Now here's a challenge. Because its last two productions were West Side Story and 42nd Street, Birmingham group BMOS Musical Theatre Company discovered it had an average age of 22, with only three members having reached the venerable age of 40.
So it has been looking to recruit one or two comparative veterans in readiness for its production of Me and My Girl in September - and it has succeeded to the extent that the average is now about 30.
Chairman Alan Hackett said, "We had about 20 people turn up for a pre-rehearsal meeting last week, with ages from 18 to 40, and one or two others telephoned to say they wanted to come when rehearsals started.
"So it's been very encouraging - but we are still looking for two or three more people in their forties or early fifties, particularly if they have played principal parts."
Yes, but to get back to the original story, does any (senior) company have a younger membership than the one that BMOS had when it started looking for a few older members? That average age of 22 was quite remarkable.
Anyone looking for more information about the group should ring 0121 706 1541.
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I have passed on some strange requests in my time, seeking only to help in the preparation of a multitude of productions. This one, however, must surely receive the potted palm.
From the Alderbury Players, in Wiltshire, I learn that they will soon present a drama called Be My Baby - and require four young ladies in various stages of pregnancy.
I am unclear whether or not they are seeking to assure the success of their search by also calling for volunteers from among the young men in their ranks. After all, a certain amount of teamwork is surely in order.
Birmingham-based Midland Music Makers are preparing a concert version of Purcell's Dido & Aeneas at St George's Church, Edgbaston, on Friday and Saturday next week. This will be their 60th anniversary concert.
Claire Stoneman from Hall Green will sing Dido with Fran Ambrose from Lichfield as Aeneas.
Lorraine Payne, a freelance designer in Stourbridge, is joint chairman of the group and has sung lead opera roles for ten years. She will appear as Belinda.
All three will also be joining other top amateur and professional sing-ers from among the 40-strong membership in a performance of Britten's Choral Dances from Gloriana.
The group, which sings grand opera in English, is planning a special anniversary programme this year and is on the lookout for sponsors and a director for a full-scale production of Cavalleria rusticana and I Pagliacci at the Crescent Theatre from October 31 to November 4.
Potential sponsors and artistic directors should contact Lorraine Payne on 07971 673 060.
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A rampant bug decided to run rife through members of Astwood Bank Operatic Society - just in time for the group's production of The Mikado last week.
One of the victims was David Steele, playing Nanki-Poo. He went down after managing to get through the Thursday performance - leaving the production team to do some frantic telephoning in search of a stand-in. In the end, there were two different Nanki-Poos - one on Friday and one on Saturday, both of whom, I'm told, managed admirably in staving off the crisis.
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I don't know how often the average thespian has to say dilettante in the course of a stage career, but it cropped up in Daughters of the Revolution, the challengingly mind-bending drama by David Edgar which students of Birmingham School of Acting presented at the Crescent Theatre last week.
Almost inevitably, this was a superb production by the professionals of the future - but at the risk of being accused of nit-picking may I mention that dilettante has four syllables, not three. I seek only to be helpful, in case the unpredictable hand of fate makes it occur in the years ahead for any members of the talented young company.
By the way, they will open a three-night run of Marat/Sade at the Crescent tomorrow and I say without any fear of being wrong that it will be another excellent evening of theatre.
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Just to share a little gem that has come my way: novelist Dorothy Whipple, whose Because of the Lockwoods, adapted by Constance Cox, will be presented by the Newcastle Players at the Mitchell Memorial Theatre, Hanley, from April 25-29, acquired her unusual surname on her marriage in 1917 to Henry Whipple.
Before that, it was Stirrup.
