This afternoon, Duggie Chapman,MBE, Water Rat and King of Variety and Music Hall took an enthralled audience at Blackpool's Grand Theatre on a fabulous journey through British entertainment heritage with his excellent “Thanks for the Memory” presentation of wonderful archive film clips.Today’s lecture took us back to the 1920s and 30s when many of our greatest music hall and theatre entertainers were filmed at the Pathe Pictorial studios in Wardour Street, London. These are what Duggie calls his ‘silver ghosts’ – from Leslie Sarony to Will Fyffe and the Three Whippets to Troise and his Banjoliers we see and hear what these entertainers were like, as well as what the audiences of the day were wearing.
In the second half, Duggie’s journey took us into the 1950s when variety was in great demand. We saw film of singers such as Margo Henderson, Alma Cogan and Adam Faith and early footage of Mike and Bernie Winters and Morecambe and Wise.
An extremely entertaining show – definitely not to be missed. Our thanks to Duggie, his production team and the Grand Theatre for a wonderful afternoon.
If you get the chance to see this or any of Duggie’s other nostalgic variety presentations and shows, do give it a try...! LB
(Proceeds from the sale of programmes at Duggie's lectures are donated to the Grand Order of Water Rats, arguably the most prestigious show business Order in the world.)
