Old Time Music Hall

The society had decided to take a trip down memory lane for their latest show, back to the seventies in fact when, according to Mark Ratcliff writing in the programme, they used to regularly perform music hall productions and take them on tour around the locality.  The songs of course are even older, but somehow they never seem to date and it is rather worrying when, as I found when reviewing the show, you seem to know most of them without referring to the song sheet.

The show was opened by Master of Ceremonies Steve Foster resplendent in red coat and making an excellent job of introducing each act with the aid of a gavel, in true music hall fashion.

A medley of pre First World War songs, performed by the whole company opened the proceedings. There was a fair bit of hesitancy both vocally and choreographically but this improved to some extent as the evening progressed. 

Albert and the Lion takes a fair bit of learning and I don’t think anyone would have complained had Dot Sharp recited with words in hand, something she resorted to in part two of this monologue, made famous by the late Stanley Holloway.

Some good comic interludes from Mark Ratcliff, supposedly trying to refine his circus skills, the scariest of which involved several knives, a heavily bandaged hand and a fair bit of ‘blood’. He also gave a good rendition of If it Wasn’t for the ‘Ouses in Between and joined with David Perry to sing Me and my Shadow in the second half.

Renee Joyce made us laugh with Oh Mr Porter and also made us realise they weren’t the good old days for everyone as she read with feeling, the monologue An East End Saturday Night. 

Matt Burns is a talented young dancer and well done to him on his performance of Putting on the Ritz and his quite spectacular ballet moves in Russian Dance.

There was a time when both a marriage licence and a dog licence cost 7/6d, a fact which may have been lost on some of the younger members of the audience, but Tony Saxby’s rendition of She Cost Me Seven and Sixpence had us all in fits.  You didn’t need to understand all the facts to find it hilarious.

Other old favourites included The Green Eye of the Little Yellow God, With my Little Wigger-Wagger in My Hand and How Much is that Doggie in the Window, featuring a very well behaved dog, performed by members of the company.   

A Company Medley of well known tunes with the theme courtship and marriage closed the first half and the stage was transformed into a street party scene to close the show.  Song sheets enabled everyone to join in and those of us with flags waved them enthusiastically as we celebrated the coronation of George V.

This was a good fun evening. Well costumed and with excellent musical accompaniment from Ralph Thompson.  I know just how much work goes into putting on a variety show, so my congratulations to everyone involved.

We were singing the songs all the way home.  Always a sign of an evening well spent. 

Thank you for the invite, we had a great time.

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