Crewe Amateur Musicals Society celebrate centenary year

For 100 years, surviving the Second World War and Covid lockdowns, Crewe Amateur Musicals Society has been delighting audiences with live performances, picking up awards and bringing people together.

‘It's a very friendly society,’ says the group’s secretary Margaret Taylor. ‘We have all sorts of people from all sorts of backgrounds, from solicitors, teachers, heads of departments, to people like myself who are retired.

‘It’s great fun to be in and it's good to be on the stage. I’m one of the oldest ones at 76, and I started when I was 16, but I was coming to see shows even before then.

’As a child, my first memory was queuing up for hours at a pop-up booking office on the square in Crewe, standing with my mother as she waited for tickets.

‘I had no idea that one day I’d be on the stage, in those performances.’

Crewe Amateur Musicals Society secretary Margaret Taylor. (Image: Kirsty Thompson)

Last year, Margaret was one of the ‘naked six’ who stripped off for Calendar Girls, winning the group a best musical award at the NODAs, the amateur theatre Oscars.

‘I’ve done more shows than I can remember, but I tend to stay at the back these days, and only step forward if I'm doing the part that is right for my age, so in Calendar Girls I played the oldest of the six who strip off,’ she says. ‘It was a lot of fun.

’It was all done very tastefully. Nobody saw anything. We each had our own way of covering up – there was one lady who was hidden behind buns, another by flower arrangements, another lady was covered by the piano, one with bowls of fruit and I was behind my knitting.’

Crewe Amateur Musicals Society rehearse Kinky Boots, their 100th anniversary performance. (Image: Kirsty Thompson)

This year, the group is celebrating its centenary with another West End hit, Kinky Boots.

‘It's based on a true story of an English shoe manufacturer who saves their business by making boots for cross-dressers,’ says Margaret. ‘It’s a terrific show and the actors, the dancers, well, everyone, has to be very good.

‘We've got approximately 45 members in the cast, and they range in age from two little boys, the youngest is seven or eight, and I think I’m the oldest on stage, in the chorus.'

Heather Clark-Wilkinson, of Crewe Amateur Musicals Society. (Image: Kirsty Thompson)

It’s very much a family affair. Margaret’s daughter Heather Clark-Wilkinson who is the society’s chair, is one of the dancers and her son-in-law Sean is playing the lead.

‘They met through theatre, as I think a lot of people do,’ says Margaret. ‘Sean's father Ian is involved too – he made the most wonderful sets for Calendar Girls and he’s performing in Kinky Boots. He is a man of many talents.

‘That’s one of the things I love so much about it, you have while families together, having fun. One time you might be playing the lead and the next you’re in the chorus or you’re helping set up. There are no egos and everyone mucks in.

Choreographer, Rhianne Stubbs shows the members new moves during the scene. (Image: Kirsty Thompson)

‘I’ve met so many friends here and had some of the best times of my life. I certainly didn’t think as a little girl queueing up in the square to buy tickets with my mother, that when I was 75 I’d be taking all my clothes off on stage. It goes to show that you never quite know what will happen next.’

Crewe Amateur Musicals Society present Kinky Boots at the Crewe Lyceum Theatre from April 17-20. Tickets are available from the theatre and at trafalgartickets.com/lyceum-theatre-crewe/en-GB/event/other/kinky-boots-tickets

Elizabeth Bishop, who has written a book about 100 years of Crewe Amateur Musicals Society. (Image: Kirsty Thompson)