Doing it for the kids

2:46pm Monday 18th August 2008

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Twenty years can be a long time in showbusiness, and the Younger Generation Theatre Group has certainly crammed a lot in in that time.

The theatre school for teenagers has entertained the crowds at the Queen Mother’s 100th birthday and the Queen’s Golden Jubilee, as well as putting on annual shows from 1989’s Gotta Sing, Gotta Dance to this year’s Don’t Stop us Now.

"We keep saying to them that if you want to take this up professionally you cannot say you don’t like doing this or that. If the director asks you to jump you say how high.”

Diane Rexstrew

One of its highlights has to be the Queen’s jubilee parade though, which Diane Rexstrew, executive producer of the group, remembers fondly.

She said: “The changing rooms were at the Palace of Westminster and the kids were in seventh heaven as all the celebrities were in there like Cliff Richard and Ronnie Corbett.

“The parade was supposed to represent the five decades of the Queen’s reign. The first one was themed with things from the 50s and 60s, like Flower Power. The different floats represented this family as they moved through the decades and I was on the last float and was the mother, who was the kid on the first float.

“The BBC came down and filmed us in the hall as we rehearsed. We had to do specific actions over and over again and all we had was the Spice Girls Spice Up Your Life which was the song representing the 2000s.”

The group, who consist of about 100 teenagers aged between 10 and 18, are celebrating their longevity with a performance that takes bits from their last ten shows.

With 1,000 students having come through the doors of the group, including her niece - who is now one of the shows directors - Diane thinks theatre can play a big part in teenagers lives.

She said: “We have our rehearsals on a Sunday and it gives them somewhere to go.

“As it is mostly during the holidays it doesn’t interfere with schoolwork and we have a mixture of races so it helps them intergrate.

“It also helps them realise they can’t do what they want to do.

“We keep saying to them that if you want to take this up professionally you cannot say you don’t like doing this or that. If the director asks you to jump you say how high.”

Younger Generation Theatre Group, Don’t Stop us Now, Fairfield Halls, Park Lane, Croydon, August 28 to 30, 7.30pm, Saturday 2pm matinee, £11, £9. Call 020 8688 9291 or visit fairfield.co.uk.