ABOUT THE DENGIE HOPES & DREAMS STAGE COMPANY

The Dengie Hopes & Dreams Stage Company was formed to offer the people of the Dengie Hundred a unique opportunity to work together to produce a staged musical show during the summer holiday.

The company is a community group based in the Dengie Hundred district of Essex, which includes the villages of Burnham on Crouch, Southminster, Asheldham, Dengie, Maylandsea, Steeple, Saint Lawrence, Althorne, Latchingdon, Tillingham and Bradwell on Sea. Membership is open to anyone aged eleven and over.

The company puts on one production each year during the month of August. Rehearsals and performances all happen in the space of one hectic week.

There are positively no auditions to join the group and anyone who wants to, will be guaranteed a chance to perform. There may of course need to be informal auditions for leading parts. These will usually take place in the presence of all members at the beginning of the rehearsal week.

The project relies on funding and the proceeds of ticket sales for its finance. None of the workshop leaders is paid for their services. Proper accounts are kept and any profits are retained to invest in subsequent productions.

The Dream Begins…..

The idea of producing a musical show in the Dengie began with a group of local people who went to see the Rob Frost Team's musical, "Hopes and Dreams" at the Brentwood Centre in March 1999. The sequence of great songs, entertaining sketches and opportunities for dance and movement was just what they were looking for. The resources of music, scripts and direction ideas were being offered at realistic prices and you were free to use as much or as little of the material as you needed.

Meetings of the steering group took place monthly until a new committee was elected at an open meeting in September 1999 - the stage company was born.

It was decided to run the bulk of rehearsals at a workshop week rather than at weekly sessions which some people would find too much of a commitment. Asheldham Youth Centre was chosen as the venue and Saint Peter's High school for the performances.

It was the year of the Millennium when the Awards for All funding came on stream. Through the magnificent efforts of our treasurer we successfully gained £1,400 for our project and Maldon District Council also gave us £350.

Throughout the year of 2000 we held monthly committee meetings and the work of assembling a production team continued. May saw another open meeting at which we planned our enrolment workshop for the following month. We gained more members and good publicity on this occasion when we performed one of the sketches and taught two of the songs.

We continued to keep the project in the public eye but realised that we were taking a huge leap of faith and would only know on the first day of the Asheldham workshops just how many performers we would have helping bring our dream to fruition.

We need not have worried. A group of twenty or so people arrived to learn the songs for the show. The next three days were spent allocating parts, setting moves and learning dance routines. Even a lady who only came to help with the teas found herself on stage!

It was incredible to see everyone working together to make it a success. The youngsters in particular made sure that they memorised their words quickly and had some great ideas to offer; one dance routine was entirely their own work.

The transfer to Saint Peter's School was not without its challenges but through sheer hard work and determination the show was ready for its first night on Thursday.

Reviews were ecstatic and the audiences found it hard to believe that only a week before, the cast had not met and none of the script and music had been known.

Such was the enthusiasm that the cast were asking for the "Once in a Millennium" event to be repeated the next year. But could we repeat a miracle?

The Dream Continues…..

The Constitution…..

The Dengie Hopes & Dreams Stage Company has adopted a constitution in order to put the running of the group on a proper footing. This constitution is available to read upon request.