Old Time Music Hall

From the response I judge the Music Hall Sing Along a great success and although Jean and I got most of the thanks these events are really a team affair.

The Music Hall story began about this time last year with a casual word in the vicinity of Mr Wheeler. Rodger latches on quickly to anything that may entertain Aquarians so the initial date for presentation was early 2012. Before any work was done the date was reset for the autumn and I forgot about it.

Naturally Rodger did not and so about two months ago I was nudged into action and compromised by the issuing of the notice. Rodger drafted the notice and Richard set and published it.

I was queried several time about my progress and obfuscated wildly until the beginning of August when I drafted the story outline. Whilst discussing the story at the club, Stuart foolishly asked about presentation and was immediately drafted into the role of Master of Ceremonies. On hearing the conversation, Richard quickly republished the flyer to bind us both to the performance.

I struggled with my laptop, unable to either rip or burn any music so Richard was called in to assist. Try as we might the machine resisted repair. By now I had selected most of the songs that I wanted so now the hunt began for the right artist. YouTube came to my aid with lots of material and I found a way of capturing the minimal amount of video and playing the songs through Real Player. The whole process took about a week. Rodger went away just as I was ready for the first trial so I could not use the system at the club house to test effects.

I heard that Stuart was double booked and that he was now unavailable as MC but upon finding him in the club he assured me of his availability. We spent two evenings going through the script and his presentation.

We were intending to use the normal catering team for the food but when I tried to make contact, the club’s chief cook was away so the food menu went on hold. Jean began developing the theory that she could cope alone and although I presented all sorts of very sound arguments against such a process she carried on regardless. Situation normal!

Wednesday evening Stuart and I polished up our roles and Friday we met again. By this time Rodger had returned so with a push and a click we connected my system to the club’s amplification and without a glitch the system played the songs. A miracle! Rodger suggested that Nigel might be able to convert my song sheets to Power Point so I spent Friday evening sorting out the files finally getting them to Nigel on Saturday morning.

Thursday Jean and I went shopping and Friday morning she began cooking. Initially because we did not have enough refrigeration capacity to store cooked meat, she made the crumble and one test pot of beef and ale stew. Saturday she started cooking the remaining stew. She placed one pot with oil in on the stove and whist engrossed in preparing the meat, the pot caught fire.

A dramatic few moments passed but soon the fire was out with no damage done. By early afternoon the meat was cooked and left to cool. Jean went for a short nap with me waking her at 3:30 with some tea. She drank her tea and went to shower only to find we had used all the hot water during the cooking and washing up. Now unable to shower, the cook was only able to manage a British wash. She was not pleased!

We arrived at the club just after 5pm and Don and Helen came in to peel potatoes and generally help out. Rodger and Linda arrived and whilst Rodger and I tested the sound systems, Linda and Don wrapped the knives and forks with serviettes and Helen and Jean heated and finished cooking the food.

Meanwhile Richard was recording the back-up for my music system so that if the computer failed we could use the CD player. Nigel and Anne arrived with the projector and their Power Point presentation, then Richard with the back-up CD. The technical system matched the food and we were ready to go.

Pretty much all the attendees arrived on time so we were able to start on schedule. Rodger opened the bar for pre-dinner drinks with the food following shortly. Linda, Helen, Joan and Jean managed the food and Gordon did a sterling job with the dishwasher. I even bullied Liz into giving the girls a hand with the clean up. Jean’s menu appeared to be a great hit so the audience were now softened up for whatever might follow.

After my short introduction Stuart opened the proceedings looking every inch the professional MC and we were soon off with Daisy and her bicycle. Apart from the odd miss-clicked number and some last minute editing the first half seemed to go quite well with strong vocal support from all sides. Nigel’s and Anne’s superb Power Point job worked a treat so twenty odd minutes passed very quickly and we were soon into interval and throat re-lubrication. After ten minutes we were off again this time with more recent numbers and the singing and atmosphere were great. We finished well and on time with the story of Albert and Daisy fully told and the audience happy.

As always, much conversation followed and about 11:00 Jean and I slipped away sliding exhausted into bed just before the witching hour. However Rodger was still manning the bar and the club house still needed to be cleaned up and packed away so the work went on well after the show was over. I understand that Gordon ended his evening pushing a vacuum cleaner round the clubhouse all under the careful supervision and assistance of his wife Joan.

We did not start out to make money and at least £4.00 of the £5.00 went on food, however, from the organiser’s point of view we had fun and entertained so we succeeded.

Here as with the Olympics, it’s the volunteers that keep the system running. However, without an audience all the effort would have been for nothing so a thank you to all those who came to join us, whether to help, to enjoy or both.

Cheers!