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Brief History

The First 25 years (1971 to 1996) | Second 15 years (1996 - 2011)

Peter Nixon, a Macclesfield thespian, decided to form a group, and put on a musical show. He approached Peter Higginbotham, a director of Majestic Picture House, to see if the productions could be staged there, thus returning musical shows to Macclesfield after a gap of a great many years. At one time, live shows & pantomime were performed regularly at the Majestic. A production team was formed consisting of John Hedley Palin, a Producer who had nearly fifty plays for MADS under his belt. Choreography was to be overseen by Doris Patterson, and Musical Direction was to be undertaken by the town's male voice choir conductor, Alfred Hyde. The responsibility for the look of the show was down to Doris Patterson, Annie Nixon for costumes, and Peter Nixon himself was to design sets and scenery.

Advertisements were put in local papers, and by the time the auditions were held, 'word of mouth' plus the advertisements had ensured a huge turnout to see what was going on. Oliver had been chosen as the musical to be performed, because it had a wide choice of parts for all ages. From there the group never looked back. One year later, by popular demand, South Pacific and a Music Hall were performed. The group joined NODA (National Operatic and Dramatic Association).

The theatre group continued over the years to provide first class entertainment to the delight of its audiences leading next to the production of 'The Count of Luxembourg'. This show was entered into the 'Waterford International Festival of Light Opera' in southern Ireland - no mean task to ship over cast, scenery, costumes, etc. Undaunted and full of enthusiasm the company set out to give their all on stage, and give their all they certainly did, winning many prizes including a beautiful set of Waterford crystal which was put on display in the Majestic Theatre bar. The trip was especially challenging to the backstage crew. Whilst the cast slept and got over their journey, they rebuilt the sets ready for the production.

During these early years many people influenced the success of the society. As Secretary, Colin Read played a major part both on and off stage. His role as Fagin is never to be forgotten. The position of Secretary was later taken up by Dorothy Brown, who between 1982 and 1990 worked unstintingly keeping everyone in order. Dorothy was also the society's archivist and after her sad death the position was taken up by George, her husband. Another great figurehead for the Majestic at the beginning was Harry Smith. Harry was a great ambassador for the society and president for many years.

In 1985 the Theatre Group decided to take the plunge, and produce a pantomime, which was to be Dick Whittington. Many successful pantos followed, the majority being produced by our very own members. The Theatre Group continued to stage annual shows memorably 'Sweet Charity' which once again was taken to Waterford's festival.

The society's next milestone was the 21st birthday in 1991. To celebrate, a birthday concert was held. The audience were treated to excerpts from past shows, and was a huge success. Difficult times were unfortunately to follow. In the early 1990's, due to dwindling audiences, the society was faced with a lack of finances raising the question of the production of the next show.

The committee decided that if 'belts were tightened' and 'budgets trimmed' the show might go on! 'The King and I', the show in question, was a huge success breaking box office records and putting the society firmly in the black.

to be continued ...

Taken from 'A brief history of the M.M.T.G' in the "Anything Goes" programme (1996).

1996 to 2011 - the next 15 years

The society was fortunate to have the back up of the Majestic Theatre owners, who fully supported the group and permitted the use of their cinema stage, until, sadly, in 1997 the theatre was sold and closed. Whilst some parts of the building remain, it is now used as a pub.

Our society then began a rather nomadic journey looking for a home. We used the Macclesfield Silk Heritage Centre, The Evans Theatre, Wilmslow, and Fallibroome High School Drama Centre, until finally settling into the very convivial MADS ‘Little Theatre’ on Lord Street, Macclesfield from 1999.

Our journey around different theatres certainly had issues: We had to convert a games hall at the Evans Theatre, complete with seating and backstage facilities, to a stage overnight; we converted classrooms and teaching areas at Fallibroome High School nightly; then there was the tremendous task of ‘get in’ and ‘get out’ on the 2nd floor of Macclesfield Silk Heritage Centre for two shows. All good fun, hard work but very rewarding!!

Our list of productions include practically every musical ever shown on the West End i.e. 'South Pacific', 'Oklahoma', 'Oliver', 'Sweet Charity' to newer, more contemporary shows such as ‘Jesus Christ Superstar’, ‘Godspell’, ‘Mile High Mikado’ and in our inaugural 40th Year ‘The Little Shop of Horrors.’ For a full list go to our past shows page.

As members of NODA, the society has had 3 nominations for best pantomime, one best actress nomination in 2005 to Collette Desborough in Guys and Dolls, best costumes in 2000 to Mina Wood and Sue Jones, and Best Pantomime to Michael Daws for producing ‘The Little Mermaid’ in 2009. Our achievements can be seen on our awards page.

We have many loyal members, who have appeared in most shows we have produced dating back to the Society's formation in 1971, and continue to participate in the Society. Harry Newton, our current president, appears in the Dramatis Personae of most productions on our past shows page. Sheila Gaskell appeared in our very first production of "Oliver" in 1971, and has continued to play many varied roles ever since, most recently, for example, as Aunt Eller in "Oklahoma".

As a society, we welcome and encourage new and younger members to hone their various skills and talent by singing, dancing and acting. As a consequence, a number of our members have gone onto the professional stage: Jonathan Morris into TV (Bread), Marshall Lancaster into TV (Life on Mars ),  Chris Donnelly into TV, Lindsay and Emma Hurst into professional dance companies, Tina Lynn into professional singing on Cruise Lines, Steve Helliwell to the Royal Shakespeare Company, Gemma Moss to musical theatre, including playing the lead touring the country in "Oklahoma", Johnny Bower into drama, and professional pantomime, including touring with ‘Buddy’, and more recently, Micheal Daws into the Really Useful Group staging of ‘Love Never Dies’ in the West End. Once again see our Majestic Stars page.

...extracts from an article which appeared in the NODA magazine in 2011