There’s music and bloody murder heading to the stage when Hitchin Thespians summon up the serial killer spirit of Jack The Ripper.
But it’s not all gore and grief in Ron Pember and Denis Le Marne’s musical based on the exploits of the notorious Victorian slasher.
The production, which opens at Woodside Hall next Wednesday, March 18, and runs through to the following Saturday, weaves its way between the fantasy world of a Whitechapel music hall and the gritty reality of the unsafe streets outside.
Taking on directing duties is Edith Pratt with Keith Crook overseeing the music and Sarah Bailes in charge of the choreography.
The talented cast which will bring the story to life includes Nicola Niles as Marie Kelly and Ian Hamilton as The Chairman as well as many other Thespian regulars.
The show is packed with memorable chorus numbers and superb ballads, and also offers its own intriguing answer to the question that still captivates crime fans nearly 130 years after the dastardly deeds that terrified the capital of Empire in 1888: Who was Jack the Ripper?
The curtain will go up each night at 7.45pm and tickets are £10 and £12. You can find out more about the show, and the company, online at www.hitchinthespians.org.uk.
The Thespians – founded in 1902 when memories of the Ripper were still fresh in the mind – is one of the oldest amateur operatic societies in the country. It usually presents three choral and two staged musicals per year, and has a thriving Young Thespians group.
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