About Us

Children who had appeared as the Von Trappe family in Basingstoke Amateur Theatrical Society (BATS)' 2001 production of The Sound of Music had appealed to the chairman, Richard Cox, for BATS to have a junior company, as there was no affordable musical theatre for children in Basingstoke at that time. And so BATS Next Gen was formed in January 2002. The original committee met for the first time on the 15th January 2002. It comprised of Jenny Humberstone (Chair), Chris Bale (Vice-Chair), Mandy Shallow (Secretary), Sandie Thomson (Treasurer), Caroline Bale, Chris Bale, Caroline Crawford, Alison Allen, Caroline Daly and Sarah Barrow who were parents of the children in the Sound of Music.

Our ethos is to provide affordable musical theatre experience for children, using the skills of adult members of theatre companies such as BATS and BAOS (Basingstoke Amateur Operatic Society). Wonderful people since our formation have volunteered to teach theatre craft to the next generation voluntarily, so keeping costs of running the company to a minimum.

• Our age range is 7 (first year at Junior School) to 18 (last year at 6th Form College) but sometimes we have to restrict the age-range depending on the show we are performing.
• Using local facilities, we rehearse weekly during term time, and try and perform twice a year, depending on the show.
• All children wanting to join the company have to audition, and continue to audition for each and every show, so standards are maintained and also everyone gets a chance to be a principal, as different shows need different skills. We run free pre-audition workshops, so children know what the show is about, who the characters are and work on the audition pieces before the audition, so the only people scared and nervous on the big day are the people on the audition panel!
• Our fees are currently £70.00 for approximately 5 months of rehearsals.

For further information, or if you would like to know when the next production and pre-audition workshops are, please contact the secretary.

Alumni

Here we celebrate successes, both theatrically and academically, of current and past performers. If you are a past performer with BATS Next Gen and would like to celebrate your success and achievements with us, or let us know what you are now doing in the adult world, please contact the secretary. We would love to hear from you! Don't forget our invites to your red carpet event!

Film & Theatre | Academic | Achievements

FILM/THEATRE/Entertainment

• Jack Juniper (Ali Baba - Sinbad, Shadows) now works for Beverley Holidays in Paignton, Devon as a Holiday Entertainer. He left college with 6 distinctions in performing arts and technical theatre; played Gaston In BATS Beauty and the Beast 2010, and has been in 7 BATS shows.
  
• Aiden West (Vampires from Space) successfully auditioned as one of the Lost Boys and will be appearing in Peter Pan at The Anvil 2011.
• Vikki McAuley appeared with fellow BRIT SCHOOL students on Music Night live on Radio 2 on Friday 8th July 2011.
• Ben Summers (see below) is a dancer with Take That during their London tour July 2011
• Jamie Cole, Craig McKenzie and Olivia Wilks(current cast 2008 - ) successfully auditioned for Sreetdance 2, the dance movie (June 2011)
• Lydia Thomson (all shows up to We Will Rock You apart from Magical Mixture) is filming as an extra in Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows (May 2010). She was a principal dancer in Cinderella, the Christmas panto at The Anvil, Basingstoke in 2009.
• Vikki McAuley (Tammy - Hairspray; Alice Fitzwarren - Dick Whittington; Scaramouche - We Will Rock You; Magical Mixture) successfully auditioned for the Brit School and will commence studies in Performing Arts in September 2010.
• Ben Summers (Edna Turnablad - Hairspray; Britney Spears - We Will Rock You; Kalendar Prince - Sinbad; BATS Entertainment!; 3 in 1; Revue-ing the Situation) successfully auditioned for Central School of Speech and Drama and will commence studies there in September 2010.
• Lulu Goodman (The Rumpelstiltskin Racket; Magical Mixture; We Will Rock You) has been busy filming in the final Harry Potter film, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows (Jan 2010).
• Austin Champion (IQ - Hairspray) is performing in Oliver in London's West End (Feb 2010).
• Jack Flower (Dick Whittington) is performing in Oliver in London's West End, and is understudy as Oliver. (Feb 2010) He also appeared in Waiting for Godot with Sir Ian McKellan and Sir Patrick Stewart in 2009.
• Harry Harwood (We Will Rock You; Dick Whittington; Hairspray) won the acoustic spot and will play Basingstoke Live! 2010.
• Alex Gonzato (Sinbad; Magical Mixture; BATS Entertainment!) is lead singer of Retrograde, who won the group spot and will perform at Basingstoke Live! 2010.
• Emma Lack (Magical Mixture) has been awarded the 11+ dance scholarship for St Gabriel's School, Newbury, and will start there in September 2010.
• Georgie McGuigan (Dick Whittington) played the lead Cat in the Hat in the Seussical Junior production at The Haymarket Theatre in May 2009. Joe Alexander (Vampires from Space, Our House) appeared as Horton.

ACADEMIC

• Richard Cox - Director of several shows and current chair, qualified as a teacher in June 2011. He will start his first teaching post at a school in Reading in September. Well done, Richard!
• Fiona Morgans was accepted onto the PGTC course at Winchester University and starts studying teaching in September 2010.
• Dawn Wylie (BATS Next Gen Director 2003 - 2006) gained a 2:1 Honours degree from Central School of Speech and Drama, London in 2009. She is now teaching drama at a secondary school in Essex.
• Murray Thomson (Pharoah - Joseph; Revue-ing the Situation; Sinbad) gained a 2:2 BA Honours degree in Computer Games Design from the University of Huddersfield in 2009.
• Lydia Thomson (all shows up to We Will Rock You apart from Magical Mixture) gained Triple Distinction in BTEC Performing Arts and also her English A Level in August 2009.
• Nick Brannam (Three in One; Rumpelstiltskin Racket; Magical Mixture; We Will Rock You) gained Triple Distinction in BTEC Performing Arts in August 2009. He played several characters for 6 months at Eurodisney, including Tigger.
• Vicci Elliot (Three in One; We Will Rock You) gained Triple Distinction in BTEC Performing Arts in August 2009.
• Jack Juniper (Sinbad; Three in One) gained Triple Distinction in BTEC Performing Arts in August 2009.
• David Payne (We Will Rock You) was placed on the accelerated course at Winchester University in 2009, so he will complete his teaching degree in 3 years instead of 4.
• Abbey Cargill (We Will Rock You) is studying medicine at St George's Medical School in London (commencing September 2009).
• Elain Halloway (Treasurer) passed her BSc (Open) in 2008. She is currently undertaking further study for Honours (2010).
• Richard Cox (Chairman and Director - Shadows; Three Murders; We Will Rock You; Dick Whittington) and Fiona Morgans (Committee member and wardrobe mistress - We Will Rock You; Dick Whittington; Hairspray) have both completed their final dissertations and are now anxiously waiting for their results of their Degree in Creative Media Studies at Winchester University. Good luck to you both!

ACHIEVEMENTS

 

• Spardha Kumar (Vampires from Space, current cast member of Our House) won a bronze medal in karate in an international competition. It was only her second contest - June 2011
• Kayla Halloway became Mrs Ferris when she married Anthony on March 5th 2011.
• Morgan Sadler (Magical Mixture; Three Murders; We Will Rock You) retained her UK Rock & Roll Champion title at the UK National Dance Championships in Blackpool in 2008.
• Tina Goodman (Committee member 2007-2009) and Steve Brannam (Stage Manager, Hairspray) competed at the National Dance Championships for the first time in Blackpool in 2008 and came a brilliant third in the UK.