In 1969, work commenced on The Crucible in Sheffield, designed as a thrust stage theatre in the style pioneered by Tyrone Guthrie.
Earlier this year, Theatres Trust broadcast a fascinating online talk about how a group of visionaries came together to build this revolutionary thrust stage. And now, thanks to their generosity, you can see it here. The talk, which lasts an hour, is introduced by Jon Morgan of Theatres Trust and the talk is given by Tedd George, co-author of the book Stirring Up Sheffield: An Insider’s Account of the Battle to Build the Crucible Theatre.
What better way to celebrate Music Hall and Variety Day than with a celebration of the Crazy Gang.
The Crazy Gang “at the races”
The Crazy Gang was a unique combination of three double acts – Flanagan and Allen, Naughton and Gold, Nervo and Knox. Occasionally they were joined by “Monsewer” Eddie Gray (who had been working with various members of the Gang since the twenties). Their compatible styles, combining music, interruptions and knockabout comedy with seemingly unscripted verbal and physical acrobatics, slapstick and rapid-fire visual gags was hugely popular with British audiences for over three decades.
It all started at the London Palladium. George Black, the impresario and Managing Director of the Palladium, had in 1928 revived the Palladium’s reputation as the premier variety house in the UK, with spectacular success. The biggest names in variety appeared on ambitiously mixed bills, and the management were not averse to experimenting- pantomime was tried in 1930, to great success, and became a staple throughout the thirties at the venue, running in extended seasons from December to Easter.
The Crazy Gang came into being by accident. All relatively successful double acts themselves, in 1931 two of the pairs – Naughton and Gold and Nervo and Knox – were booked, together with another double, Billy Caryll and Hilda Mundy, to appear at the London Palladium in the same week. Bud Flanagan recalled that “in 1926, Nervo and Knox were appearing in a show, Young Bloods, in which they interfered with every act on the bill”. By 1931 it was well-known across the business that Nervo and Knox had a reputation for interrupting other people’s acts, and although George Black initially considering cancelling one of the teams, he was persuaded by Val Parnell to let the bookings proceed, allow Nervo and Knox their head – and see what happened!
The bill was promoted as Crazy Week, opening in November 1931 and booked for two weeks. Two weeks became eight months as crowds jammed the Palladium – Crazy Week became Crazy Month – and in June 1932, Flanagan and Allen replaced Caryll and Mundy to create the classic line up that was celebrated for the next three decades. All participants experienced more success together than they had apart, fused in the public mind as a unit.
The Gang played long seasons each year in the 30s at the Palladium in various shows all tailored to their particular style. They also found time to make a number of successful films for Gainsborough Pictures. When the war came, they split, to perform for the troops as three double acts again, so that they could cover more ground. This was a time when Flanagan and Allen’s songs came to the fore and cemented them in the public mind as a key link between the home front and the battle front.
The Gang was persuaded to reunite in 1950 by impresario Jack Hylton (without Chesney Allen who had decided to retired from the stage), they took up residence at London’s Victoria Palace, where they stayed for the next twelve years, presented by Jack Hylton in a variety of vehicles all loosely constructed to allow the Gang’s magic of mayhem to flood across the footlights and keep packed houses well-satisfied. Eddie Gray, a comedy juggler with a hilarious Cockney-French accent who had worked with the team early on in their careers, became a regular addition to the Gang from 1956 onwards.
The Gang’s last show together was entitled YOUNG IN HEART and ran from December 1960 until May 1962, when it was announced that the show would close and the Gang would retire. Although the separate acts continued for a few years, the Gang was gone…
The TV highlight of the week in May 1962
Thankfully for us, ATV filmed the last night of their last show on Saturday May 19th, and it was networked on ITV the following evening as The Last Night Of The Crazy Gang, running 90 minutes. It’s a very special nostalgic night, and there’s a guest appearance by Chesney Allen (who comes up from the audience), and the band in the pit is conducted by producer Jack Hylton himself.
So here, thanks to YouTuber Pete Faint, we can all enjoy The Last Night of the Crazy Gang – and raise a glass to these (sadly) long-gone heroes of Music Hall and Variety
EXTRA: You can read my article about legendary impresario Jack Hylton here
For more information on the Crazy Gang you may enjoy a visit to this specialist site http://www.thecrazygang.co.uk/
The ever-generous Mint Theatre is now streaming another of their successful revivals, this time of Lillian Hellman’s largely-forgotten second play, DAYS TO COME.
DAYS TO COME is a family drama set against the backdrop of labour problems and workers’ unrest in a small Ohio town which threatens to tear apart both town and family. “It’s the story of innocent people on both sides who are drawn into conflict and events far beyond their comprehension,” Hellman said in an interview before DAYS TO COME opened in 1936. “It’s the saga of a man who started something he cannot stop…”
“It’s a gripping, lucid examination of the dangerous intersection of economic, social, and personal forces.” said The New Yorker
Andrew Rodman is running the family business and failing at it. The workers are out on strike and things are getting desperate. “Papa would have known what to do,” his sister Cora nags, “and without wasting time and money.” But it’s too late, Rodman is bringing in strikebreakers, naively failing to anticipate the disastrous impact that this will have on his family and their place in the community where they have lived for generations.
Audiences had no chance to appreciate DAYS TO COME when it premiered on Broadway in 1936; it closed after a week. Hellman blamed herself for the play’s failure. “I wanted to say too much,” she wrote in a preface to the published play in 1942—while admitting that her director was confused and her cast inadequate. “On the opening night the actors moved as figures in the dream of a frightened child. It was my fault, I suppose, that it happened.” Nevertheless, “I stand firmly on the side of Days to Come.” In 1942, Hellman could afford to take responsibility for the play’s failure; she had enjoyed much success in the days after DAYS TO COME (with both THE LITTLE FOXES and WATCH ON THE RHINE). But Hellman’s play is better than she would admit.
“Days to Come … turns out to be a gripping piece of storytelling, one whose failure and subsequent obscurity make no sense at all.” The Wall Street Journal
DAYS TO COME was revived only once in New York, in 1978, by the WPA Theatre. In reviewing that production for The Nation, Harold Clurman wrote that “our knowledge of what Hellman would subsequently write reveals that Days to Come is not mainly concerned with the industrial warfare which is the ‘stuff’ of her story for the first two acts.” Hellman’s real preoccupation is “the lack of genuine values of mind or spirit” of her principle characters, the factory-owning Rodmans.
Mint Theatre’s production, running 1 hour 50 minutes, can be seen online until April 2nd. Find it here
On Sunday 11th December, BBC Radio 4extra presents a fascinating insight not only into the life of one the UK’s leading mid-century playwrights and his relationships, it’s also an authentic celebration of the lost world of repertory theatre.
John Osborne meets Pamela Lane in 1951 and within three months the couple are married. So begins an extraordinary love affair that lasts over 30 years.
A completely fresh insight into the mind of one of the UK’s greatest playwrights, the letters between John Osborne and his first wife, actress Pamela Lane, are also a love letter to a now defunct system of repertory theatre and life in post-war Britain.
As these letters reveal, soon after their divorce, Osborne and Lane began a mutually supportive, loyal, frequently stormy and sometimes sexually intimate alliance lasting thirty years until Osborne’s death. By the mid- 1980s, they had become closer and more trusting than they had been since their earliest years together.
‘You are for me what you always were’, Pamela told him, ‘I am in love with you still’.
It is, he declared, ‘my fortune to have loved someone for a lifetime’.
Acerbic, witty, candid and heartbreaking, the letters reveal a unique relationship – troubled, tender and enduring.
The author, Peter Whitebrook, was born in London and has written and broadcast extensively on the theatre and literature. His co-adaptation of John Steinbeck’s The Grapes of Wrath won a Fringe First Award. His biography of John Osborne was nominated for both the Sheridan Morley Prize for biography and the Theatre Book Prize.
Read by Simon Shepherd and Amanda Root Abridged by Polly Coles Producer: Clive Brill
This omnibus was first broadcast in 5 parts on BBC Radio 4 in 2018. It is a Brill production.
Broadcast at 6.30am on Sunday December 11th, the 70-minute programme is available for some time after initial broadcast on the BBC IPlayer service.Find it here
On Thursday, Jun 2nd from 10:30 pm– 12:00midnight BST, the New York Adventure Club present The Origins of Broadway: Rise of New York’s Early Theater Scene in an online presentation.
(Before you dismiss this one out of hand due to its timing, it’s worth noting that if you can’t make the live broadcast, or simply miss it, your ticket allows you access to the event recording for a week afterwards.)
While Broadway is widely considered one of the top theatrical destinations in the world, have you ever wondered what came before it? And why, and how, New York City became the theater capital of America? This is the story of New York’s earliest theaters and how they transformed a city once fixated on only business and trade into one dedicated to culture and the arts.
Join New York Adventure Club as they explore the evolution of New York’s theater industry through the mid 1800s, and the actors, production managers, and playwrights who helped pave the way for modern-day Broadway to grow.
New York theater-maker Ralph Lewis is the presenter for this discussion which will include:
– An overview of NYC’s very first theaters, including surprising details on the plays, playwrights, managers, and actors who worked there – A look at how New York’s early theaters compared to those in other cities, and how competition, politics, and touring companies shaped America’s theatrical landscape for centuries to come – The reasons why so few theaters succeeded, and the importance of their building’s design to that success – Historic maps showcasing the theatrical locations from Broadway to The Bowery, along with photos of the sites today – A listen to what critics of the day had to say about these performances, including over-the-top anecdotes, scathing reviews, and lots of gossip – Excerpts from the rare 1851 book, Before and Behind the Curtain by William Knight Northall, which inspired this presentation
After the presentation, there’ll be time for a Q&A with Ralph so your questions are welcomed.
Tickets are $10 (approximately £7) and you can book them here
