Event and festival management students have played a key role in organising a musical theatre drive in event raising funds for a local youth housing charity

Press contact: Greg Mattocks-Evans | g.mattocks-evans@shu.ac.uk

Organised and staged by Roundabout, a charity that supports young people aged 16 to 25 who are homeless or at risk of homelessness, the Musical Theatre Drive-In is described as a “musical extravaganza” that will be presented live in the orange car park at Meadowhall Shopping Centre on Saturday June 12.

From recruiting performers and creating the programme, to pulling together important safety documents, students have been heavily involved in the planning of the Musical Theatre Drive-In.

From Hairspray to Wicked, We Will Rock You to Mamma Mia, Les Misérables to Aladdin, the day will see some of the most popular theatre hits come to new life over the course of four performances.

At 10am, 1pm, 4pm and 7pm some of South Yorkshire’s most talented singers and theatre companies will take to the stage for the first time since the pandemic lockdown saw all live performances cancelled.

Mark Norman, senior lecturer in event management at Sheffield Hallam University said: “Our event management and festival management students have been supporting this event for Roundabout since its conception.

“Rather than just be there on the day, the students have taken responsibility for things like site planning, marketing and staff management – it’s given them a real understanding of how to organise events like this.”

Emily Bush, events fundraiser at Roundabout and Hallam events management graduate, said: “The team of volunteers working on The Musical Theatre Drive In have been brilliant.

“From building up important safety documents so that we could get our licence, to recruiting performers and creating the programme of events - they have worked incredibly hard, and we wouldn’t have been able to pull this event together without them.

“I am pleased to say that they will be joining me on the day, in a number of key roles, to make sure the event is a success!”

“I am forever thankful for this opportunity to be able to work on the project with amazing people.

“I have gained and learnt so much about the process of making events like this possible.

“I am really glad to say that we’re near to the day of the event and can’t wait for everyone to see it.”

The shows will have a drive-in format, with all vehicles safely social distanced and with the numbers of performers on stage limited to follow all current government safety guidelines.

The cost for one car with just two people costs £35, with three people £47, with four people £60 and five people £65, with a seven-seater restricted parking space for £70.

All tickets are subject to a ticket booking fee and there are limited socially distanced spaces available for people without a car.

Book your tickets here