A production of ‘Dick Whittington’ put on by the Whitley Bay Pantomime Society taking place at the Playhouse Whitley Bay on Saturday 13th January 1990. The production stars Valarie Hopper as ‘Dick Whittington’, Lilian Wilson as ‘Fortune the Cat’ with Brian Wilson as ‘Captain Cuttle’, Kevyn Gill as ‘King Rat’ and Rowland Maughan and Len Hayden as ‘The Mates’. A darkened auditorium with the sound of church bells ringing; members of the audience making their way to the seats. Title: Dick...

A production of ‘Dick Whittington’ put on by the Whitley Bay Pantomime Society taking place at the Playhouse Whitley Bay on Saturday 13th January 1990. The production stars Valarie Hopper as ‘Dick Whittington’, Lilian Wilson as ‘Fortune the Cat’ with Brian Wilson as ‘Captain Cuttle’, Kevyn Gill as ‘King Rat’ and Rowland Maughan and Len Hayden as ‘The Mates’. A darkened auditorium with the sound of church bells ringing; members of the audience making their way to the seats. Title: Dick Whittington Credit: Filmed by J. Brunton 13.1.90 Music from the orchestra pit begins to play as the curtain rises on the first of several song and dance routines. Rowland Maughan and Len Hayden as ‘The Mates’ come on to lead the audience in singing a song and dancing along to the movements. The production continues. The curtains close and Rowland Maughan and Len Hayden come back onto the stage to read out messages to some of those in the audience and to lead the audience in another song and dance. The curtain opens again, and the performance continues that features four hand bellringers playing for the audience and three monks performing a comedy dance routine in which they swing on bell ropes. The second half features an underwater UV light dance sequence and Rowland and Len singing a sea-shanty featuring ‘King Rat.’ The production ends and Rowland Maughan and Len Hayden come back on stage with three female dancers. They acknowledge some of the groups in the audience before singing and dancing along to ‘The Time Warp’ from The Rocky Horror Picture Show. The lyrics are lowered on a large placard and six children are invited onto the stage, Rowland asking each of them to sing along with him followed by Len joining Rowland in asking each of then what they got for Christmas. Everyone sings and dances along to ‘The Time Warp’ after which bags of sweets are handed out as the children before they leave the stage. The curtain is raised once more for a final dance number after which the full cast come out to take a bow to the audience, the curtain rising and falling. Rowland Maughan comes forward to thanks some of the cast and those behind the scenes, bouquets are presented. Ernie Scorer, one of the founders of the society, comes onto the stage to speak to the audience about tonight’s performance. As the curtain falls slowly for the final time the cast sings the National Anthem. End title: The End