Review: A Night at the Music Hall, The Grand Theatre, Wolverhampton
It wasn't just television that caused the demise of music hall, but the arrival of blockbuster Technicolor films also certainly meant that the days of performing poodles, Apache dancers and various jugglers, acrobats and magicians were numbered, surfacing only rarely in The Good Old Days.
So it is interesting that former performer Duggie Chapman is keeping the flag flying for this particular form of entertainment by promoting shows and acting as compere.
Last night he was able to call on the excellent talents of Roy Hudd, who started his professional career as a Redcoat before appearing on early television satirical programmes and later establishing himself as a serious classical actor and radio personality.
His first-half appearance was a tribute to comedian Max Miller, whose risqué style brought trouble from the censors. However, we saw that even after all these years the jokes are still funny and that you don't need expletives and obscenity to have an audience in stitches.
His second-half contribution featured some all-time favourite songs including a beautifully-timed and delivered O Lucky Jim! and On Mother Kelly's Doorstep.
The programme included Bilston's own comedy magician Jimmy Carlo and versatile musician Andy Eastwood who performed a selection of George Formby favourites and played the electric violin.
By Jerald Smith
