Kids Keep Top of the Pops Alive???

Talk about a jukebox musical…. After the BBC canned long-running TV series Top of the Pops after 42 years, Surrey schoolchildren are “keeping the spirit of pop alive” with Poptastic! The Musical, which receives its world premiere this week. A cast of 60 pupils at St Bede's secondary school in Redhill will perform the first full-scale production of Andrew Bailey’s show tonight (Tuesday 25 July 2006), following workshops by a number of schools. Bailey, whose previous work includes Bus Stop 23, a modern nativity broadcast by the BBC last Christmas, said: "I’m really looking forward to seeing what the children make of Poptastic!. It’s a big show, lots of songs and some great character parts. They may have killed off Top of the Pops, but they can't kill the idea and energy behind pop music - and it lives on in Poptastic!" The show tells the story of wannabe pop star Charlie Fosdyke, his rise to fame and glory, and his fall from grace. It features off-beat characters from the pop world, including Godfrey Tunemangler, a greedy bungling impresario, Aubrey Pollocks, a street cred-oozing BBC producer, and the spirit of pop itself, which lives in a jukebox in Charlie’s bedroom.

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