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Spotlight on the Show

There is no doubt about it-the ” Gang Show” spirit his ” captured” Teesside!

Three years ago, there were thousands of Tees-siders who had only the vaguest idea of what a ” gang show ” was. Then, in 1950, Middlesbrough Scouts presented their first Show in St. John’s Hail. They were rewarded with an outstanding success and the following year moved into a theatre proper-the Empire-to stage their second production.

Again, after probably the most tense ” first night ‘! ever, the cast played to packed houses for the rest of the week.

Pressure of other Scouting activities prevented the presentation of any show last year, but this 1953 production has already shattered previous booking records easily. Almost a week before the opening night the last of the bookable seats was sold at the box-office-and without the need for extensive ” boosting.” The show, in fact, had sold on its previous reputation-an encouraging pointer for ” The Gang ” and one which spurred them on in their efforts to make their Coronation Year Show the best yet.

The enthusiasm of the boys themselves has again been the overriding factor in the preparation of ” The Gang Steps Out,” but putting on this 23-item programme has required teamwork of a high order. The cast of nearly 150 Scouts and Scoutmasters, for instance – let us reiterate once more that there are no girls in the show, despite appearances !-are drawn from 28 different groups scattered throughout the town and backing them up is a complex organisa-tion involving more than 100 adult helpers. The ” boffins’ ” duties have been multifarious. Sets, for Instance, had to be designed, constructed and painted, including such diverse features as a gipsy caravan, an impressive staircase, palm trees and a church screen. Many hours have been spent by this team working in a large North side warehouse. Native assagais and shields, grass skirts, gamelan (Pacific island) ” orchestral ” instruments and a host of other ” props ” had to be acquired, in addition to nearly 800 costumes and a large assortment of wigs for which women Cubmasters, Scouters’ wives and other feminine helpers have been responsible for fitting, altering and keeping presentable.

Then there was the business side, the compilation of this programme and, far from least, the transport and catering problems which had to be overcome. Arrangements had to be made to take some of the boys home after rehearsals and after this week’s performances, while the womenfolk rolled up their sleeves and tackled the organisation of tea for some-thing like 500 members of the cast, helpers and Scout visitors from distant areas between shows on the last day of the show. Rehearsals themselves began last autumn, individual items being practised in school rooms and at Levick House and the massed numbers at the co-operative Hall on Saturday nights. While the show was being planned it was realised that ” The Gang ” would be appearing little more than a fortnight after Middlesbrough celebrated its centenary as a borough, so a message was sent to Ralph Reader, the acknowledged ” Gang Show ” expert, who readily agreed to write a song specially for the occasion.The production chiefs sent him a list of notes on the town’s growth and achievements-and back came an adapted ‘ Just a Thing called Love ” BY RETURN OF POST! Recordings were made of sounds in a local steelworks to add effect to the ” rolling mill ” scene which resulted.Rehearsals were not without their ” incidents.” On one occasion a visiting member of the Whitley Bay ” gang ” was discovered to have a violent attack of toothache; a Middlesbrough official promptly drove him by car to a dentist friend’s house and the offending tooth was withdrawn quicker than one could say ” Sorry, house full.” The dentist was an Old Scout.

At a later rehearsal at the Empire the producer was leading members of a cast in a dance sequence tapping his foot to guide the pianist. All was going well when suddenly the dance was thrown into confusion; the pianist had “got lost.” She had Inadvertently taken up the staccato rap of a stage carpenter’s hammer in mistake for Mr. Galloway’s footfalls.

If there was a bouquet for the keenness supporter of ” The Gang,” it would probably go to a man who, one of our hardest workers backstage in the past, was very ill when this show came along.

Determined to play his part, he secured his doctor’s promise that if he followed instructions carefully he might be allowed to put in a couple of weeks helping behind the scenes. He did so, going to bed early, adhering to a strict diet and carrying out a rigid programme laid down by his doctor-and turned up at the Empire at a recent rehearsal to lend a hand.

That spirit is typical of the ” Gang Show’ and the Scout-tradition.

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A nationwide chain of beacons is to be lit by Scouts on Coronation night. The beacons will be located on high points, if possible in sight of each other, and each will be at least 10 feet high, all of them being fired simultaneously.Middlesbrough being in an industrial area local Scouts will not be directly responsible for a beacon, but it is expected that there will be several in the Cleveland districtA similar beacon chain was organised by the Scout Movement on the night of 6th May 1935, to mark the Jubilee of King George V. On that occasion a total of 1,775 beacons were lit, from Duncansby Head, John o’Groats, in the north, to St. Helier, in the south. In Newcastle 80 tons of material went into one ” bonfire ” while Scouts in Gateshead used 90 tons of railway sleepers. There was one beacon on Boulby Cliff, near Skinningrove.

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TO RECEIVE THE FREEDOM

In commemoration of the Coronation, Chingford, Essex, is to confer the Honorary Freedom of the Borough upon the Boy Scouts’ Association.

A copy of the resolution conferring the Freedom, contained in a specially-designed casket made from wood grown at Gilwell Park (the Scout international training ground at Chingford) will be presented to the Chief Scout, Lord Rowallan, by the Mayor, on 4th June.

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A TATTOO, COMPLETE WITH GUARDS BAND

Scouts of Purley, Surrey, are celebrating Coronation Year with a mammoth floodlight tattoo. The band of the Coldstream Guards has been engaged and Walt Disney Ltd. are loaning many props. used in the film, “Robin Hood

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ON ROYAL GROUND

Her Majesty has given permission for a Jamborette Camp to be held in Sandringham Park during Whitsun week-end. The Scout counties of Norfolk, Suffolk and Cambridgeshire have invited patrols of Scouts from other countries to visit them during the period 23^rd May to 4^th June as their guests.

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LAKELAND JAMBOREE

The delightful wooded country of Brathay Hall Estate, at the head of Lake Windermere, is to be the venue for a Lakeland Coronation Jamboree from Ist to 8th August. Scouts from Cumberland West Cumberland North and East, and Westmorland will be in camp.

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“DERBY” ON WHEELS

The Soap Box Derby has established itself as one of the most popular Scouting events of the year. Already nearly 200 groups have entered for the special Coronation Year Derby which is expected to draw not only a record entry but also record crowds (20,000 attended last year’s finals at Southport)

North-East semi-finals are to be run off at Leeds in June; the national finals will take place in London in September.

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MOOT IN THE MOUNTAINS

More than 1,000 British Rover Scouts have applied to attend the Fifth World Rover Moot, to be held at Kandersteg, Switzerland from 29th July to 8th August.

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