Youth theatre groups and singing organisations from the area will be collaborating for a one-off show next month.

Create Theatre, Dawlish, and Tykes, Teignmouth, will perform Granny Galactica at the Carlton Theatre, Teignmouth, from November 5-7.

They will be joined by members of Teignmouth Community Choir and also singers from Ivybridge Community Choir.

The musical was written by Teignmouth-based composer David Haines in 1989 and it is celebrating its 20th birthday this year.

The project is the brainchild of Leigh Toney who runs Create and Tykes.

It will have a cast of nearly 90.

'It is rare for organisations to come together to work on something like this,' she said.

'I just felt that it was wrong for me to choose one group to produce it as it is such a good production, so I decided to get them all involved.

'It's a big task but I am enjoying piecing it together. What's extra special is that the space-themed musical has fallen on the International Year of Astronomy.'

The musical follows the story of Granny Nettle on a journey around the cosmos.

Led by Franklin, an alien robot out scouting the galaxy, and accompanied by her granddaughters Bono and Cynthia, they visit numerous planets ending up at the home of Franklin's makers and masters the Fnirks and the story unfolds.

'The Tykes are taking the roles of the travellers and Create are the alien Fnirks,' said Ms Toney.

'Older members of the Tykes are learning about the technical aspects of theatre and will be taking on roles such as stage management and lighting.

'By introducing the choir it has added another dimension to the songs. They are singing in five-part harmonies, this couldn't have happened if it was just the children singing.'

Ms Toney performed the musical herself when she was a member of Gatehouse Youth Spring 15 years ago and gained a wealth of knowledge about space.

'Now, I am taking on the show from a very different angle, as director and designer,' she said.

'David is involved in the Teignmouth Community Choir and was thinking about doing a concert version of the musical and I was thinking of producing it with the youth theatre groups, so all in all it was perfect timing.'

Revisiting the show, Mr Haines has taken the opportunity to compose new arrangements of a number of the songs.

'It's really exciting to be working on Granny Galactica again,' said Mr Haines.

'This is such a different thing to do, as so many groups are involved. I love working with people of all ages and this project is great for that.

'It's really fun to be involved in this, especially with the choir as I can be ambitious with the vocal arrangements.'