Hampshire theatre company 'back with a bang' for Nativity! The Musical at The Kings Theatre in Portsmouth

CCADS Theatre, which rehearses in Fareham, is set to stage ‘Nativity! The Musical’ at The Kings Theatre from Thursday, November 3, to Sunday 5.

It marks the first time in three years that the company have returned to the theatre and – young cast members have been singing their hearts out across Palmeston Road this weekend to draw in punters.

And their hard work has been paying off with tickets ‘flying out the door’, according to artistic director John-Paul McCrohon.

He said: ‘It’s great to be back. We’ve been going 30 years and it about half that time we have been performing in some capacity at The Kings Theatre. We’ve been up and running since summer last year, but this is a great show to come back with.

‘Tickets are flying out the door, we’ve opened up the ‘gods’ for the matinee. We have kids flying on the stage we have a massive set, with a huge orchestra – we wanted to come back with a bang.

‘Tickets are still available and it’s set to be a big celebratory event.’

John-Paul said the company and the theatre were conscious that many families will be struggling with the cost of living crisis, and so tickets have been priced to be as affordable as possible.

He said: ‘It’s more important than ever to have these windows of escapism.’

Earlier this year, CCADS Theatre put out the call for children from the ages of six to 14 to audition to join the Christmas show’s cast, and John-Paul said the coordinators were ‘overwhelmed’ with the response, leading to 62 children being selected from all across Hampshire.

In January the crew will be staging Gary Barlow’s musical adaptation of Calendar Girls, perfomed at the Station Theatre in Hayling Island.

The theatre company has previously put on shows in Old Portsmouth and Hayling Island.

Tickets for Nativity! The Musical at The Kings Theatre will cost £20, with performances at 7.30pm nightly and 2.30pm showing on the Saturday.