The Bomber Belles

Following their successful collaboration ‘Class Act’ in 2015, the talented duo of Cat Quigley and Charlotte Pritchard were looking for inspiration for BSMTC’s Spring Show 2018, when Charlotte’s husband Paul showed her the film of the original 24 hour record attempt to build a Wellington Bomber by the workers at the Vickers Armstrong factory in Broughton in 1943 during WW2.  This seemed a perfect vehicle for a story, not only to celebrate the 100th Anniversary of the RAF, but also to commemorate the “bulldog” determination of British folk, inspired by the music and fashions of the 1940’s, during those difficult war years.

The hall had been suitably decorated with Union Jacks and a red, white and blue theme to the table decorations, and the audience had been invited to dress up 1940’s style for the occasion.  During the opening Benny Goodman musical number “Sing Sing Sing”, the cast paraded through the auditorium, before taking their places on the stage, all suitably dressed in 1940’s style factory workers costumes, whilst the voice over by Jack Stevens set the scene. 

Combined with the main true story-line, of a directive from the War Office to make a propaganda and morale-boosting  film  recording the record-breaking attempt, several personal stories were developed and played out during the course of the show and each of these were supported by a suitably chosen song of the era.  ‘Bert’, the factory foreman,  played by Alex Knibbs, and his wife ‘Betty’, played by Delia Gow, were anxious about their two sons, who were fighting the war in North Africa, but both were convincing in their roles to encourage and unite the workers;  ‘Blondie’ suitably played by Becky Faulkner, had desires to become a movie-star;  Annabel Clapham gave a very moving  performance as Lizzie, anxiously waiting for news of her fiancé Jack, serving in the Royal Navy – her emotionally charged musical number “I’ll Be Seeing You” in Act 2, on receiving the dreaded telegram of Jack’s demise, I’m sure brought a tear to everyone’s eyes.  Perhaps the most heart-rending story was that related by John, played by James Jeffries, who being constantly put down for being a coward by the spiteful young Charlie, played by

Jack Stevens, finally reveals the tragedy of losing his entire family in the London Blitz, leading the company in the rousing patriotic song “There’ll Always Be an England”.

There was romance too, with Charlotte Crosby giving a warm and cheerful performance as ‘Rosie’, always on the look-out for a suitable beau in her number “By The Light of the Silvery Moon’ ; whilst Emma Middleton, as ‘Elsie’, was defiantly “Washing That Man Right Out of My Hair”, having been disappointed in love.  “Alfie”, played by Darrell Williams, gave us a heart-warming rendition of “The Way You Look Tonight”, in his many thwarted attempts to pluck up courage to declare his love for “Gracie”, attractively played by Zoe Kirton, at the Saturday night dance at the end of Act 1.

Adding some humour, were Margaret Osborn, as ‘Dolly’, and Annie Bush as ‘Daisy’, the factory’s tea ladies!  Their witty asides to the audience and ‘Dolly’s’ propensity for seeing things in her crystal ball kept things moving along nicely, with their raucous rendition of “I’ve Got a Lovely Bunch of Coconuts”.  Alan Lowe gave an enthusiastic performance as ‘Frank Zimmerman’, the American film-maker tasked with producing the film, ably assisted by his French artistic and talent spotting ‘Sammy’, played by Yves Randle, leading the company in the toe-tapping numbers “Puttin’ on the Ritz” and “There’s No Business Like Show Business”

In general, the content and choice of well-loved songs from the 40’s made for an enjoyable evening’s entertainment and the ‘Lindy Hop’ number choreographed by Amy Neal, was a high-light.  Unfortunately, the quality of the sound in the first half was insufficient for every spoken word to be heard clearly, but this improved in the second half.  The lighting effects were fairly basic and some scenes could have benefited from a little more “light and shade”.   Accepting the obviously limiting resources within the confines of a small stage and show budget, some of the props used in the various stages of the building of the Wellington Bomber were a little unrealistic.  They could possibly have benefited from some back projection of a suitable factory interior, or stills from the original film, to bring a little more authenticity to the scene, rather than using the black backdrop that was used throughout?

That said, the audience were ready in showing their appreciation for the two directors and cast who had all obviously worked hard in putting the show together and giving an enthusiastic and well-received performance.

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