David Tall : Life

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LOCAL THEATRES (1972 -)

My next activity was as Musical Director of the Talisman Theatre Palace of Varieties, directed by Phil Highley. It was a privilege to work with so many truly talented amateur performers. For an orchestra, however, we only had a pianist and a drummer. For this show, therefore, I played a variety of instruments at the side of the stage, including piano accordion, violin, penny whistle and ukelele. It was a huge success.

However, I had a problem. As musical director, I was given a folder of piano accompaniments for the songs and it was my job to make the arrangements. The folder was always in use in rehearsals. As photocopying was expensive in those days, I didn’t get hold of the sheet music until a couple of days before the show. I was therefore writing out parts for myself up to the wire.

We opened the show with a medley of old-time music-hall numbers, starting with ‘The Old Bull and Bush’. But some bright spark had fixed my piano accordion so that it would not open. So as I began the opening flourish, nothing happened. The pianist seized the opportunity and pressed on and I, as musical director was left facing the audience unable to play my instrument. They roared with laughter, so I hammed it up. It was clear they thought we would spoof it throughout the show. The second item was ‘Garden of Happiness’, a solo for the lovely Liz Gavan, accompanied by the piano with a violin obbligato provided by my good self. But some gremlin had this time bashed my violin and the bottom two strings were so slack that I had to play so high up them that I was nearly scratching my nose. This became another triumph for good humour. So it went on. At the interval, I retired bloody but unbowed and returned to play the entracte for violin and piano to start the second half. This was an arrangement of Strauss waltzes which, unfortunately, I had been so late in arranging that I had not practiced it. No worries. The audience expected a laugh and I gave it to them, gliding up and down on the strings, playing the slow parts soupily and with mock solemnity, then dashing away hectically in the fast stuff. It was a riot. We got a great review in the paper the next day, and, as the week went on, we got more and more over the top. Then came Thursday.

The theatre was full of Old Age Pensioners that night, and when I appeared to great applause for the Entracte I started it with my customary bravado to be received in rapt silence. These folks loved their old tyme music and it was serious. So I suddenly had to play the music seriously. The problem was ... I couldn’t. I had never worked out decent fingering, I had just camped it up, and now the chips were down, I was found wanting.

Nevertheless, my baptism in local theatre went well and I went on to be musical director of a number of subsequent shows in several theatres, By George at the Talisman Theatre Kenilworth (which I co-wrote with Keith Higgins, based on the life story of George Gershwin), Vintage Porter (based on the life and music of Cole Porter) at the Loft Theatre, Leamington, The Wizard of Oz at the Loft Theatre, and Oh What a lovely War! at the Priory Theatre.

By George! was the biggest success. I will speak about this on another page where I tell the tale of that event.

The story continues here ...


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