YORK Amateur Operatic and Dramatic Society is dead. Long live York Musical Theatre Company.

"The society, having celebrated its centenary, is by no means a spent force," says president John Warburton. "There's a wind of change in the air: an air of expectation, a new century to conquer, new heights to climb and new horizons to explore.

"The words 'Amateur', 'Operatic' and 'Dramatic' have been voted out of the society's title, as has the word 'Society' itself."

The first show under the new moniker, Paul Laidlaw's £60,000 production of Cabaret, opens at York Theatre Royal on Thursday.

Chairman Jim Welsman reckons the new company name better suits just such a show. "Operatic was the key word. In the main, we don't perform opera or operetta, and the new title does reflect that we're mainly a musical theatre company now," he says.

The company will be led by Toni Feetenby - Toni Ward as was - who rejoined the society to play Eliza Doolittle in My Fair Lady after three years at the Guildford School of Acting. This time she is cast as English showgirl Sally Bowles in Kander and Ebb's 1966 musical.

Cabaret performer Sally is working in 1930s Berlin, where she encounters American writer Clifford Bradshaw (company newcomer John Haigh), and their affair flares and flounders amid the rise of Nazism.

Chairman Jim is full of praise for Toni and her transition from Eliza to Sally. "She really is going to be stunning in this show. Again she will have an upper-crust accent, but not at all like the voice she used for Eliza. She's created another voice entirely, and being as good as she is, she maintains it marvellously throughout her performance."

Mick Liversidge will play the egregious Master of Ceremonies. "He took the lead role in A Funny Thing Happened On The Way To The Forum, and this is quite a contrast," says Jim. "He has the humour, the underlying darkness and clipped accent you need."

Set design is by Robert Readman, who is using images taken from the Expressionist painters of the day, in particular works by George Grosz and Ernst Ludwig Kirchner.

In a second show, on May 12 at 7.30pm, YMTC presents "your chance to sing-along to The Pirates Of Penzance". "This is the first time we've tried this," says Jim. "In the first hour John Warburton will teach the audience the chorus numbers aided by the society's choruses, and then sing the show with our principals: Graham Kay as the Pirate King, Stephanie Crossley as Mabel, David MacDonald as the Major General and Ashley Wilson as Frederick."

Explaining this new event, Jim says: "Monday night is traditionally not such a good night for us, so we thought we would experiment with this, as we get a different crowd for Gilbert and Sullivan shows. If it goes well, the sing-along night may become a regular feature."

Cabaret, York Musical Theatre Company, York Theatre Royal, May 8 to 17; Sing-Along To Pirates Of Penzance, May 12. Performances: 7.30pm; 2.30pm Saturday matinees. Box office: 01904 623568.

Updated: 11:02 Friday, May 02, 2003