New musical theatre choir for adults launches in Lewes

Amelia, performer and West End coach to many stars of stage and screen, has put the call out for enthusiastic singers to join her new musical theatre choir.

Amelia, who lives in Worthing and is planning a move to Lewes with her young family, said: “The choir is open to keen singers who love musical theatre and want the chance to work with a professional voice coach whilst enjoying belting out show tunes.

“The singers will learn to get the most from their voice. We will cover breathing, resonance, posture and range and we are looking for people who are really enthusiastic about musical theatre.

“Singing is so good for mental health. We all benefit from singing and from the social aspect of singing together. People have told me singing is the best part of their week and that it relieves stress. I know what joy singing can bring and I want to enable as many people as possible to experience that joy.”

Amelia started to run a musical theatre choir online during lockdown, working with her friend and West End coach Rachel Lynes at the Sing Space, a global online community of singers.

When Rachel relaunched her branches in London and Wiltshire, Amelia jumped at the chance to bring what she’d be doing close to home and as a way to integrate her family into the Lewes community.

“Although I’d performed for many years and ran a large performing arts school in West Sussex for 13 years, I missed the pure joy of singing harmonies and show tunes in a group of like-minded adults. I wanted to bring the experience to my local area – reaching those who don’t usually have a chance to get this close to the West End.

“We also knew that if we worked together, we could create even bigger, more exciting performance opportunities for our choirs.”

Launch day will be on September 21 at Lewes Town Hall.

“We will meet weekly for 90 minutes, with the chance to sing with West End Stars at one of London's largest venues to raise money for charity. The choir will be singing hits ranging from popular musicals like Les Mis, West Side Story and Mamma Mia as well as discovering new material. At the end of each 90-minute session, there will be some free time to take show tune requests that people can sing together.

“I have chosen the beautiful Town Hall venue that is light and large and well-ventilated so we can keep people as safe as possible. Each session will also be live-streamed so anyone who can’t make a session in person can still join in from our private members group which will contain all music and lyrics.”

Numbers for the choir will be limited, to ensure distance can be retained as a Covid precaution. The termly fee is £180 for the termly 90-minute sessions.

For more details about how to sign up for the choirs, visit https://thesingspace.com/