The Ministry of Entertainment

A new production of Tony Staveacre’s play about the life and songs of Al Bowlly.

In his heyday, Al Bowlly sold more records in the UK than Bing Crosby. When he sang with Lew Stone’s band at the Bristol Coliseum, shop-girls and debutantes mobbed the stage door. A lady from Worle sent him hand-made silk knickers through the post…

In this musical play by south west author Tony Staveacre (Jigsy), Al’s second wife conjures up memories of the heart-throb crooner through the songs he made famous before he was tragically killed in an air-raid in 1941. From the sweetshop in Bournemouth where she ended up after the war, Marjie recalls a hectic musical journey that links Raffles Hotel, Berlin in the Depression, the Rainbow Room in New York, the Grand Canyon, the Kursaal at Scheveningen in Holland, the night-clubs of the West End and the variety theatres of the North.

This is a play about a singer, played by a singer, Kate McNab, whose oral history shows (Doodlebugs and Bogeymen, Normal Service Will Be Resumed) have been much-loved in Bristol since 1997. This new production welcomes fellow actor and maestro musician John Telfer (previously BOV Company, Bergerac and The Archers) to provide a musical accompaniment and a narrative commentary on the Bowlly legend.

Age recommendation: 15 and over.