THE Ryedale Festival Community Opera for 2005 is the premiere of Maggio's Magic, commissioned by the festival.

A cast and crew of more than 100 performers, singers, musicians, painters, seamstresses and technicians, of all ages from all over Ryedale, stage the production at the Kirk Theatre, Pickering, this evening at 6pm and tomorrow afternoon at 3pm.

Students from Ryedale School, Lady Lumley's, Malton, Pocklington, Terrington and Sinnington, Thornton-le-Dale, St Joseph's Pickering, Helmsley, Lutton and Amotherby are taking part, alongside young performers from Ryedale colleges, adults and members of musical theatre groups.

Maggio's Magic has been written by regular composer Tim Brooks, from Ryedale, with lyrics by Leeds writer Peter Spafford. The director is Em Whitfield; the designer, Lyn Wait.

Em says: "The Ryedale Festival Community Opera is now in its sixth year, and we had an unprecedented turn out at the spring auditions. We had 168 hopeful performers coming along, which shows the extent of the enthusiasm and talent in Ryedale as well as the growing interest in the project.

"We now have a cast of 75 working hard as the preparations gather momentum, with one intensive week of rehearsals after they've learnt the songs and script. Meanwhile, Lyn's design team have been sewing costumes for weeks."

Ryedale's annual community opera is sponsored by the Arts Council. "This is the only project of its kind in the area, where such a high standard of musical performance is achieved by so many participants in such a short period of time," says Em. "The logistics are considerable but the momentum is such that everyone pulls together, learns about what it takes to create professional musical theatre from scratch and makes new friends in the process."

Maggio's Magic tells the story of an old puppeteer Master Maggio and his troupe of puppets, who face eviction from their warehouse home because greedy landlady Madam Mildew wants to develop the site. Is there still a place for the magic of live puppets in the age of computer animation, and how will the puppets survive when a mysterious fire breaks out?

To discover the answers, ring 01751 475777 for tickets (£6, under 18s £2.50).

Updated: 09:12 Friday, July 15, 2005