Issue No. 49
January 2006
EDINBURGH GANG SHOW A party of over 60 Cubs, Scouts, Explorer Scouts, Leaders and Parents went to see the Matinee Performance of the “Edinburgh Gang Show” on Saturday 19th November. The show takes place in the Kings Theatre and we were seated in the Upper Circle, and managed to sit down just before the Overture. Among the 9 items in the 1st half were a tribute to Hans Christian Anderson, with songs like “Thumbelina” and “The Ugly Duckling”. The Cubs had their number, which was called “Sprightly Leprechauns” which saw them singing Irish Songs in their bright green costumes. A tribute to London saw the cast singing “London is London” which has been performed by Dundee on a number of occasions. A comedy sketch entitled “On the Phone” was done very well which saw a boy and girl talking on their Mobile Phones, only to be always getting interrupted by their parents. During the Interval, a number of the party bought ice creams while others stretched their legs a bit, as the chairs for a number of the “bigger” people were a bit uncomfortable! In the 2nd half, one of the earlier numbers was “McBeatles” which saw some of the older cast dance and sing to Beatles songs in tartan and singing in a Scottish accent. “Electricity” saw some of the Explorer Scouts do an energetic dance, one of them managing to damage his trousers in the process, but still keeping cool and finishing the routine. The Happy Kettle Gang was an item similar to a well-known Children’s Singing Group, which proved to be quite funny, and gave the audience a chance to participate. “Dining Out” was based in a restaurant with two of the stars playing around 6 different parts between them, making it hilarious. All too soon it was time to sing “Crest of a Wave” and thus bringing an end to a very enjoyable show. We all then headed for the bus to take us home, managing an unplanned stop in Kinross when the bus had a mishap with a much smaller car. We arrived home in Dundee about 7 pm. A big thank you to the Gang Show Admin team for organising the day. George Walker.
In This Issue: ◊ ◊ ◊ ◊
Producers spot The Gang In Profile Horoscopes Our Survey Said
The gazette is to celebrate its 50th edition next month and we are desperate for material to include in it! Please hand in any jokes, stories, pictures or anything else you can think of at any rehearsal to any one of the Editorial Team; Bill Fleming, Chris Jenkins, Jim Jenkins or George Walker. You can also email your articles to the Editor: gazette@dundeegangshow.com.
Producer’s Spot Hi Gang! Firstly, I would like to wish you all a very Happy New Year! I hope you had a good time over the festive period. As I said at the last rehearsal before we broke off for Christmas, there are now only 12 Sunday rehearsals until the dress rehearsal in the Whitehall Theatre on Sunday, 2nd April. It is now time to start spending some time between rehearsals learning words, as I have said numerous times before, in a show like ours that has so many different songs, unless you are very fortunate you won’t learn the words just by singing them at rehearsals. So PLEASE spend some time each week on the words and I’m sure you’ll find the rehearsals and ultimately the show far more enjoyable if you know all the words to the songs. You’ll also find by knowing the words the moves should come automatically. This week you will also get information regarding the tickets going on sale next week Sunday, 15th January. It is up to everyone to put as much effort as possible into selling tickets, make sure all your family, friends, neighbours, and especially your Cub Pack, Scout Troop, or Explorer Unit are supporting you by coming to see the show. We have 4440 tickets to sell over the whole week, and if everybody sold 35 tickets each the show would be more or less a complete sell out. This may sound like a lot to sell but I’m sure if we all thought about it we could all come up with 35 people who would come and see them in the show if we asked them. There is nothing better than going on stage and performing to a full house, so let’s all start selling tickets and please don’t leave it to someone else!
Ged
Our Survey Said... In this survey, we asked Cubs, Scouts and Leaders what they hoped to do in 2006 that they’d never done before. Here are the wishes of those who spoke to our interviewing reporter:-
Neil Archibald Laura Bain Jennifer Bangs Stephen Bangs Alistair Battles Ann Brown Jason Corr Lori Cowan Jim Jenkins Adam Johnson Barry Jordan Fraser Keir Amanda Leitch Kathryn Leitch Cameron Lindsay Calum Lynch
Chelsea Mackie Stephen Robertson Jamie Stephen George Walker Edward Zanre
I’d like to go to London as I’ve never been there. I hope to study for my exams. I’d like to do a whole Gang Show number based on Blues Brothers. I hope to celebrate my 15th birthday. I’d like to play roller hockey. I hope to ride an elephant on Tony’s birthday and spend a night with a hill tribe. I’d like to meet a famous person at a party on the final night of the Gang Show, seeing as it’s the 40th anniversary. I’d like to learn to play a musical instrument. I want to see Dens Park concreted over and made into a car park for those who go to Tannadice . I’d like to get into my school football team (St Margaret’s Primary) I hope to go to South Africa in July and work in a lion park. I hope to be in the Gang Show as I’ve never been in it before. I am looking forward to taking part in the Joseph scene in the Gang Show as I’ve never done such a thing before. I’m going to have my first two-numbered birthday as I will be 10 in April I’d like to go on a camp with the Gang Show. I’d like to get a part in the Cub Sketch as I’ve been in two previous shows and never had a part. (Since this interview it’s been announced that Calum has been given a part in this years sketch, Something Saucy.) I’d like to have a solo spot in a musical concert. I’d like to go on a five mile sponsored cycle. I’d like to play basketball. I’d like to go into a chip shop and just order ONE fish supper. I would like to conquer my fear of heights by climbing Ben Nevis.
Look--A-Likes Look There are no look-a-likes this month as no-one has taken the time to suggest any. Instead, the Editorial Team has delved into the archives to find pictures of cast members in years gone by and compared them with what they look like now. Some pretty dramatic changes for some people! More to come next month!
Someone who has certainly aged well, exproducer Roger Buist
Not much has changed, it could have been yesterday. it’s our Chiefy!
Who says hair styles go out of fashion? All Tony has done is faced a different direction.
“Quick Quotes” “I’ve got 5 homework questions to do and it takes about 20 minutes to do 1 question, that’s about an hours work!” Let’s hope Lee Corr wasn’t doing his maths homework! “I forgot which key I was playing in!” It’ll be Alright On The Night for Colin!
The Gang in Profile ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Cub~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Name : Age: Which group are you in? Favourite Band/ Musician What I’m looking forward to most in 2006 is:
Chakiela Monk 10 30th McFly Going on holiday to England
Tell us an interesting fact about yourself:
I have a brother and a sister
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Scout~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Name : Age: Which group are you in? Favourite Band/ Musician What I’m looking forward to most in 2006 is:
Paul May 11 22nd Green Day New Music
Tell us an interesting fact about yourself:
I’m a Dundee Fan
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Explorer~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Name : Age: Which group are you in? Favourite Band/ Musician What I’m looking forward to most in 2006 is:
Saul Clark Millar 15 7th Westlife Playing with my nephew
Tell us an interesting fact about yourself:
I like playing computer games
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Leader~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Name : Age: Which group are you in? Favourite Band/ Musician What I’m looking forward to most in 2006 is:
Gemma Woods 19 25th Dolly Parton Gang Show
Tell us an interesting fact about yourself:
When I was little I mistook Christ in Rio De Janeiro for a policeman directing traffic
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Wardrobe Assistant~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Name : Age: Which group are you in? Favourite Band/ Musician What I’m looking forward to most in 2006 is:
Norma Donald 47 —Queen Being nearer 50!!
Tell us an interesting fact about yourself:
Me! I’m interesting!!
Horoscopes It’s now 2006, another New Year, and we take a look at what is written in the stars with our resident fortune tellers Mystical Mary and Jovial Jessie
Aquarius:
Jan 20th– Feb 18th
The winter blues may be upon you but a simple way of cheering yourself up is to bring out the Daniel O’Donnell CD collection. Pisces:
Feb 19th-Mar 20th
You may have an argument with a Scouting friend, therefore you need to get on your hands and knees and grovel– take them to McDonalds for a “McFlurry”. Aries:
Mar 21st-Apr 19th
Sharing your birthday with Gang Show makes it more special for you. If you can get a birthday card from 100 of the cast, Ged will wear a Dundee United strip. Taurus:
Apr 20th-May 20th
This is the period of the Scottish Cup Final and like last year, Hampden will be full of a nice colour. The future’s bright, the future’s orange. Gemini:
May 21st-June 20th
You have to be nice to family members, no arguments, no tantrums and certainly no fighting. Ensure you are in bed each night at 8pm to avoid confrontation. Cancer:
June 21st-Jul 22nd
This is the time to buy a raffle ticket as you luck is about to change. The numbers 12 and 21 are lucky for you. Leo:
Jul 23rd-Aug 22nd
This is the opportunity to try new food combinations such as beef and custard, curry with angel delight and pizza ice-cream! Virgo:
Aug 23rd– Sep 22nd
An opportunity to attend a fancy dress party is in the offing-suggestions such as Batman, King Kong and Mickey Mouse are good, however, avoid dressing as Santa, Superman or Tony-these costumes are difficult to find! Libra:
Sep 23rd-Oct 22nd
You should avoid food such as pizza, kebabs and chips as this may give you a “windy problem” and put you in an embarrassing situation.
Scorpio:
Oct 23rd– Nov 21st
Someone you met years ago will come back into your life-make sure you get the CD or DVD back you gave them a loan of! Sagittarius: Nov 22nd-Dec 21st The number 257 will be important for you! Avoid elephants and rhinos but birds may be lucky! Capricorn: Dec 22nd–Jan 19th An invite to a party or wedding pops through your letter box, however, be careful as a family member will drink too much. It is your responsibility to make sure they “behave themselves”
Roger Writes Hello, Gang! Very soon I shall be joining you all at rehearsals when I put the Cub item “Something Saucy!” and “40 Years Of Entertaining” on the floor so that you can all learn the stage moves. However, along with my Gang Show connections, I also wear another hat! Some of you in the Gang know that I am the local NODA Scotland Regional Representative for No. 2 Region. What is that I hear you say? Well, I’ll try to explain – NODA stands for the National Operatic and Dramatic Association. It was founded in 1899 and has a membership of over 2,300 amateur societies and 3,000 Individual Member enthusiasts throughout the UK, staging musicals, operas, plays, concerts, and pantomimes, in a wide variety of performing venues, ranging from the country’s professional theatres to tiny village halls. The Association was established for the express purpose of bringing together members of Amateur Operatic and Dramatic Societies for their mutual assistance and combined benefit. The Patron of the association is Lord Lloyd-Webber NODA is divided into 11 National Areas. (Dundee is in the * Scotland Area). Each Area is headed by an Area Councillor, who sits on the National Council (the ruling body of the Association), supported by a network of Regional Representatives (that’s me!). These 180 volunteers are the vital link to the grass roots of the Association, the amateur theatre companies. The Association is a registered charity and is administered from its Headquarters in Peterborough, England, where a knowledgeable and friendly staff are able to deal with virtually any enquiry relating to Amateur Theatre. * The NODA Scotland Area is also divided into 11 smaller Areas and is headed by local Dundee man, Mr Bert Lumsden, serving as the NODA Scotland Area Councillor. As the local NODA Scotland Regional Rep in Region No. 2, it is my remit to offer advice and look after the needs of the 29 Societies and (at the last count) 88 Individual Members that are in my area. NODA members benefit from discounted sales of play scripts, libretti, vocal scores, theatrical make-up, group theatre tickets, theatre books, and has also an unrivalled sheet music department. Conferences, workshops and seminars are held at National and Area level and the annual residential Summer School offers training from professional tutors in all aspects of theatre. You see, dear Reader, I bet you didn’t know all that! Well, Gang, that’s what NODA is all about! I hope I haven’t bored you with the above story because what you have just read is very important. For the amateur stage movement to survive in Dundee – and Gang Show is very much part of that scene here in Dundee – NODA Scotland is a lifeline and a great advisor on anything theatrical. I am looking forward to being with you all very soon. See you all then! Cheers, Roger.
Forthcoming Events The following events have been organised by the Gang Show Social Committee. 10 Pin Bowling Party Night:
Tuesday 24th January:-7.30pm @ Megabowl, Stack Leisure Park, Lochee. £13 includes bowling, shoe hire, buffet and £6 bar voucher. (Adults only event)
Meal at Jimmy Chungs:
Monday 27th February:-7.00pm @Whitehall Street. £9.99 each plus drinks. (Adults only event)
Supper Dance:
Saturday 20th May:-7.30pm @St Peter & Paul Church Hall, Milton Street. To be confirmed £10 approx. (Adults only event)
Family Picnic:
Sunday 11th June:-1.00pm onwards @ Craigton Park outside St Andrews. Bring your own. Open to all.
Joseph:
Tuesday 5th September:-7.30pm @ Caird Hall. Tickets £20. Limited Supply-first come first served.
These Are the Times “These are the times we shall dream about, and we’ll call them the good old days.” By the time rehearsals for the 1994 Gang Show came round, some more girls had expressed a wish to join the company and that year’s cast included the traditional six lady Cub Scouters and seven girl Scouts. Two of the musical items were somewhat similar in their make-up. The Magic Castle introduced various Disney characters, while Pantomime People introduced various pantomime characters. And so, in April, we had the sight of various persons who normally tread the boards around Christmastime appearing on the stage in panto clobber. In The Magic Castle, the youngsters in the audience were treated to characters such as Donald Duck, Mickey Mouse, Mary Poppins, Snow White (Fiona MacKenzie) and the Seven Dwarfs, Peter Pan and Captain Hook parading through the auditorium to round off the first half of the show. In Pantomime People, Bert Harris was Widow Twankey, Roger Buist Abanazar, and Bill Fleming and George Wright the Ugly Sisters. The contents of The Midnight Hour caused a bit of controversy at the time, some members of the audience thinking that the final song was a bit out of place in a Scout show. This was the Time Warp, from the Rocky Horror Picture Show, in which three of the senior boys dressed in rather outlandish female garb to strut about the stage.
Bill Fleming as Donald Duck, and Bert Harris as Mickey Mouse
The seniors’ special item was Diamond is a Girl’s Best Friend in which Ged Brown fronted the group as they sang a selection of songs popularised by Neil Diamond-Sweet Caroline, Song Sung Blue, Cracklin’ Rosie and Play Me. Ged’s dad Mike, who was one of the original Four Old Men, has recently stated that he thinks that this has been Ged’s best ever performance in the Gang Show.
The great American dancers Fred Astaire was the subject of It’s Fred in which Paul Thomson took the lead role and the songs included Cheek To Cheek and Let’s Face the Music and Dance. A musical item with a touch of humour was The Gospel Choir in which Roger Buist as a past-his-sell-by-date conductor started off leading the choir in a dirge-like rendition of Jacob’s Ladder before a phone call took him away and Garry Abbot took over and the tempo was upped for a medley of bright hand-clapping songs with a religious flavour. Still on a religious theme, the final musical item was Easter Morning which started off with the cast celebrating an old-fashioned Easter before changing costumes to reappear with a selection of songs from Jesus Christ Superstar with Ged Brown in the Jesus role. In the comedy line The Boabbies saw The Four old Men, along with Martin Forsyth and Gordon Phillip, dressed up as lady polis cracking a few jokes before the six senior boys came on as male polis and the combined gathering sang amusing words to well-known operatic tunes, finishing off with Wha Wid Like To Be a Boabbie? Which turned out to be the audience participation song. There’s a similar item in the 2006 show but it’s been greatly abbreviated-surely the production team doesn’t reckon this year’s senior boys are capable of the performance of the 1994 ones! Another comedy item was Nappy Days in which six of the young Scouts paraded around the stage dressed in nappies. One of them was Andrew Gray who, in a rather risqué moment, was able to work out, by looking under the bedclothes , whether one of his fellow babies was boy or girl! The curtain coming down on the final performance of the 1994 show also saw the departure from the active Gang Show scene of Neville Simpson who had contributed so much to the musical side of the show over the previous 20 years. He began in 1975 as the piano accompanist for rehearsals and played in the orchestra during the week of the show. He appeared off and on in the years between 1981 and 1994, being musical director on several occasions. When rehearsals began for the 1995 show, several interesting newcomers joined the cast. One was Ann Brown who had married present director in 1993. When they appeared in the show together they were following in the footsteps of Ged’s mum and dad, Margaret and Mike, who had appeared onstage on stage in Roger Buist’s very first Gang Show in the YMCA back in 1967. Another newcomer that year was Kirsty Black who, a few years later, married fellow-cast member Paul Thomson. Both have now appeared in most of the shows since that date. Making his first official stage appearance was Stuart Sellars although he had been spotted popping on and off as a stagehand in some of the preceding shows. Another 1995 newcomer was Richard Waghorn, then a Cub in the 7th Pack. He went on to reach the dizzying heights of a senior. His Gang Show training led him to landing several principle parts with other musical societies and he has played Jean Valjean in Les Miserables, Phineas T Barnum in Barnum, and the Russian Anatoly Sergiesvsky in Chess, all by Dundee Schools Music Theatre. Finally, there was a first stage appearance for Cub Grant Simpson who made further Gang Show appearances before deciding to lend a hand backstage. He’s the brother of Genna, one of our senior girls. We also had a new musical director in Paul McLaughlin who’d been a Scout cast member some years previously, in 1981, 82 and 83. And so to the actual items in the show, with the musical ones taking pride of place. The second half top of the bill was entitled Trains and was cleverly divided into two connected parts. The first part saw Ged Brown leading the cast in some old fashioned American songs from the 1920’s, Take The A-Train, Chatanooga Choo-Choo and Albamy Bound. A clever twist to bring the number up-to-date was begun by Paul Thomson and Neil Hutton duetting in Starlight Express before the entire cast came on in colourful costumes to give a rousing Starlight mega mix.
Dundee Memories was a tribute to local publishing firm D.C. Thomson, with Tony Mochan introducing the Cubs, all dressed in dungarees, spiky hair and carrying buckets as they sang about The Sunday Post’s favourite character, Oor Wullie. Then another D.C. Thomson comic hero appeared, Dennis the Menace from The Beano. 1995 was the 50th anniversary of V.E. Day and we couldn’t let such an occasion go by without putting on a Second World War item. V.E. Day—50 Years On was along the same lines as our 2005 Singing for Victory item, with songs such as Bless ‘Em All, Roll Out the Barrel and Pack Up Your Troubles. The Four Old Men came on as Chelsea Pensioners and marched slowly, the quickly, around the stage. The final part was Song of Liberty and in 1995 we had Dougie Lonie, dressed in oldfashioned Scout uniform, taking the solo. In my opinion, it was much more impressive than this year’s finale. Show Daddy Daddy was a series of rock songs made popular by the group with a similar sounding name. Derek Chambers had the lead part for most of this sequence, but there were solos from Neil Hutton (Three Steps To Heaven), Paul Thomson (Blue Moon) and Ged Brown (You Got What It Takes).
Soloists in show Daddy Daddy were Ged Brown, Neil Hutton and Paul Thomson.
The 1996 Gang Show was the 30th one produced by Roger Buist and to mark the occasion he wrote a song, We’re Celebrating Thirty Years, and Neville Simpson provided the music while the cast sang to open the show. To further mark the occasion, the Comedy Team, which had now been augmented to six, Stuart Sellars and George Walker joining Fred McCulloch, Bill Fleming, George Wright and Bert Harris, took part in the opening number and they were joined by “producer Baldy”. Incidentally, in a newspaper write-up prior to the show, the reporter mentioned that the Comedy Team had been increased to six by the arrival of Burly George Walker (I don’t know where he got that idea from!) and suave Stuart Sellars (I don’t know where he got that idea from!) it’s also interesting to record that, 30 years on, there were still five survivors from the very first Roger show in the YMCA, namely Fred, Bill George of the Comedy Team, George’s wife Betty, who was wardrobe manager in 1996, and Roger. With producer Roger putting in brief appearances in each show, stage director Dave White thought he should get in on the act and, along with Roger, wrote a sketch based on Snow White. However, he must have failed the Prince Charming audition because he didn’t get a part. But he did get on the stage in another sketch, Pirates Bold.
In Pirates Bold, Stuart Sellars, Bill Fleming, Bert Harris and George Walker
Seeing as it was the 30th show, the first half finale was an item entitled Thirty Years of Entertaining. This began with the younger members of the cast dressed as clowns to Follow the Crowd. Then the older boys and girls joined in with a couple of numbers from the Copacabana musical. There then came a mad dash for everyone to get into Scout uniform for a selection of Ralph Reader songs, culminating in Together, with Ged Brown and Andy Hutton carrying flags.
Two years after his successful portrayal of Neil Diamond in the Gang Show, Ged got the opportunity to play another Neil, this time Sedaka, and he led the seniors through such songs as Calendar Girl, Happy Birthday Sweet Sixteen and That’s When the Music takes Me. An innovative touch to Dundee Gang Show came when Neil Hutton and Lynn Connor performed a dance to the music of This Will Be Our Last song Together. That year’s big musical tribute number was Grease and the cast took the audience over to Rydell High School for those happy songs from the 1950’s-Summer Nights, You’re The One That I Want, We Go Together and Greased Lightnin’ (complete with car descending from the roof.) Ged Brown got another lead spot when the company sang several numbers with a jazz flavour and the seniors got the opportunity to show off their tap dancing expertise. And Ged must have cleaned the producer’s car a lot again that year because he was chosen, along with Paul Thomson, to play the Blues Brothers, the cast singing along with them as they performed in the manner of those well-known US singers. Then it was Paul’s turn to take the lead in Gospel Bells which, because of a tragic incident forced the production team to withdraw a particular item, was put into the programme a mere two or three weeks before Gang Show week. It turned out to be a real crowd-pleaser with its lively songs with a religious flavour. Paul was the preacher and led the cast in songs such as Count Your Blessings and Mine Eyes Have Seen The Glory. The funniest of the comedy items was the one which Roger Buist and Dave White wrote about Snow White, entitled The Dwarfs and Snow White. Bert Harris played the wicked queen with the poisoned apple which sent Snow White (Fred McCulloch) to sleep for 100 years. Then yours truly came riding to the rescue as the handsome prince but he was told by the producer to make himself look as ugly as possible. So well did he transform himself that one of the cast claimed that “the horse is better looking than he is!” Ah well, that’s show business. A chimp in Tarzan one year, an ugly prince in Snow White another year!
From today, 15th of January 2006, there’s only 77 days left until Dress Rehearsal!
Thanks to: Ged Brown, Roger Buist, Bill Fleming, Jim Jenkins and George Walker.