A THEATRE group is bringing a taste of Paris to Burnley - in more ways than one.

The Gilbert and Sullivan Society is toasting the success of its next show, Offenbach's The Parisian Life, with champagne sent from across the Channel.

The French company Mumm is sponsoring the lively opera by sending a magnum of its Cordon Rouge bubbly, a donation of £100, bottles and other stage props.

Society treasurer David Morrisroe, a fluent French speaker and one of the show's principals, wrote to the company to ask for help and was delighted when he received the reply.

"The bottles should come in useful for the scenes of drunken revelry," he said.

"But at more than £20 a time, the champagne itself is too valuable to use in the show - we'll have to make do with lemonade."

The G & S society has a proud record of attracting support from apt sources. Its 1995 production of The White Horse Inn was sponsored by the real-life inn in Salzburg which inspired the show.

The Parisian Life, a risque comedy with a host of catchy tunes and a can-can routine, runs at Burnley Mechanics from Monday April 21 to Saturday April 26, and final rehearsals are taking place this week under director Brian Townend and music supremo Nigel Wilkinson.

The society is ringing the changes in an attempt to attract new people to see the show. In an unprecedented move, children under 14 will get free admission if accompanied by an adult.

"We realise that this is a unique step," said chairman Trevor Riley. "But we believe it is the best way to help families and young people enjoy a night at the theatre."

Converted for the new archive on 14 July 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.