About Us
Founded in 1957 The Dales Music and Drama Group (originally The Albion Music and Drama Group) is a friendly, amateur dramatics group, based in Bakersfield, Nottingham. We perform a variety of shows including (but not limited to) pantomimes, musicals, comedies and murder mysteries.
We pride ourselves on being inclusive and try to get as many members of our group involved in productions as we can, regardless of experience or how long they have been a member of the group.
Our normal meeting time is Thursday evenings, from 19:30-21:30pm. We love to meet new people and encourage prospective members to come along to any of our rehearsals to get a feel for the group. If you decide you want to join us, we can usually find some way to get you involved with the current production, even if we’re part way through. There are many ways to get involved both on and off stage!
Whilst we are not part of The Dales United Reformed Church we regularly work with and support the church group and building.
Our History
The Dales Music and Drama Group was founded in 1957, as the Albion Drama Group and started life at the Albion Congregational Church in Sneinton.
The Group started initially putting on Pantomimes as the Sunday School and involved the children, teachers and some Church members. The first productions were performed at the YMCA hall on Nottintone Street, Sneinton road. The building no longer exists and has been replaced by an infants’ school.
In the late ’60’s the group took a new turn and performed the Gilbert and Sullivan Operetta ‘HMS Pinafore’. This led to a name change to The Albion Music and Drama Group. Still based at the now Albion United Reformed Church. Other G & S operettas performed were ‘Pirates of Penzance’, ‘The Mikado’, ‘The Sorcerer’, ‘Grand Duke’.
Into the ’70’s and more adventurous productions like ‘The Pyjama Game’, ‘Fiddler on the Roof’ as well as a Grand ‘Gala Performance’, an ambitious mainly musical extravaganza with many different types of musical numbers from the Classics to the Beatles. Also during the ’70’s and ’80’s we performed home grown revues written by the members of the group. These were well received shows with titles like ‘Keep Taking the Tablets’, ‘I’m Sorry It’s off Sir’ and ‘Wake Up at the Back There’.
During this period the group also went carol singing, raising money for charity at Christmas. Plays included ‘Lord Arthur Saville’s Crimes, ‘Madness in May’ and ‘House Guest’.
In 1986 the Albion Church closed down and merged with the Parkdale URC to become ‘The Dales Church’ based in Bakersfield, about one and a half miles further up the road. The last show performed at the Albion was ‘The Wizard of Oz’.
The first show at the Dales URC, was a repeat performance of the second ‘Gala Performance’, done as a ‘House Warming Concert’. This was quickly followed by ‘Calamity Jane’ and ‘Ruddigore’. Plays included ‘Tomb with a view’ by Norman Robbins and a repeat performance of ‘The Ghost Train’, in which a lot of the props were loaned by ‘The Great Central Railway’ based at Loughborough.
In 1995 the group was renamed to the ‘The Dales Music and Drama Group’. The first show under the new name was a variety tribute show called ‘Thanks for the Memory’ to celebrate the groups past. More recently the group has performed shows such as Joseph and His Amazing Technicolored Dream Coat, 12 Angry Men, Jack and Jill and A Tomb With a View.
.
