In-house review by Richard Pedersen

Barely had we caught our breath from the pantomime when the Tower once again engaged its audiences with its annual foray into the world of Old Time Music Hall.
Kay Peversi's compilation of tunes and routines from yesteryear took us into 2002, and cleverly made use of Prince Charming's staircase to provide a setting. I must compliment John Cornwell in particular for jumping effortlessly from being a Broker's Man one week to giving us a varied selection of songs and sketches the next.
It almost seems a bit callous to review the Tower Palace of Varieties. Here were 15 people who had given up half their Christmas and New Year to rehearse the show and put a smile on the faces of an appreciative audience. Is it my fault if I find Old Time Music Hall just a bit strange in this day and age?
I remember watching Leonard Sachs and his Good Old Days over thirty years ago (and indeed my University Rag Revue used to perform at the same City Varieties in Leeds), Well, it still packs them in so I suppose the show is still worth doing.
I'm sorry if that sounds a bit begrudging but I wasn't overwhelmed by the show. I hate to denigrate people who've put in a lot of time and effort at a busy time of year, but I thought the whole thing showed signs of a lack of rehearsal and sense of common purpose. Individual turns were mostly fine, and some were extremely polished (but then I know that it wasn't the first outing for a number of them). However, the group numbers seemed to lack an element of sparkle with a number of participants looking decidedly unsure of themselves.
It was all a bit too long; like an overlarge helping of Christmas pudding which is tempting before you start, but gets a bit wearisome towards the end. I think that Kay Peversi should have been a bit more ruthless in trimming some of the turns; I got the feeling that she was desperate to include everyone who'd turned up for audition and allow them to do their party pieces, without having a proper overview of the show as a whole.
I'm not going to pick out individual turns and make deep and meaningful criticisms; it was only a bit of fun after all. All credit though to Terry Mathews who like John Cornwell leaped from pantoland to music hall in less time than it takes to whistle "Don't dilly dally on the way". He was a superb master of ceremonies, quaffing from his pewter tankard and entertaining the audience quite as much as the assembled cast.
I felt that the show would definitely have benefited from additional amplification. Some of the voices were a bit on the thin side, even in the chorus numbers, and it was a shame to have to strain to hear some of the words in a theatre as cosy as the Tower. Did the piano need tuning? Or was it just my faulty hearing?
On the plus side I should mention the fine array of costumes put together by the director herself and by Noreen Spall. Eileen Marner looked just right as Florrie Forde, and John Cornwell, Ralph Ward and Clarice East were doubles of Wilson, Keppell and Betty in their Sand Dance number (even if the gentlemen were a little on the heavier side than the originals). I shall also long savour the memory of the wonderfully bekilted Tom Tillery.