PUPILS at Ulverston Victoria High School have built a long tradition of producing top quality musical and dramatic stage performances for South Cumbrian audiences.

Today’s pictures from The Mail’s archive give a taste of what has gone before and look forward to the next big show which is being held in the school’s main hall on Thursday and Friday, March 26 and 27.

It is called A Night at the Musicals and features music and dance extracts form a host of popular stage shows - Everything from High School Musical and Les Miserables to Footloose and The Lion King.

The school’s wind band is sharing the Coronation Hall stage with the Band of Her Majesty’s Royal Marines on Saturday, March 14.

The high-energy gangster show Bugsy Malone proved to be a winner for pupils in 1988 and was packed with action, acrobatics and artistry .

The Mail, on December 8, noted: “The show, at the Lower School, kept an athletic cast of 75 bulleting round and round the stage, entering and exiting with bewildering speed. By the end there were at least as many laughs as stiffs, as body after body got caught by the dreaded splurge gun. Rapid fire scene changes made poignant the contrast between murderous mayhem and a lyrical duet between Robert Steward and Kirsty Kyle.

“The soft-voiced Sally Rixom added her own quiet touches in sweet contrast to the hard-faced elegance of Chicago moll Tallulah, played by Victoria Beddoes.

“Gangsters James Dodsworth and Co hijacked the show at one point by donning hula skirts for a ridiculous dance routine, while Sarah Berry made an impressive Fat Sam, good at both the set text and a little necessary ad-libbing.

“Meanwhile the custard pies increased in both number and messiness."

In February 1993 Ulverston Victoria Lower School pupils put on a Jig Saw production of songs, dances and sketches.

Among those providing the quick-fire entertainment were Tara Rajan, ScottClarke, Michelle Heslop, Helen Cavin, Charlene Athersmith and Edward Holden.