Yellow Submarine

Doing FOH for BATS last night. Nothing too strenuous - showing people to their seats and flogging raffle tickets - with the added bonus of getting to watch the show for free. Thankfully, I was not called upon to perform any of the other duties of the role such as overseeing the evacuation of the theatre or dealing with a medical emergency.
And what a great show it was. When we started doing “Showstoppers” over twenty years ago, it was in more of a concert format and for one night only. Basically, a chance for the more musically talented of our society to show what they could do, interspersed with a few comedy sketches to cover changes of backdrop or costume.
And that has evolved over the years into a four night run of an all singing, all dancing extravaganza, with lavish sets and costumes, which culminated in several songs from “Anything Goes”. The director said she was inspired by the recent Barbican production of that show and, having seen both, I reckon our little society delivered something exceptional. There was an audible gasp from the audience - and the FOH staff! - when they launched into the tap routine that is such an iconic part of the title song. In all my thirty odd years with the society I don’t think I’ve ever seen such a great routine performed by so many people on that stage! Actually, I’m not even sure if we’ve ever attempted a tap routine on that stage!
And it was great to see so many new - young! - faces among the cast and crew. Let’s hope they really enjoyed the experience and will return for future BATS productions - us old farts can’t go on forever. Though I’ll give it a damn good try!
The picture was taken during a medley of Beatles songs - “Octopus’s Garden” and “Yellow Submarine”. When I saw a singing octopus, a dancing lobster and guitarists in diving helmets, I did have to wonder if my interval drink had been spiked - it was just like being back in the sixties! Though they do say that if you can remember the sixties, then you weren’t really there!