generally causing cba _

We used one experi nc o f the Company to cornto sma Iler roles: the Pre.: Sergeiln t Flan,lg,ln, tr Norfolk and th e interrupts the World \ \

There Ml' only thrp pr parts, each one iI carru. joined in th e cl ( ru­possible.

The other

seven dancing chor uses.

REHEA These s tarted in JanUM\ nigh t per w eek fo r U1C ell< relcv<:lI1t principals and I

for Bud , hes, Crili:) oth er relevil l1t princlpill ­dil ne w<!rl' d lOleog rJp re hea rsed sep Miltel y o.In fi tt 'd into the co m pan) J ... la st month, the _how b ' U­ _ -

du ring the las t w eek ill \r­

UNDERNEATH THE ARCHE The Flanagan & Allen Story by Patrick Garland, Brian Glanville and Roy Hudd, in association with Chesnc.

Director and Choreographer Doreen Wylde discusses her production for the Grayshott Stagers.

the firs t week of May,

vVe had a Director's d"."bt drill ed the cltoru , in their r whi le the Direc tor wa .. u na which worked very w , lI .

ft is vi til l to haw a reh" ,l rs.a1 the dress re heiHsdl ~olt costumes and speed of Lha.n~~ ­CO" llJMES below) . We a~ had thi s on the Saturdav aftt' (immed ia tel y before the wee k's run) and thpn, after ,\ ­brea k, went s tril ig ht into i1 ful through in the evenin g I"" plenty of time to re-do illly d. sectio ns. There also need s tl1 TechniG11 Rehearsa l (this W il ­

on the Monday) sepilr<lte from main company for lighting, "nd set changes .

This Society pe rforms ilt different venues. The fitst i­small v illage hall \\ performil nces on Thursday, fori and Saturday a nd we the n mo\' a neilrby town with a thea tre tho: has a large s tage, ilgain perform l _ on Thursda y, Friday <md Saturd,' A different band of musicians w llsed fo r each:

Jun

Underneath the Arche.' te lb the story in ske tches of two of l3ritilin's most pop ulilr ente rtainers, the loveilble , w icked Bud Flanag,ln ilnd th e ha ndsome, urbane Chesney /\lle n and their association with a group of knocka bo ut com edians known as "The C r<lzy Gang". The show WilS fir s t p <' rformed ilt the

h ich s te r Fes ti va l Theatre o n W<,dn<,sday 29 July 1981. From Ma rch 1982 it s ubseque ntl y ,'njoycJ c1 run in the West End at the Prince of Wales Thedt re with Ro ' [Iudd 8nd C hristophE'r Timothy (be tter known o n televis ion in /\11 r('atures Greilt and Sl11all) il.5 l3ud il lld Ches. The C razy G Mlg we I'<' p l<lyed y foC' Black, I' e te r ( rilckc rjilc k) , lil Le, T,m), C( dfr y, Billy G ra y ilnd Don S moo the wi th Juli a Sutton ,1

Florne F~ rcl e .

It i ~ w ri tten mor ' <'" <l r"vue wi th J1<lJl-Sto p ,1 tio n il nd tc'lIs the life s t or~ of Bud Fla n,'gdn ,1I1d ho~ he fi rs t me t Ch..,s ne , Allen a t Popcring lll' dur ing World War I ,mel con tin uing w1til they joined lip as il doublt' il Ct. Cht'sney f\ lien takl'~ the pa rt of n~rra t(l r and i ~

inteh persed w ith j,"}kes , sketc hes Jnd so n gs w h ic.l1 till' d uo pl'rforl1ll'd ,md th t' time u p t(, th ir co ll ,l bor,lt io n with thl: _r.1 /'y ,~ng.

C hesn ey i~ U, tra ight m,1I1 ,1nd Bl,l(i is the comic.

it C11 n be done ...vith .l chorus o f s ix m en and tWt' lve l ad ie~, plll~ st>I'PI1

Icdd ing m en' s p<lr h5. thl'{,e' .,m,dl p r ilri pa l la dies ro les ,1l1d ,1 teilI1l o f fo u r to s ix dallcprs .

The lllus ic is simple, most of the '>Ongs be ing We' ll-known, but a ll the numbers are choreograph 'd ,md so need lots of rc heMs ing .

The ports of Bud end Ches Me huge, with Bud on ilnd off s tage throug hou t the show ilCling the va ry ing episodes of his life, while C hes is rarely off s ta ge ilt all alternating the narration with ilcting his meetings with Bud,

There a re also fiv e lMge older men's pilrts to be the Crill.y Cilng. We did not try to mcltch them in looks with the originill Crazy Gang but they all had to be ilble to s ing, deliver comic lines with timing and be prepared to dress up as principal boys, chill' ladies and flower selle rs. They also, especi lIy Ches, hild to be able to mix with the iludienc"" ad libbing when necessary and

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Week 1 - 2 keyboards, double bass and percussion

Week 2 - 2 clarinets - doubling as saxophones, trumpet, trombone, guitar, keyboard, double bass and percussion.

SCEN

Becallse there (lfC so molly ch(lnges this is minim'll. We used rostra right across the back of the stage on two levels 'lnd silver slash curtains behind. Otlll'r smaller items of sc","nerv were either flown in or brought on by the stagc' crew. Properties were added and removed throughout the running of the show <lnd, like till' ,;cenl'n', thIS was dOI1l' in full lights an~i became p,ut of t)1l' show.

There mus t bt' ~lCCl\SS to tht' stage from thc auditorium as ChI'S often mingll's with the audil'nee. The re was a leckrn in fronl of the prosccniulll arch on C\ stage l'xtt'nsion stage right. This was used for a "This is Your Lift''' type red book which hild Clll's' n<lrration in it. This hild a dual purpose; (a) the audience could distinguish when Clll's was bl'ing; tf1l' Narrator and (b) it helped CI1l's' memory in this huge speaking p,ut.

In front of the stage, stagl' left, was a represent,ltion of a Theiltre Box. This needs entrv both from the stage and from th,: ,1LIditorium as access for the Crazy Gill1g who constantly get into it and become pMt of the audience. The 'box' was r,lised above floor level so that all the audience could see them when thl'Y were in it, but it had to be low enough not to restrict the view of the audience of the rcst of the stage.

LIGHTING

The different atlJ10spheres wer E' achieved by changing the lighting (I f the slash curtains. For example, ,ea green for the sea shanty, dark blue 'for the storm, etc. I

\1

\ i wings throughout the show with

his next change of costume.

TIle Crazy Gang also need help in their dressing room which Ideally needs to be as near the stage as possible.

, HAIR---\

\ \ The Crazy Gang need two

different wigs each. One is

\ an outrageous "principal boy" dressed wig, the other is a Char-lady/Flower seller. BeC<lllSe of the speed of the change this wig IVas-- 1

y

A follow spot was also used for scenes when someone carne into the auditorium to save putting the hOllse light up. Search lights were played round the roof and walls of the theatre during the World VI/"r II scene.

PROPERTIE

These are birly simple with stage furniture being kept as little as possible and easily carried on and off. Hand props gave few problems, although our biggest difficulty was to filld two seb of boxing gloves and six World War I rifles. The latter needed to b ee robust as they are thrown about the stage

J\n add ed complication, to ,Kcommod,lle one of the script's many jokes, is that every seat in the auditorium must have a coloured dot stuck under the seat and two scab need a different coloured spot on the back!

The effec ts are vital to this show: ship sirens, thunder and rain, World VI/,lr I gun fire and World War 11 Blitz effects and sirens,

They all have to sound at a specific moment and some at a spec ific bill" of music, for example when a bomb drops in thc World \"i<1l' II scenc.

COST MES

These can eas ily become a nightmarc as each member of the chorus has fivl' changes, several of which arC' very quick and are achieved by adding alld removing parts of a Cllstume. For example:

Sailor scene - all in white with sailor collars

FOR Jones number - all in white, remove collars, add stars and stripes waistcoats

WW1 scene - men add a great coat and tin hat

It does work but a lot of thought needs to go into the planning.

Bud mllst have a personal dresser who is w,liting in the

attached to a hat so that both went on together.

CONCLUSION

This show will work for either a large or small company and can also be staged on a IMge or small stage with different sized auditorium.

It was very good fun for both the Company and the audiences.

The audience finds itself participating from first entering the theatre and soon realises that it is expected to join in. Our audiences did so with gusto l The jokes are non-stop and several scenes are uproariously fwmy. Handkerchiefs were out to mop eyes from crying with laughter; the show had to stop several times to accommodate the laughter.

''''.

There were good houses and as everyone left it was agreed there wasn't a better way to spend an evening.

ALL SCRIPTS, SCORES AND LIBRETTI FEATURED IN

"THE PLAY PRODUCED" AND "THE MUSICAL PRODUCED"

CAN OBTAl F OM

TEL: 0171-837-5655 FAX: 0171-833-0609

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