An amateur record of entertainment highlights of the 1951 Gang Show at the Theatre Royal, Newcastle upon Tyne, a variety show of song, dance and comedy or theatrical sketches by youth members and leaders of the Boy Scouts, which also includes footage of rehearsals, administration and work behind the scenes during the performance. The film was a Newcastle and District Amateur Cinematographers Association (ACA) production. Title: Presenting Title: The Gang Show 1951 Credit: Highlights of the...

An amateur record of entertainment highlights of the 1951 Gang Show at the Theatre Royal, Newcastle upon Tyne, a variety show of song, dance and comedy or theatrical sketches by youth members and leaders of the Boy Scouts, which also includes footage of rehearsals, administration and work behind the scenes during the performance. The film was a Newcastle and District Amateur Cinematographers Association (ACA) production. Title: Presenting Title: The Gang Show 1951 Credit: Highlights of the Show Filmed and Arranged by Newcastle and District Amateur Cinematographers Assoc. The opening scenes record a musical number with rows of Boy Scouts on stage in white shirts and shorts, socks and plimsolls. The curtains open to reveal troops of Tyneside Boy Scouts and Rovers (grown up Boy Scouts) on stage for a synchronised marching musical routine up and down a flight of steps. Close-ups record the boys’ dance steps during the number. The boys perform another musical number, seated on the steps on stage. The curtains close. A comedy sketch follows with boys in drag and a policeman costume. Boys dressed in sailor outfits do a song and dance routine and are joined on stage by a Boy Scout in a Shirley Temple style outfit. The boy/girl is lifted up onto the shoulders of the sailors at the end of the number. Another musical sketch involves Boy Scouts dressed as schoolgirls and a male lead as a schoolboy, performing in front of a painted backdrop. The next shots record some of the volunteer production teams working behind the scenes to put together the Gang Show. A man in a pinstripe suit is consulting with some of the team to finalise promotional material and scripts. A woman types up corrected scripts on a Royal typewriter. Close-ups of the typewriter in action. A man operates a mimeograph machine to duplicate scripts. Back on stage with the Gang Show, Boy Scouts seem to be performing an Egyptian sketch. A rehearsal is recorded. Boy Scouts practise dance routines, instructed by the producer and a woman directing the choreography. Close-ups follow of the performers practising synchronised leg movements. The music score is discussed with a pianist. Boy Scouts perform another song and dance routine on stage dressed in farm boy outfits of patched and tattered trousers and sunhats. The sequence includes close-ups of the performers and a shot onto stage from the wings. An older boy is the lead singer. In between numbers, stage hands get to work back stage, setting up lights and changing sets. A troop of young scouts get in position behind curtain before their performance. Another large scale Boy Scout routine takes place on stage with boys sitting cross-legged on the flight of stairs, singing and moving in unison. The curtains fall at the end of the number. Back stage, there are more set changes and last minute costume adjustments for boys in sailor outfits. A lone boy sings a solo centre stage.   Another large-scale musical sketch performs a ship launch, complete with a huge moving ship backdrop. The curtains close. A comedy sketch with Boy Scouts in firemen outfits is performed. Senior Scouts do a top hat and tails duet in a spotlight. A whole troop of Boy Scouts in top hats and tails perform a song and dance routine. Close-up of tap dance and other dance steps. Overhead shot of an extravagant costume sketch, with boys as ladies in ball gowns dancing in formation with boys as gentlemen partners. A boy is dressed in a schoolgirl outfit with hair in wild bunches. He performs a song holding a portrait, which may be of Ralph Reader(?), a British actor, theatrical producer and songwriter, known for staging the original Gang Show. Various song and dance routines, and comedy sketches, take place on stage. The finale is another big group number performed on the flight of steps. The curtain comes down and then rises briefly for an encore. Title: The End