THE show will go on for the Norwick Players - thanks to the Journal, which helped the group find a desperately needed musical director.

Preparations for the Lenchwick and Norton-based amateur theatrical troupe's production of The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe were being hindered by the lack of someone to take charge of the music.

An appeal made through the Journal prompted a Stratford-based reader to offer their services, meaning the adaptation of C S Lewis's children's classic can be performed at Evesham Arts Centre.

The one-time lack of a musical director was one in a series of problems besetting the production in its early stages.

Production director Tony Davis said: "Several times, the project nearly got abandoned because of difficulty of putting something of this scale together.

"We needed permission from Samuel French Limited, who act as agents for this RSC version and the C S Lewis estate and, as far as I am aware, this is the first time it will be performed outside the RSC."

All well's that ends well for the players and their efforts will prove worthwhile when the show takes to the stage tomorrow and Saturday.

They will be followed by a repeat performance at All Saints Church on Saturday, November 22.

The story traces the battle between good - led by Aslan the Lion, played by the Rev Richard Armitage, vicar of Evesham - and evil.

Costumes for the show have been specially designed as part of a university project by Sehar Freemantle, of Cropthorne, who is studying costume design at Edinburgh University.