the little theatre company- est. 1949 | 15
each other trying to get out of their dressing rooms and on to the stage. Running along the corridor at the Cliffs Pavilion, John Burt suddenly slid to a halt – “Hang on a minute – that’s me singing!” The game was up! Also in this show we had a chorus number featuring the song Starlight Express. This had a false close – i.e. the song builds to a climax which everyone thinks is the end before carrying on again. We duly got to the end of the first bit and Ron brought in the tabs. Thank you Ron! Mick Matlin again demonstrated his tendency to adlib in 7 Brides for 7 Brothers (1989). He was playing Adam, and as he tried to exit through a door which didn’t open he told a wide-eyed audience, “Bloody thing opened last night.” 21 shows were performed in the 1980’s. THE 1990’S AND MORE AWARDS The 1990’s saw the club win 5 NODA Awards. There were 2 UK Amateur Premieres, Carmen and Gentlemen Prefer Blondes and 5 Regional Premieres.The productions were diverse, from Godspell (1982) to La Cage Aux Folles (1998) to The Wiz (1999). Also performed were such favourites as Guys & Dolls (1994) and Half A Sixpence (1993). The 1998 production of Oklahoma included a young man in the chorus who was later to go on and star in Joseph and theTechnicolor Dreamcoat in London’s West End and become a household name – Lee Mead. With the closure of the Cliffs Pavilion for refurbishment, the club moved its productions first to the Basildon Towngate Theatre, then the Palace Theatre and then to the New Empire Theatre in Southend. 1995 also saw the return of plays to the club’s repertoire with the production of Entertaining Mr. Sloane.
Amorous scenes are not always what they seem. In Carmen (1990) Carol Ann (Carmen) ate garlic before her Saturday matinee performance to repel the advances of her leading man! Another example of a club member coming to the rescue occurred in The Pajama Game (1990). After a successful opening night on the Monday, Fran Heaver, playing the lead Babe Williams, lost her singing voice. There were no official understudies, so the Director, Sally Lightfoot, asked Sheila Nicol, who had played the part in 1966, if she would help. Sheila sat in the wings and sang for Fran while she mimed the songs on the Tuesday night. The next day Fran lost her voice completely and so Sheila also did the dialogue from the wings while Fran mimed. Sheila and Fran carried this off so well that nobody in the audience realized, apart from some of Sheila’s friends who were puzzled at hearing Sheila’s voice but not seeing her! Fran regained her voice on the Saturday. All credit to Sheila for saving the show. This show also involved the use of a recording being used during the live performance. The orchestra had to record a click track as Brendan had to sing to a recording of himself in “Hey there”. The MD complained he couldn’t keep up with the orchestra in the recording and he was actually conducting them himself! You never know what is going on behind the scenes to make the show work. In The Mikado (1991) John Burt (Mikado) had trouble remembering his lines, so Doreen stood in the wings giving him his lines just before he had to say them – his own personal prompt! As Godspell (1992) had only a small cast, this was performed in the Dixon Studio at the Palace Theatre. We had hired a chain link fence for scenery at the back of the stage. However,
the wiz 1999
little shop of horrors 1996
the Dixon is upstairs at the Palace and does not have the same access as the main stage. When it arrived we could not physically get it into the theatre and so it had to be replaced at the last minute with a smaller fence. In Half a Sixpence (1993), Stephanie Wilson, playing the elegant Helen Walsingham, had a quick change and then appeared on stage in a beautiful dress to charm the hero. Unfortunately, unbeknown to her, at one performance she entered and played the