Centre Stage Committee Members 2015-16
Chairman: Malcolm Briggs
Malcolm joined Centre Stage in 2001 and has been Chairman 3 times in that period as well as Treasurer and Secretary at various times.
Originally joining as an actor, Malcolm now includes such roles as Stage Manager, Set Designer, Front Of House, Sounds Knob Twiddler and Bar Steward. In fact, people often refer to him as a Bar Steward!
He has played in many of our productions in roles such as as Dame, Romantic Lead, Herr Flick and assorted grumpy old men. Recently he has turned his hand to Directing and even co-writing our outstanding musical, Triple Cross. Now, he tells us he is writing a farce. Can’t wait!
Secretary: Linda Connor
Linda has been a member of Centre Stage for twenty years and, over that time, has been involved in over 40 productions, both as an actor and as a director. She has appeared in a wide range of shows from pantomime to “Calendar Girls” and her directing credits include “Habeas Corpus” “Robin Hood” and “Improbable Fiction”. She is currently directing “The Railway Children”. She has served on the committee and also tackled some of the offstage jobs such as props and sound. Over the years she has made many good, longstanding friends who get together for social events or just for a good chat in the pub!
Treasurer: Kathy Jones
Kathy is a founder member of the Group. She has directed several pantomimes including The Wizard of Oz and Wind in the Willows which are probably her favourites.
Plays Kathy has appeared in include “Laying the Ghost”, “When we are married”, “Outside Edge” and “Stepping Out”. Kathy’s other interests including choir, art, keep fit, walking and flower arranging. Kathy enjoys the fun and friendship we have at Centre Stage amidst all the hard work. She is a firm believer that the rewards you get are in proportion to the effort you put in and tries to take an active part in every production.
Val Duggan
Valerie Duggan joined Centre Stage in 2012, their oldest new recruit, epitomizing the saying ‘it’s never too late’. In that time she has had minor roles in two pantomimes, appeared in the musical ‘Our House’ and performed outside at the Balsall Common fete in ‘The Bodenham Romp’.
As well as having a dabble at make-up, turning two fellow members into ‘dames’ in ‘Cinderella and the Magic Beanstalk’, she has helped with various set preparations, been a Producers Assistant and organised a successful social event, a skittles night, for the members.
Joining Centre Stage and meeting a wonderful group of individuals with such an eclectic mix of talent opened up a whole new world for Valerie. Her biggest regret is not having joined sooner and would recommend to anyone thinking about it not to hesitate in doing so.
Yazmin Zahran
I have just graduated from the University of Birmingham with a degree in Drama and English language. I am now going on to do my PGCE at Warwick University in order to become a secondary school Drama and English teacher.
I love everything theatre from acting and singing, to directing and play/pantomime script writing. I have directed and written two shows for Centre stage: ‘Gimme, Gimme, Gimme…an idea’ and ‘Cinderella and the Magic Beanstalk’ as well as co-directing ‘Our House’ the musical. I have also played a variety of roles throughout my time at Centre Stage, my favourite parts being ‘Amy’ in ‘Little Women’ and ‘Tweedle Dee’ in ‘Alice in Wonderland’
Emily Coles
Emily had been interested in joining Centre Stage for some time, but as a mummy to two young children, never seemed to get round to it! After watching Centre Stage’s production of ‘Our House’, Emily nervously joined the group for the panto in 2014. I say nervously, because she hadn’t done anything like this since her school days, which was a very long time ago and she was pretty terrified! Since joining, Emily has enjoyed it so much, that she has performed in most of the productions as all sorts of characters ranging from chorus, middle aged art student, to a female lead in the musical ‘Triple Cross’. Emily joined the committee this year and was involved in organising the successful storytelling event at Balsall Common Festival. She is looking forward to future productions and events because despite still getting very nervous, they are always a lot of fun.
Stuart Alexander
Stuart is a new member to the group, joining in 2015 with an interest in treading the boards, and to become involved in marketing and promotion. Due to some unforeseen casting changes Stuart got the opportunity to take a significant stage role in musical “Triple Cross”, written by our very own Malcolm and Yaz. A nervewracking but ultimately rewarding experience! Since then he has also performed in our summer children’s production of “Jack and the Flum Flum Tree”.
Stuart joined the committee with the aim of improving the group’s visibility and profile, and to help market our productions to as wide an audience as possible. He has looked after marketing and communications for several productions, and maintains and develops the website. As a frustrated graphic designer and certified geek this is a role that he greatly enjoys!
Adam Rubridge
I Joined Centre Stage in 2012 for our production of ‘Gimme Gimme Gimme An Idea’. This has to be my favorite show alongside ‘Our House’ which was just incredible and really showed what Centre Stage can do.
I’m really interested in all aspects of putting on a show, whether its acting, music, tech or set build its really nice to be able to work together and have a laugh while we’re doing it..
I see everyone in the group as part of a family and I really don’t know where I’d be without them. Hopefully there are many years of laughs and incredible productions still to come.
