THEY thrilled thousands with their renditions of Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat.

And now Blackbird Leys Choir are getting ready to rock your socks off with a brand new show.

The group are to perform Rock Nativity, a contemporary musical of the story of Jesus’ birth.

Rehearsals start in September with Christmas dates lined up.

Membership has been up and down over the years but director Trevor Davies said the Joseph shows performed in February had breathed new life into the collective, which was formed in 2006 for the Channel 5 TV show The Singing Estate.

It now has about 50 members, and boasts between 20 and 30 for each show.

Mr Davies said: “We were thrilled with how our Joseph performances went down.

“The success of those shows meant we had extra funding from the Bishop of Oxford to put another performance on.

“It has been a great year for us and we have had a lot of success adding the Joseph songs to our shows around Oxfordshire.

“It has helped us re-connect with Blackbird Leys and we have more people from the estate on board now.

“They are the sort of people who wouldn’t normally get involved in the choir and that is really what it was all about at the very beginning.

“It’s kind of gone back to its roots as well as being re-born. We have a lot of new members and are raring to go again.

“Rock Nativity is a stage musical. It is not as well known as the Lloyd-Webber numbers but still has a number of very recognisable tunes, and is something I have wanted to do for a number of years.”

The choir gave its final performance of the year at the Bullnose Morris pub in Watlington Road on Wednesday.

It combined numbers from the smash hit Andrew Lloyd-Webber show Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat and a variety of other favourites.

Mr Davies said the door was open for anyone from Oxford’s largest estate to join, as the choir looked to expand and combine singing and theatre.

The Christmas story of Rock Nativity is told in the format of a mediaeval mystery where the cast play the chorus and individually become characters.

The book and lyrics were written by David Wood and the music by Tony Hatch and Jackie Trent – the former a songwriters who collaborated with Petula Clark and went on to produce David Bowie, and the latter a songwriter who wrote for Frank Sinatra, Shirley Bassey and Val Doonican.

The choir’s performances are scheduled to take place on December 12, 13 and 14, at the Church of the Holy Family, in Cuddesdon Way, Blackbird Leys.

To find out more, or join up, see blackbirdleyschoir.org