A respected Ilkley youth theatre group is hard at work preparing for its next production, building on more than 25 years of success on the stage.

Ilkley’s Upstagers Theatre Group has been nurturing the talents of young performers since it was formed in 1987.

As well as putting on memorable performances at a wide variety of venues, both in Ilkley and further afield, and turning out successful professional performers, it has helped build the confidence of many young people who take part in its drama classes and productions.

A joint celebration took place earlier this year, marking not only the 25th anniversary of the Upstagers being formed, but also the 70th birthday of one of its founders, Gill Jackson.

The celebration saw many past and present Upstagers reunited in the Winter Garden, on Station Road, complete with a performance by an Upstager from each generation.

Now the group is preparing to stage a production of Stephen Schwarz’s Children Of Eden at the Kings Hall, from July 11 to 13.

A lesser-known musical from the writer of successful shows Godspell and Wicked, it is something which Upstagers co-founder Gill Jackson, says she has wanted to put on for some time.

Mrs Jackson, who lives in Addingham, established the theatre group with colleague Brian Warburton after directing a junior show with Ilkley Amateurs.

“I was so inspired by the enthusiasm and talent of these youngsters, that helped me to form this company,” she said.

Since its formation, the Upstagers have put on more than 70 productions, and also have their own premises for rehearsals, The Barn, off Ilkley’s Station Road.

The group acquired The Barn with the help of a lottery grant, and it was opened by actress and singer, Su Pollard.

The Upstagers run Dramovox classes throughout the week for children and young people, and stage at least three performances a year – a pantomime, spring show and summer show.

The group saw its first West End success in the late 1990s, when Upstager Alisdair McGregor landed a part in the musical Buddy.

The best-known names associated with the group, however, are Danny Horn, who got his TV break in Doctor Who, and Georgie Henley, once a member of the Upstagers, famous for playing Lucy Pevensie in the Hollywood dramatisations of CS Lewis’s Chronicles Of Narnia.

Georgie’s first audition for the part, says Mrs Jackson, actually took place in the Upstagers Barn in Ilkley, when a casting agent agreed to come to see Georgie and another girl audition for a role in The Lion, The Witch And The Wardrobe Despite the Upstagers’ success in setting young actors, singers and dancers on their way to professional careers, Mrs Jackson comes from an amateur theatre background herself.

Originally from South Yorkshire, she moved to Ilkley in the 1960s to train as a home economist, and later settled in the area.

Her mother was an amateur actress in South Yorkshire, while her father was a stage manager.

Mrs Jackson began helping out at Ilkley Playhouse, and also ran Girls Brigade groups, taking girls from Addingham to perform on stage in Blackpool.

“I was always interested in that side of things, with the production, direction and development side.”

The Upstagers have now accumulated so many costumes, from their many productions they have moved them to storage at another site.

Among the highlights of the group’s history – which has seen it perform at The Alhambra in Bradford, and make regular trips to Denmark for performances and work in schools – was its national success in staging a production of Billy Elliot.

The Ilkley group was one of a number of groups nationwide to perform the musical as part of the Billy Youth Theatre initiative in 2011 – and was one of only 13 in the country selected to take part in an adapted gala performance at London’s Victoria Palace Theatre.

Visit upstagers.org.uk for more details of forthcoming summer schools in August.

l See the Weekend entertainment guide for more details of the Upstagers next production.