GROUP SUB-COMMITTEES FOR CLUBS AND SOCIETIES

The Sub-committees to run the various hobbies and interest clubs of the Group have to be appointed for the coming year. There are now six clubs within the Group namely the Carpentry Club, Stamp Club, Tennis Club, Photographic and Film Society, Music Society and Theatrical Section.

The Music Society may easily have a mushroom growth because of the great interest shown from all quarters, and for the coming season it looks as though we shall have a Wimborne Youth Group orchestra of some 7 or 8 players.

It is hoped that Secretaries of the Clubs will prepare their club notes monthly for this magazine.

On Friday 36th January "The Nitwits" presented their fifth theatrical production entitled "Fancy Free". The production was played to a ¾ full house, but nearly all seats had been sold. This was probably due to the 'flu which deprived the company of two of the cast, and I might add that Nit (A. Stanley Hollick) was fighting it all evening and succumbed next day.

The show opened with a lively piano solo by Pam Flory, which had everyone's feet tapping. After some interruptions from the Crazy Gang Richard Curtis did some amazingly good lightning cartoons, which brought bursts of applause from the audience. The Nitwits Crazy Gang then reappeared, and their act went with a bang, it ought to have done –they were playing with a lighted bomb. This was followed by a rousing sermon by the "Mad Parson" alias Wit who used for his text the story of Jack and Jill. From the reaction of the audience this was one of the highlights of the evening.

Nit then did a solo turn in which he demonstrated to the delight of all concerned how different types of singer would tackle the same song. The next turn was a sketch by the Crazy Gang in which Wit was persuaded to become part of a cure-all machine, and besides catching St. Vitas'. Dance, and a stutter, he finally ended up by laying an egg.

During the interval that followed, refreshments were served and a bunch of balloons was showered upon the audience to keep the fun going.

The Ace of Clubs - Mr. Flory then gave a display of illuminated club swinging to the accordion accompaniment of Pam. The Crazy Gang followed up on this with a burlesque of this which they called the" Dance of the Sparklers”. To fill a gap inadvertently caused by Roy Dacombe's illness, Wit launched an appeal for the "Weeks Bad Cause" in aid of the "Cycle Thieves Union". He tells me that no subscriptions have yet been received by this worthy organization as a result of his appeal.
If anyone ever tells mo again that Wimborne audiences will never join in anything I shall refer them to Fancy Free. They excelled themselves in the singing of "Hey Neighbour", and even three volunteers came up on the stage to sing it themselves.

Mrs. Hollick then entertained as a fussy lady at the greengrocers giving the shop assistant a most hectic time, and providing many hearty laughs. Another highlight followed, a dramatic monologue by Mr. Flory. He held the audience spellbound. In complete contrast the next item let the Nitwits "Loose Again". This time they tried their hands at carpentry, and their motto seemed to be not "Give us the tools and we will finish the job" but "Give us the job and we will finish the tools". They tell
me that they had never rehearsed this sketch before together, but even so they were word perfect and made a first-class comedy item.

Pam Flory then gave a Piano Accordion solo, with effects by Wit during the playing of the "Thing".
The last item on the programme - Noise and his Chanderliers was the most amazing item of the evening since it was something that had never been attempted in Wimborne before. In spite of the fact that two were missing owing to 'flu the remainder of the Chanderliers burlesquing popular songs and providing many other well-timed interruptions kept the audience in fits. Suddenly one appeared in a grass skirt and flounced across the stage to appear running in the other direction being pursued by a person with garden shears. A miner complete with Davy lamp and lump of coal appeared from a trap on stage. Noise played by Nit, appeared in such a perfect rig-put that his appearance alone caused shrieks of laughter. The Chandeliers were played by the Crazy Gang, Donald Rowe, John Davidge, Gerald Chappel and Richard Curtis.
The evening was indeed one of the most successful evenings of entertainment supplied by the Nitwits.

MAY WE ADD THE FOLLOWING DETAILS -Editor.

Costumes were supplied from the Youth Group Stores and made a colourful display. Lighting equipment, supplied by Breeches Radio, was operated by Peter Trinkle. Miss Peggy Cobb assisted
The Group with make-up. Mr.Flory was the hard-working curtain operator. Door steward was Mrs. Tucker. Credit goes to Brian Willis who was not only stage manager for the production, but
also designed and made all properties and scenery.

It was regretful that only 40% of Wimborne Youth Group members were present at the production.
"Fancy Free" was compered, devised and directed by Nit. The Nitwits at the conclusion of the programme were presented by Mr. Flory with chocolates, which to them wore even more acceptable than the customary flowers. Alan Hollick thanked all those who had helped to make the evening a success.
Youth Group funds benefited by £4./10./- by the production.

On the Thursday night before the show we knew for sure that Roy Dacombe would not be appearing because of 'flu. A week before we were worried on the some account for Pam. Roy's absence left two gaps in a short programme. We worked out "Hey Neighbour” and the "Dance of the Sparklers" on the spur of the moment. These turned out quite successfully, and with an additional monologue by Wit the programme actually gained in length.

One of our biggest headaches was the spotlight, and we found that this could only be operated from the stage. When Mr. Flory plugged in for his clubs the spot went out. I, finding myself out-front with an unexpected fuel cut, groped my way to the control. In the darkness instead of putting my hand on the switch I put it in a cup of tea. Another incident that was seen by some of the audience was the affair of John Davidge's trousers. During the singing of "Hey Neighbour" he was one of those holding the blackboard, and all that could be seen of him was his hat and trousers. All of a sudden the 1atter began to yield to gravity, and after frantic efforts to keep them up he had to hastily retire behind the curtain.

I had to cover up with a couple of stories while a property was sought. It was in question the lecturn, which stands at 5 feet and weighs close on half cwt. It is suprising how these little things get lost.

The item which gave me the most heart attacks was the last Noise and his Chanderliers. In this, timing was the secret to success and with two away anything could go wrong. Luckily very little did and that which did was not noticeable to the audience. Perhaps most noticeable was the volume of the singing with "Cool Water", a duet instead of a trio, and Cigareets and Wusky and Wild
wild women.
In conclusion I would like to say that in spite of work and worries I really enjoyed directing the show, and let all praise go to the co-operative cast and hard working stage manager.

THANKS GANG