Sell-out scout show a true Potteries favourite

John Abberley recalls how theatre-goers had to act quickly to get their hands on the hottest tickets in town

F REDDIE Jones clearly remembers his big moment during the scout show Screamline at the old Theatre Royal 60 years ago.

The celebrated actor, then a Longton rover scout called Fred Jones, was entrusted with a solo performance of a French song when he made his second appearance in the long-running show in 1948.

"The producer decided to include a sequence with me singing Le Fiacre, which means 'the cab'," Freddie recalls.

"It was one of my favourite songs, as I was enamoured with learning French at the time. They provided me a with a chair and a rather camp costume. I went on with a hand mike and sang with my back to the audience.

"Though you couldn't say I was a singer, it seemed to go down all right. I think some people thought I was French."

Freddie, now 81 and still working as an actor, made his Screamline debut two years earlier in 1946 at the same time as Bill Webber, one of the show's long-time stalwarts.

"Freddie started in the chorus like most people, but I was given a solo in my first show," he says. "It was a song by Ralph Reader called A Lot To Be Thankful For."

Screamline was revived after the Second World War, having already established itself in the 1930s following the first show at the Queen's Hall, Burslem, in 1934. The opening production had a cast of 300 performers, at least one of whom has survived as long as Screamline itself.

Shelton pensioner Peter Haynes, who was a seven-year-old cub scout, made a brief appearance in the 1934 show during a mock beauty queen contest.

"There was a line-up of scouts playing Miss Tunstall, Miss Hanley, Miss Stoke and so on, " he says. "I was pushed on stage in a wheelbarrow as Miss Take."

Peter recalls that Screamline's founding father Marshall Amor was in joint charge with long-serving producer Robert Spear.

He believes the title Screamline was chosen by the editor of The Sentinel, E N Scott, from several alternative names provided by Marshall Amor.

Also appearing in the 1934 show was 14-year-old Eric Ball, who later became a key figure, both as a master of comedy in the Potteries vernacular and as a script writer.

Malcolm Blaze, who first joined the Screamline cast in 1953, remembers Eric's leading role in the local dialect comedy which featured prominently for many years.

"We had a reputation for making fun of local institutions like The Sentinel and the city council," he says.

"One year I went on as Beau Brummel and told the audience in broad Pottery that I'd bought my clothes at Burton's in Hanley."

Bill Webber, later best known as Stoke-on-Trent's chief scouting official, has particular memories of a special version of Screamline presented in December 1959 in advance of Stoke-on-Trent's golden jubilee year in 1960.

"One of the songs had 16 verses in praise of the Potteries," he says.

"I sang it alternating with a partner to the tune of a scout song called The Flags Are Flying.

"We also did a song about the city in the style of Gilbert and Sullivan."

Because the demand for tickets was so great, the run had to be extended to 10 nights. But a year later the Theatre Royal went over to bingo and Screamline was suspended until 1964 when it returned to its roots in Burslem.

Among the large team of women supporting Screamline was Betty Machin, who served as treasurer to the ladies committee for 40 years and was a dedicated dressmaker.

"We sewed together hundreds of costumes, such as those for the French Can-Can," she says.

"I remember trouser turn-ups all had to be the right length and every bit of costume needed a tab with the wearer's name."

Betty also recalls that her father-in-law, Mickey Machin, was a French master at Newcastle High School and coached Freddie Jones before his performance in 1948.

Malcolm Lycett, who joined the cast when the show returned to the Queen's Hall in 1964, later wrote many of the songs, including Family of Scouting, a traditional finale number.

Malcolm believes that Screamline, besides being the longest running scout show in the world, is also more original than any other.

"We haven't depended on the Ralph Reader model like so many others, but put our own individual mark on the show." he says.

He points out that Screamline has included items like Trevor Royall's sketch charting the history of The Sentinel and his own 15-minute tribute to the Spitfire designer Reginald Mitchell.

The last Screamline production was staged at the Mitchell Memorial Theatre in February last year to mark the 100th anniversary of the birth of scouting.

As yet, says Malcolm Blaze, no date has been fixed for the next show, which is traditionally produced every other year.

However, another long-running Stoke-on-Trent scout show, the Burdi-Boys, will celebrate its 50th anniversary with a production at the Mitchell Theatre next month, opening on November 24.