| Gang Show facts | - The 26th St Albans Scout & Guide Gang Show is renowned to be one of the best in the country. People will be travelling from across the UK (and abroad) to see it.
- OFFICIAL! – IT’S A SELL OUT! The show will play to packed audiences from Wednesday 9 February – Saturday 12 February.
- There are 128 cast members (from 11 to 25 years of age)
- There's been 4½ months of rehearsals – that’s over 150 hours spent learning lines and perfecting songs and movement!
- Over 40 songs – that’s more than three west end musicals!
- Over 32 dance routines – that beats a Kylie show!
- Over 18,000 items in the Gang Show wardrobe
- The lighting rig alone takes over three days to programme, uses over 1 kilometres of cabling and would power over 50 electric heaters!
- Over 130 volunteers help to put the show on – production crew, musicians, technical crew, wardrobe team, set builders, business team to name but a few
- The show uses over 30 tonnes of technical equipment
- Auditions for the show took place in September last year and lasted a whole day!
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Sunday 13th February
 | | Michael queued from 4.30am for tickets |
On Saturday, we had two performances, the matinee and evening performance, which is the last one (sob!). The matinee is always a tough show, the audience is made up of Beavers, Cubs Brownies and Rainbows, who don’t necessarily understand some of the highly sophisticated (!) humour and might not know exactly when to applaud or to a certain extent, what to applaud. There’s often also a subconscious ‘save yourself for tonight’ feeling, which results in a somewhat lazy performance. Needless to say, our director Avril was NOT pleased!! Unfortunately, cast members were dropping like flies during the matinee, ranging from slight wooziness to full blown collapse. Despite this, we were all fit and raring to go for the evening’s performance. Without a shadow of a doubt, Saturday evening was the week’s best performance. Every single person involved excelled to produce a show that the late, great Ralph Reader CBE would’ve been proud of. The Gang's All Here The idea of the Gang Show or The Gang’s All Here as it was originally called, was conceived by Ralph Reader (1903-1982) in 1931 and was always intended to combine big song and dance numbers with humorous sketches. Over the years, he penned a great number of songs and sketches, including that Gang Show favourite, Crest Of A Wave. It has featured at all stages of Gang Shows over the years, but for us, it is the central part of our finale. It’s such a rousing, jolly song, with easy lyrics to learn, so by the time we sing through it the second time round, the audience join in!! Now that show week has finished, I feel I can talk about individual numbers without worrying about giving the game away! So without further ado, I’ll start… at the beginning! | "So here ends Gang Show 2005. I’m itching to get on stage in 2006 already! Now there isn’t much more to say, apart from…… OGGIE OGGIE OGGIE!!!" | | Michael |
The opening this year was intended to be a gradual build up, leading to a frantic party! It worked very well, apart from a technical hitch with the smoke on Friday. After that, we had one of my personal favourite numbers, the jail number (They Had It Coming). This, I thought, was a stroke of genius on the Ideas Team’s part. The idea of the prisoners escaping and locking up the wardens is excellent, and some of the songs (Riot In Cell Block Number 9, Sunny Side U’) are classics! Memorable Memphis Elvis was next, or Memphis Memories as the programme called it. This I thought was the item with the best soloists. It also contained the best song (as voted by the big boys' dressing room!), Walking In Memphis. An absolute classic. And so on to St Albans Gang Show’s answer to Willy Wonka, Delightfully Delicious. By far the best set, credit must go to the stage crew for piecing it together, it was sensational! The song choices in this number were inspired, especially We Will Rock You (groan!). The Candyman was a wonderful ending the first Act, a most excellent tune, with lots of swaying! During the interval, usual procedure was to be told that the first act could’ve been a lot better, and that we needed to pull our socks up for the second! So naturally, we did, kicking off in our American-style, Grease-esque Diner. Happy Days is such a great way to open up the Act!! This was, I think, one of the most well-received items, especially the geeks, featuring Jacks Inc. (!), and plenty of wolf whistling for the bikers! Of course, I was happy enough in my knee length, blue and yellow checked jacket, my favourite costume this year! If only I could’ve kept it… Anyway, having boogied off the stage after Born To Hand Jive, we had the quickest costume change of the show, to get ready for the stand-and-sing number, This Is What It’s All About. The lyrics to the three songs, Hope You Dance, Nothing’s Gonna Stop Us Now and Reach are truly awe inspiring, especially when sung in unison by 128 individuals coming together as one, a gang. Sensational. By this time in the show, nothing will stop us! Music for the boys Which leads me smoothly on to our main dancing number, Rhythmic Romance. I was particularly nervous here, because if I messed up part of my dance, I’d be letting my partner down, and I didn’t want that to happen! This number also had the boys’ big moment, Music To Watch Girls By. It was much better than last year’s big moment for the boys, mainly because there’s twice as many of us this year! There wasn’t a single hitch, and we got a nice bit of cheering as the curtains closed on us, leaving a mad frantic rush to change into uniform for the finale.
 | | Westlife watch out! |
Some excellent song choices there, Sunny Side Up, Walking In Memphis and Shake A Tail Feather, to name but a few. I’ve been lucky in that I’ve seen many shows in my relatively short life thus far, but I can honestly say that Memories is the best finishing song of all time! It sums up the past four months beautifully, and just about says all that is needed to say to describe how excellent the Gang Show is. You might have noticed that I haven’t talked about any of the sketches….. that’s because I haven’t seen any of them!! If any of those people involved in the sketches would like to leave a comment here saying how fantastically well they went, then please, please do! However, my parents, who saw the show on Friday and on Saturday night, thought they were all excellent. They particularly enjoyed Sound FX and Apache. So that’s it. It’s all over. Sort of. Next Saturday, we have a fancy dress After Show Party. Not sure what I’ll go as yet, I’m sure I’ll come up with something inspired! Then at Easter, we’re going on Gang Show Camp. Wahey!! A weekend of fun, and legendary Gang Show campfires! Revisiting the memories, singing the songs again, and visiting a local Gang Show. Could provide inspiration for new ideas. Can’t wait!
 | | A taste of the 50s perhaps? |
Now onto the thank yous. Could be here for sometime!! So, vast amounts of thank-you-very-muchs go to – the Ideas team for, ahem, the ideas; the clever dancers for the choreography; the show shaping team who were there at every single rehearsal; our rehearsal accompanists and the most excellent band; the very large stage crew; all the costume ladies (what a sterling job they’ve done this year!); our MD, Roger, and of course, Producer David and Director Avril. You guys rock!! So here ends Gang Show 2005. I’m itching to get on stage in 2006 already! Now there isn’t much more to say, apart from…… OGGIE OGGIE OGGIE!!! Saturday 12th February For me, last night was pretty nightmarish for a couple of reasons. 1) My grandparents and parents were watching. No pressure! 2) My voice was going (and still is!) 3) I, like others, had a high temperature and was feeling ridiculously ill (there’s something in the air, that’s for sure, and not just tonight either!) But no matter! We all soldiered on, to the finale of another great performance. When Avril and David don’t give us any notes when we’ve just finished, we know we’ve done a good job. And believe me, they are the HARDEST people to satisfy out of everyone.
 | | Pink and white entertainment |
When I started the first post last Sunday, I told myself that I must give credit to more than just the production team and ourselves during the week. So here it is! The band is fantastic, as per usual. They, like us, have ages ranging from the youngest, 13, to the eldest…. it’d be rude to ask!! The lighting effects, whilst perhaps a little in-yer-face and rather blinding for us, are very effective. They really set off some of the numbers, especially in the Diner, giving a real Grease-esque feel to it. Now back to cast praise! All of the soloists this year are sensational, especially in the Elvis number. They are doing a fabulous job, long may it continue (not just for today’s performances, but for future Gang Show’s too!) It was Heather Small who sang the lines “What have you done today to make you feel proud.” I believe that a more apt phrase would be what haven’t we done! You really have a show to be proud of folks, now let’s knock ‘em dead twice more, before getting a well-earned rest! Friday 11th February Remember my Andorra/America analogy from yesterday? Baring in mind last night actually felt better than Wednesday, I’m not quite sure how to follow on from that, so here goes…… Our producer told us, just before we went out, not to rest on our laurels. Well, I think we can safely say that not a single laurel has been squished from being rested upon! The audience was much more responsive last night, primarily, I think, because Harpenden Gang Show were there. We have a good relationship with Harpenden’s show, we always see each other’s performances. It’s safe to say we make more noise when we see theirs than they do when they see ours, but that’s because we’re a noisy bunch! Needless to say, they whooped, squealed and cheered like there was no tomorrow, and gave us all a huge boost.
 | | Jumping for joy! |
On a personal note, when I was arriving on stage for one number, I noticed that the front of my trousers were rather baggy, and the back particularly tight. I had them on the wrong way round! Cue much discomfort, although I don’t think it affected my performance too much (maybe my voice was a little higher, I don’t know!), and I hope no one noticed! So to sum up another great performance, we really showed Harpenden Gang Show how to get on our feet with so much confidence, that nothing’s gonna stop us now! Thursday 10th February Well what an opener! If the dress rehearsal was about as good as Andorra is small, our first night was the size of America! It was so good, in fact, that I’m having a little bit of trouble thinking of something to write here! At least if something goes drastically wrong, I could moan about it! However, I thought, in particular, the second act was stupendous! The stand-and-sing number went really smoothly, with not a single fault on our part (the boys stayed put until after the first song, like we were supposed to!) Having said that, the audience responses were a little flat in the first half, especially in the second item. But despite that we soldiered on and blew them away! The tricky bit now, is to maintain that energy, enthusiasm and general all-round excellence(!) into the second night, and really knock ‘em dead! So if you’re joining us tonight, have a great time, and help us make some more memories! Wednesday 9th February Last night was our dress rehearsal, and I’ve got to be honest, I thought it could’ve been a lot better. Nearly every item had a fault of some sort, whether technical or mistakes on our part, but that’s what dress rehearsals are for. We now know what needs tweaking, so that it will, to coin a phrase, be all right on the night. In fact, it’ll be a fab show! The amount of time between some of the big numbers is frighteningly short, leaving us with very little time to dash downstairs, change costumes and pelt it back up again in time for curtain up. It’s all a mad rush, but worth it once we get back up there again! Our guests last night, some OAPs who couldn’t make it to the big nights and a selection of children from the local deaf school, seemed to thoroughly enjoy the show. They applauded and cheered and generally made a lot of noise, which was just what we needed. The finale (which was set only yesterday!) passed without a hitch, apart from a little confusion over which songs were to be played, and we all hurried home straight to bed. A good night’s sleep was urgently required, in order to charge our batteries for the big opening night. If only we could’ve missed school today! See you tonight, and enjoy the show! Monday 7th February When you have little or no experience of life on the stage, auditioning for a show like the Gang Show can be a rather daunting experience. Auditioning for the Gang Show isn’t like auditioning for a Broadway or West End show.
 | | The young stars of the Gang Show! |
Far from it. In the West End (or Broadway), you are auditioning for a set part; a part that is your own, whereas, in the Gang Show, you audition to be one of many - a show put on by a gang of Scouts and Guides. There are no stars here, yet we are all stars in our own right (or so we’re told!) So despite all this, I got in, and from then on, it was all hands to the deck. Twice weekly rehearsals began on the 3rd October, and as the production team introduced us to the ideas they had for this year’s show, we got ever more excited at the prospect of carrying out those ideas on stage. On Sunday 28th November, the tickets went on sale. The box office officially opened at around 9.30am, but people had been queuing since before 2am!! I’d been there since 4am, sent there, armed with cheques, to buy tickets for members of the family. I don’t know why I had to buy the tickets; I’m not even seeing the show!! Christmas fast approached, and with it, the Gang Show Christmas Party!! Lots of traditionally silly games, music (to which we all knew the words, naturally!) and silly dancing! The holidays flew by, and then it was down to the hard work. The January to Easter term is never long, and when the show is performed the week before half term, less than halfway through this not-so-long term, you can understand the hard work that is needed from us all post-Christmas. In the last couple of weeks, rehearsing gets really intense. From the last minute tweaks to dance routines to the last minute overhauls of stage positions, there is so much to take in, it’s surprising that we manage to stay awake during the week at school!
 | | The Gang Show cast |
So then, to show week. The week starts on the Saturday before opening night, this year the 4th February, with a day's rehearsing at St Albans Girls School. With any luck, show week will go buy without a hitch. Opening night is on Wednesday 9th, with performances on Thursday, Friday, and a matinee and evening performance on Saturday. And then the parties start. First, immediately after the Saturday night performance finishes, anyone over the age of 16 stays at the Alban Arena to help take down all the props and generally clear up. After that, a few members of the band (the guitarist, bassist, drummer and pianist) play a few songs for us, as we all get jolly merry and have a rather excellent time!! We’ll be kicked out at 2am, but the party isn’t finished there! We then boogie on down to Alex J’s house (Alex’s parents are wonderful people, they allow this to happen every year!!) and then we party well into the early hours. The following Saturday, the 19th, there’s the Aftershow Disco. A DJ, food, fizzy drinks, the whole cast and plenty more silly dancing! A most excellent combination! During the Easter holidays (jumping forward a bit now!), we are going on Gang Show Camp. We’re going to spend a day at Thorpe Park, before going to watch a rival Gang Show. This should be a great show, as theirs is a once-every-TWO-years show, so we are particularly lucky to be seeing it. After that, it’s traditional campfire songs, with a few songs from our show tossed in for good measure! And that’s it. That is all there is to it. Fortunately for us, the production team will be slaving away almost as soon as this year’s show’s finished, to start gathering ideas for next year. For every hour we put in at rehearsals, they put in at least an extra 12. So large doses of thanks must go out to them, they are, without a doubt, the best in the business! Now all that’s left to say is – see you on Wednesday!!! Check back soon for Michael's updates! |
