A Variety Show

Celebrating their 75th anniversary, this Variety Show was a very well constructed tribute to the 75 years of M.A.M.A. The programme included a huge variety of well selected musical hits and sketches from each decade between the 1950’s and 2020’s.

A large video screen on stage was cleverly used to introduce each section with a ‘News Reel’ presented by different company members. It was wonderful to see a founder member and first leading lady of the company, Betty Ramsden, the first person on screen telling us how the company started and a great pleasure to have her in the audience at the performance I attended. All of the narrators who followed reminded us of many interesting happenings of each decade and how things have evolved including historical events, inventions, Covid and the developmnet of technology today. We were also reminded of various TV adverts of their time which were re-enacted. ‘The Milky Bar Kid’ ‘Shake and Vac’ and ‘Jaffa Cakes-Full Moon’ were my particular favourites.

The company enthusiastically sang and danced their way through this most enjoyable diverse programme. It was interesting to hear and see the development of musical styles and dance through the years. Each decade was well depicted with the ‘50’s Mix Tape’ and Marilyn Munro’s ‘I Wanna Be Loved By You’, the ‘60’s Hippy Mix’, a clever ‘Morcambe and Wise’ sketch and a special mention to Robert’s ‘Never Walk Alone.’

We moved into the vibrant ‘70’s Disco Mix’ and the hilarious ‘Two Ronnies’ sketch about the fork handles which was very well played.The ‘90’s Dance Mix’ with a lively and energetic ‘5,6,7,8,’ ‘Cotton Eyed Joe’ and ‘Macarena’ got the feet tapping and also included ‘Its Fine Life ‘ from Oliver and a most entertaining ‘Swan Fake.’

The X Factor was brought in to the 2000’s and was another amusing sketch followed by a spirited ‘Lambeth Walk.’. The 2010’s offered more lively dancing and a beautifully sung ‘Almost Home’ from the Wizard of Oz. Moving forward to 2020’s  a ‘Covid Poem’ reminded us of the dfficult time we had and the send up of ‘I Know Him So Well’ from Chess was great fun.

This entire programme showcased some very good soloists of all ages and a cast who gave their all to the many numbers both vocally and physically and who looked as if they were having a great time.

Amidst all the fun and humour, the section ‘Remembering Our Absent Friends’ was particularly poignant as the video screen named all of the members who had been lost over the years whilst Alan and the company sang a moving ‘Parting Glass’. Another most interesting item was the audience being taught and asked to learn and use B.S.L. for ‘Let It Go’ from Frozen. A fasciniating addition to this innovative programme .

It was lovely to see and hear so many members of all ages given the opportunity to give relaxed interviews on screen about the company past, present and future and to be involved in such a varied programme. The grand finale ‘From Now On’ was a fitting end to the show and highlighted not only the success of the company over the past 75 years but the enthusiasm and determination for a sunny future.

A great deal of work had undoubtedly been put into this production following the progress and development of the company and resulted in a most informative and enjoyable show. Congratulations M.A.M.A on your 75th Birthday.

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