The Scouts and Guides of Congleton are on stage performing their 2022 Gang Show – and there are only days left to see them.
The show started on Saturday, with final performances on Saturday, with an evening and matinee performance.
This year, the show is celebrating its 25th production, 50 years on from when Our Gang first went on stage in 1972.
There may be some tickets available (priced from £8) and they can be booked either online here or are available from Congleton Information Centre in the town hall foyer.
Keeping with the Gang Show tradition, this year’s cast of 100 brings together a mix of music, dance and comedy in a revue style show suitable for all the family, based on an original idea by the late Ralph Reader CBE in 1932.
The cast come together at the start and invite the audience to join the party and celebration. In the first half, the Cubs and Brownies show what a sweettooth they each have and take the audience on a trip into outer space.
Meanwhile, the junior and senior members of the cast go on an eclectic journey from the historical times of Henry VIII to the challenges of going back to work following lockdown, and even offer some of their alternative career choices should they not be performing on stage.
The entire cast comes together at the end of the first half and leads the audience in a familiar Yellow Brick Road.
In the second half, the cast whisks the audience across the pond to join the feud between the Jets and the Sharks, offers a musical memory of a famous secret agent and indulges in a moment of silent reflection before the finale, when the cast and crew are asking anyone in the audience who was previously involved in any of the Our Gang productions over the past 50 years to stand and join them with the traditional rousing chorus of Crest of a Wave, (and don’t forget those red neckers!).
Behind the scenes the production has been three years in the making, following the decision to postpone it a year due to covid restrictions.
The production team worked hard generating ideas for the show with the Scouts and Guides themselves, ensuring that the content of the show has been driven by the young people performing in it.
The costume team has been working hard stitching and sewing around 3,000 costumes, and a team of volunteers from across Scouting and Guiding in the town have come together to support the young cast behind the scenes during the three months of rehearsals and as they take to the stage.
For more information about the show, and about Scouting and Guiding, go to here
