teams of local children from Stagecoach Theatre Arts shared the performances.

I was bowled over by their professionalism at such a young age and their enthusiasm was obvious to anyone who saw the show. I wonder how many of them will be bitten by the bug to pursue a career in theatre? Will we see some of them return to our stage in the future?

The current New Theatre has been on the corner of George Street since February 1934, and our longevity means that we have played host to some of the very greatest actors, entertainers and musicians that Britain has produced, at various stages in their careers. From Laurence Olivier sharing the stage with his soon-to-be-second-wife Joan Plowright in The Entertainer in 1957, to Ian McKellen’s arresting Richard III in 1991, to bit part roles played by the likes of Sean Connery, Elliott Gould and Maggie Smith before their names moved up to top the billing of West End stages and Hollywood films. The theatre’s strong dramatic heritage can be matched by its musical heritage, with some of the greatest names in music playing here on their way to stardom: from hard rocking musicians such as Led Zeppelin and Queen, to countless pop bands taking part in the teen roadshows of the ‘80s and ‘90s, and even an appearance in 2004 from a young, smooth-voiced talent called Michael Bublé (whatever happened to him?).

We’ve also seen our fair share of repeat visits from shows that have gone on to become theatrical classics: the longest running play in West End history, Agatha Christie’s The Mousetrap, played the New Theatre in 1952 on its pre-London warm up run. Sixty years later, the show returns to us this October. Earlier this month the legendary D’Oyly Carte Opera Company returned to the New Theatre with their latest production of The Pirates of Penzance – a show first performed here by the very same company just three months after the building opened in 1934. And later this summer, The Rocky Horror Show, which I watched here in 1991, returns to Oxford – a cult classic that celebrates its 40th anniversary this year.

So keep an eye on our programme of upcoming shows; we’re always keeping an eye out to find the very best live entertainment to bring to the New Theatre, and those up-and-coming young starlets might just be the blockbuster acts of the future. And finally, a big ‘well done’ to all the Stagecoach Theatre Arts singers – you were stars!