The Customs House in South Shields has launched an online crowdfunding campaign for a new musical.
The Dolly Mixtures tells the story of eight South Shields women who set up a variety act, The Dolly Mixtures, when one of their husbands, Ken Graham, was diagnosed with cancer in 1972. For fifteen years they performed in working men's clubs throughout the North East for Cancer Research, eventually raising £100,000 for the charity.
The action takes place in the North-East between late 1972 and 1988 in Hilda Joyce's (Joe McElderry's grandmother) South Shields home, a hospital and various working men's clubs in the region.
The book and lyrics are by the man who is effectively the Customs House’s writer in residence, Tom Kelly, and the music is by rock musician John Miles. The two have collaborated on a number of musicals for the venue, including Dan Dare (2003) and The Machine Gunners which was last performed in 2010 although it was originally written (with Ken Reay) for the Performing Arts Department of South Tyneside College (where Kelly, Reay and Spencer were lecturers at the time), going on to have a successful run at the 1998 Edinburgh Fringe.
The crowd funding campaign aims to raise £15,000 towards the production costs.
The production, directed by Ray Spencer, the Customs House’s director, runs from 24 August to 3 September.