OPERATIC Society members want to welcome aboard new singers for their production of the smash hit Showboat.

The Acton amateur group are inviting singers, including those of ethnic and Afro-Caribbean origin, to audition for the white chorus and black chorus which feature in the show to be staged at Crewe's Lyceum Theatre from October 16 - 20 this year.

The society is holding open auditions on Thursday, March 28, at 8pm in Acton Parish Hall and invites would-be members to bring along music of their choice.

Anyone interest can contact secretery Christine Crosby on 01270 623466.

The production will be the society's most ambitious venture to date.

The story is set in the early 1880s when the showboat, Cotton Blossom, puts into Natchez on the Mississippi in America's deep south.

The music by Jerome Kern includes such gems as 'Only Make Believe', 'Can't Help Lovin' Dat Man', 'Why Do I Love You'.