RAMBLINGS OF AN OLD PRODUCER

As I write this (January 2012) I cast my mind back 30 years and we must then have been half way through the rehearsals for the 1982 show and just about to start the Sunday morning dance rehearsals. Happy days.

Going through the finalé sequences, it's surprised me how much I can remember. I won't say I could stand and sing all the numbers unaided, but most of the time I could sing along without recourse to the song-sheet. How about you?

Listening to the music, I can't help feeling we were blessed to have the services of Hartley Mallinson and Geoff Beadle. Listen to Hartley's arpeggios and Geoff's drumming and it really is totally professional. 30 years on, with modern keyboards, the mind boggles what might have been!

We had a wonderful team both on stage and back stage. I often reflect what made it so successful and conclude that everyone knew we had one aim. That at 7.15pm on Easter Monday everything must come together for "curtain up"- no excuses.

Can you remember the "all day" rehearsal the Saturday before? Trying on costumes for the first time and going through the routines 'til we got it right. One more chance on the following Thursday for a final polish as needed. On that Thursday, the stage crew got all the scenery up to the school only to find that the stage was a store area for hundreds of chairs and tables which all had to be moved and the realisation that nothing had been swept or dusted for the past 2 years.
Good Friday was stage crew day. The day was spent getting the stage set up and then about 5 pm we had a full stage rehearsal with the correct timings. A few choice words were uttered on occasion but we got there. The Copper Hearth sales rose that night in readiness for the week ahead.

I recall one year when we arrived with the scenery on the Thursday afternoon and the sudden realisation that there were no stage curtains. Enquiries of the caretaker revealed that they had been thrown away! Panic stations - for a short while. Enter Rosemary Woodburn and the ladies of the costume. First thing Friday morning off to a fabric shop, buy up their stock of blue material and set about making a full set of stage curtains. No problem!! Such was the team spirit, nothing could phase us. Cast arriving on the Saturday for dress rehearsal never even noticed.

Do you remember the Gala Nights? For a number of years, the first night had been the OAP and cheap night. We turned that around and made the opening night (Easter Monday) the Gala Night where black tie and evening dress were the order of the day and a meal was served during the (extended) interval. It was a sell out and got the show off to a fabulous start. Lots of cheering (fuelled by glasses of wine?) really lifted the cast. It was another example of great teamwork by the ladies of the catering, ensuring the meal was ready dead on time for the interval and getting it served.

Cast rehearsals started in October (just after half term) but for the production team we started July/August working out the routines and sketching costume ideas. As producer I'd probably been thinking about the content and running order for some time before that. If I remember correctly Tuesday evenings were production team meeting times round at my house. We'd work out the rehearsal schedules for the next couple of Thursdays, devise the main routines and cast the main numbers.

I have now retired as Chairman of the District Scout Council, but in that role I got to hear of difficulties Groups have in recruiting leaders. A favourite "excuse" seems to be that people do not have the time. I have to admit being a little cynical. As well as running the Gang Show, I was Scout Leader at 14th Burton and later ADC Scouts, had two young children and a busy life as a Civil Engineer. Brian Hayns (assistant producer) was Scout Leader at 18th Burton and later GSL, also had two young children and a busy life travelling all over the Midlands as a sales rep. John Sharp (assistant producer) was Venture Scout Leader at 10th Burton, was a teacher and (a bit later than Brian and me) also had two young children.  Many other members of the production team and cast were similarly committed. Excuse the rant, but I reckon if you want to do something, you find the time to do it. There was - and probably still is - a saying "If you want something doing, ask a busy person"

It was a big disappointment to me that 1982 was to be the last show. 1983 would have been the first year  that my eldest daughter would have been eligible to be in a show. Despite lots of publicity we just could not attract sufficient cast to make the show viable. I've never been able to put my finger on the cause. I wasn't prepared to compromise our standards and reluctantly had to make the decision to stop.