Scouts ready to take centre stage for 51st Birkenhead Gang Show

Jan 30 2013 by Lorna Hughes, Birkenhead News

BIRKENHEAD Scouts Gang Show is back – two years after organisers pulled off the most ambitious feat in the history of the variety extravaganza.

Organisers celebrated the Gang Show’s 50th anniversary in spectacular style by moving the entire production from Wirral to London’s West End in just 24 hours.

It means there are high expectations for the 2013 show – and producer Graham Lysaght promises audiences won’t be disappointed.

He said: “The last show ended on a high with us taking it down to London. The lorries arrived after the final performance here and we moved everything down in 24 hours.

“Our 51st show was always going to be a bigger challenge – how do you top the West End?

“This Birkenhead Gang Show will be the biggest and best audiences have seen. In the past Gang Shows have recycled and updated items but everything people will see is brand new.

“People go to a Gang Show thinking they know what to expect but it’s going to taste different, it’s going to smell different and it’s going to feel different.”

Ralph Reader staged the first Scout Gang Show performance in London in 1932.

The youngest member of the Birkenhead cast this time around is eight, and the oldest 84 – and Graham says everyone has their turn to shine.

Each cast member was asked to send pictures of their own personal heroes for a section of the show titled Our Heroes, which will pay tribute to those serving in the military.

The Scouts will also perform their own versions of Motown hits as well as Gary Barlow’s Sing, the Ben E King classic Stand By Me and Life’s a Happy Song from The Muppets.

Graham, who produced his first Birkenhead Gang Show in 1997, said: “We’ve got our own helicopter on the stage and we’ll have kids abseiling down.

“They’re loving it. They’re great at camping, climbing but they’ve also got the ability to perform.

“They have talent oozing out of them and they just have to be given the opportunity to use it.

“I’m very proud of the show and it’s a privilege to do it.”

Birkenhead Scouts Gang Show will be staged from Wednesday, February 13 to Saturday, February 16 at the Gladstone Theatre, Port Sunlight.

Performances start at 7.30pm, plus a Saturday matinee.

Tickets are £10/concessions £7 from 652 3737.