Nostalgia: Now the gang's all here for show

Published on Saturday 14 November 2009 10:19

IT WAS 1960 and the group of amateur performers were giddy with the success of their show. A last-minute Gang Show – devised and staged by Scouts – held in January had gone swimmingly and everyone was buoyed with enthusiasm.

"Somebody said: 'Let's put on a full-size Gang Show and do it in the King's Theatre'," remembers one of the original cast members, Ian Brodie. "There was complete silence, then I think in unison everyone asked: 'Where?'"

That November the very first Gang Show appeared at the King's. On Tuesday, the 50th show opens, again at the King's and featuring more than 200 local youngsters.

Back in 1960, though, that first production didn't have the reputation that today's cast enjoys. The poster was hand-painted and resources were scarce. Ian remembers: "There was an almost non-existent scenery and props department. Our wardrobe department was brilliant, with costumes arriving from places as far away as Iceland, Chicago, Aberdeen and Newcastle, just in time for the dress rehearsal."

Reviewed by the Edinburgh Evening News, the show was described as "very enjoyable".

"Comedy is plentiful and the zest and spirit which the boys put into it, keep the sketches bouncing along merrily. It is with obvious pride that the Scouts don the red neckerchief for the finale," said the News.

And that pride has been in evidence over the years, whatever other changes there have been. For one year, 1962, the show decamped to the Lyceum, and it became the first in the world to allow girls in the cast. Perhaps one of its starriest moments was when it was invited to appear at the London Palladium.

But there's not a year that's gone by that hasn't provided some magical memories for its young cast.

The Edinburgh Gang Show 2009 is at the King's Theatre from Tuesday to Saturday. Call the box office on 0131-529 6000