Sheppey Little Theatre

The Isle of Sheppey Singers celebrated 50 years of song in 2011

On Friday 20th and Saturday 21st May 2011, at Sheppey Little Theatre, we presented our Anniversary Concert, celebrating the choir's 50th Birthday.

Mr. Len Pankhurst first formed the choir in 1961. Meetings were held, every Wednesday evening, in what was the Central Hotel, with Mrs. Evie Young as the pianist.

The first public performance took place approximately one year later; progressing through themed concerts to staged musicals, such as "The Gypsy Princess", "The Merry Widow", and "The Pyjama Game". Unfortunately, in recent years, we have had to abandon fully staged shows due to the lack of men!

After Mr. Len Pankhurst left, Mr. Peter Lifford took over as conductor until his work took him away from the Island. His place was taken by Mr. Ian Walton until our present Musical Director, Mr. Les Haddock, took over. Les was a singer with the choir too, at that time.

The show consisted of a selection of songs from several of the musicals, as well as songs which, over the years, have become some of our favourites.

If you would like to join the choir, come along to one of our rehearsal nights at Sheppey Little Theatre, Meyrick Road, Sheerness. We meet every Wednesday from 8pm to 10pm.

We need new members!

We are always looking for new members who want to do part singing (soprano, alto, tenor and bass). We sing a light repetoire including songs from the shows, Ave Maria, Mack the Knife and our very own version of Bohemian Rhapsody. We meet every Wednesday (except for Christmas and New Year weeks) between 8.00pm to 10.00pm at the Sheppey Little Theatre. We try to do one big show a year but also put on other performances, sometimes singing at weddings and funerals.

Want to join us? Here's how

We do prefer people who want to and can sing a part harmony line. We are happy for any newcomers to rehearse with us for 3-4 weeks to see if you like the company and the repetoire we sing. If you are happy and want to join us you can audition (with a piece of your choice) and if accepted you will need to pay £1.50 a week subscriptions. We also welcome younger people, but there is no age limit - we have singers from the young to the young at heart (ranging from 10 to 80 plus. We also have a committee and each part of the choir has a rep on the committee who take any suggestions members may have to the committee for consideration.

Past shows

Flight to Songland (2001), Garden of Song (2003), The Rock and Pop Years (2004), Up in Lights, Life; is a song and Dance.

If anyone else can remember any other shows that the Sheppey Singers did a longer time ago than these please let us know, so we can include them in a comprehensive list on this web page.