Tavern in the Town
Recollections by Alan Dainton, Oct 2008
I came to Pewsey from a teaching job in Durrington to run the new Pewsey Sports Center and Youth Club in 1976 and over the next year or so gradually became involved with the social life of Pewsey, which of course involved Carnival.
I was asked to take over from Frank Valentine as compere/MC for Tavern in the Town, the Carnival Show which at the time was based on the Old Time Music Hall and my role was loosely based on that of Leonard Sachs on TV’s Good Old Days. I would sit at a table on the side of the stage in full view of the audience and with the utmost verbosity introduce the various acts involving song, dance, drama, gentle smut and double entendre. I was also to be ready to fill in with jokes if there were any unforeseen calamities or hitches in the programme which more often than not there were.
All this took place, of course, at the old Bouverie Hall in River Street, opposite the old Co-op and the Phoenix Hotel which doubled as the green room for the thirsty casts seeking Dutch courage.
The music was all live – provided by the brilliant Ira Janes on piano and the dependable Gordon Phillips on percussion (snare drum, cymbal and brush drumsticks) – they could both fill in and cover for forgotten words or dance steps (which were not infrequent!).
In those days performances were held on the weekend before carnival and the same two days the week after. Tickets were hard to come by, particularly those for the final performance, and people would be queuing as early as 6am at the Moonrakers when the box office opened.
This became a problem because all the cast were allowed to buy tickets for their friends and family in advance making it impossible for the general public to get tickets for the final two performances. It was then decided that the cast should have no advance tickets so the queues formed earlier and grew longer!
In those days there was also a Children’s Variety Show produced and patiently organised by Nelly Plank and the indominatable Lenny Goddard. It was always entertaining, chaotic and well-supported by all the families and their friends.
The main show was always at least three hours long with a 45 min break during which a meal was served, always provided by Dulcie Kunkler and her stalwart band of helpers. Drinks from the Moonrakers were brought to the table by a regular group of waiters and waitress; old Jack “Dad” Edwards and Ron Oram were two popular waiters, though not always entirely sober themselves! By the end of the night the tables of theatre goers were more than relaxed. In fact, several regular groups arrived already relaxed, having had a few pre-show drinks simply to be in full heckling mood for the start of the first act. As a result, my task was often as much to try and keep the audience from over-exuberance as it was to compere the shows.
Ira and Gordon apart, Hilary Carrington (wife of one of the King’s singers) and Carol Hendry (from Upavon) both did their more than fair share of nerve-wracking piano accompaniment, also Brian Neil who later joined the show on guitar.
Memorable acts from those old Bouverie Hall days were Dixie Dean, Pewsey’s own local yokel, complete with smock, walking stick, hat and cider jug (on which he’d written all his jokes) … typical jokes:
‘Oi’ve never been to bed with an ugly woman but oi’ve woken up with a few’.
‘The doctor asked me to fill in a questionnaire and where it said “sex” I put “infrequently” and the doctor said “ be that one word, or two?”
Boom boom indeed.
Local girl, Pam Kimber was a real trouper who always provided a song as did June Amor (nee Hull) who also produced; Dave Owen - arguably Tavern’s longest serving member – delivered a Stanley Hollaway monologue in his own inimitable way (as indeed he still does at the time of writing); Julie Laverton and Sylvia Hardy both produced several memorable shows as well as performing.
Then there was Sam Lewis (a blacksmith) who always camped it up as the likes of Charles Aznomore, Shirley Brassey, Earthy Git – bravely and shamelessly going down into the audience to interact in an often shameful and bawdy manner. No one present could forget the occasion when the well-known acting couple Ian Holm and Penelope Wilton (then living at New Mill) were in the audience only for Sam to jump on their table then sit astride Ian Holm ruffling his hair and kissing him … funny they never came to another show!
Rube and Lil (aka Chris Messenger and Doreen High) became the highlight of the shows … supposedly the Bouverie Hall cleaners, they would come on to the stage late on in the second half, to generally gossip about and harangue members of the audience – more often than not – totally unscripted.
Joanne Bottoms (nee Thorne) and Janet Amor (nee Strong) also appeared each year with their harmony folk songs. Alistair Sinclair was the singing postman (“have you got a loight boy?”) and it was my hapless task to be his straight man and provide guitar backing, never knowing the full extent of his inebriation.
Bernie Bradshaw and John Grigg were eagerly anticipated for their original brand of humour. Dave and Joan Baggus, Pete and Joan Parker were two other regular couples in the early days. And, of course, how could one omit Colin Harris? … actor, dancer, producer, general ham … who, as well as Pete Bond and Graham Spanswick, always performed some knock about sketches, often going ‘off script’.
And then there were dancing girls, particularly Adele and Simone Lay along with many other local girls all ready and willing to provide the opening and closing dance sequences as well as aiding and abetting the many, often near-the-mark sketches. In the early days the choreography was provided by Barbara Hunt, a dance teacher from Burbage then by Tiggy Holmes and latterly by Rachel Veale.
I mentioned earlier the often inebriated heckler who came close to disrupting the show with their ill-timed but sometimes humorous comments or suppressed sniggers. Well, the chief suspect was always Paul Hornbogen and I remember closing one particularly noisy show with some light hearted banter about how easy it was to sit in the audience and take the mickey. So I threw out a challenge to this one especially loud table to come up and have a go and see what it was really like to perform under the spotlights in front of family and friends … and give him his due Paul took up the challenge some 20 years ago and has now become the lynch pin of the show: singing, dancing, writing sketches, acting and compering … his German SS Officer, Tommy Cooper, Skippy the Bush Kangaroo, all spring readily to mind but there are countless other stupid songs and crazy interludes all made funnier by forgotten scripts and ad-libs.
Brian and Jo German deserve a mention for their backstage work over the years as does Rob Bottoms on the lights; Gill Oliphant and Martin Clifton particularly have been stalwart cast and production members; John Lavis for his singing and “acting” skills; Darren Little and Stuart Jackson have also consistently come up with some highly original and well acted “spasms” and Tiggy’s sister Lesley Ann Hornbogen has played a central part in many of the more recent Taverns.
And finally … some twenty-odd years ago my family went to Butlins, a very wet week’s experience, but the finale of the cabaret every single night was ‘The Music Man’ and I brought this to Tavern:
MC: “I am the music man, I come from down your way and I can pla-ay … ?”
Audience: “What can you pla-ay … ?”
MC: “I can play the Pi-an-o / Oooh – Pia-Pia_piano, Piano, Piano!” with everyone doing the actions for each verse … Trombone … The Archers … Match of the Day … Larry Grayson (“shut that, shut that , shut that door!”) … Tommy Cooper (“just like, just like, just like that!”) … Jimmy Cagney (“Dirty-Dirty-Dirty rat!”) … Coins (where everyone would sing and bang the table with coins) … Various other popular verses always culminating with the Dambusters theme, the cue for the whole audience to get out of their seat, even standing on tables “da-da-da-da-da-da-ing” along while stage lights flashed and the band went wild and audience with them. This was the defining moment when everyone, sufficiently uninhibited, could do their bit with an abundant exuberance, ending with the cast and audience joining hands for a patriotic rendition of “Land of hope and glory”.
It was a great finish to the shows. Unfortunately, many of the cast and crew felt we were in a bit of a rut with it and got tired of doing it year in year out. But the audience did it only once a year and looked forward to contributing their talents, a great release from sitting, drinking, eating and watching the show for three to four hours.
Finally, it was decided to do away with Music Man but on the last show that year (1999, I think) the audience demanded it and even though the orchestra were ordered not to perform, the lighting crew ordered to switch off, the audience just carried on anyway!
So I felt I should go on and lead the way as I had done for nearly 20 years - I was not popular with the producer, understandably. My final year was 2000, having done 23 years but it was a great pleasure to do a cameo spot as the so-called “Archive Footage” in TV Tavern (2008) - a song entitled “Dear Penis” with Paul Hornbogen, along with a few jokes as was my wont.
I apologise for the numerous names unmentioned, particularly the more recent ones. Tavern now is a biannual event and only runs for three nights but it is a great show, all local talent and it always entertains. OK, gone is the live musical backing of the old days and in have come the techno advances, microphones, video screens, etcetera - but its still remains a good night and it could be you up there next time!
