THINGS THAT GO WRONG ON THE NIGHT !!

Here are just a few things that you may have missed during Players' shows, just to prove that things aren't always quite as slick and professional as they appear (ahem.)

A String of Pearls 2006 - Lee Evans confused his fellow cast members by dropping to his knees one bar too early at the end of Hit The Road.  The audience couldn't fail to notice, and Lee will not live this down for quite sometime all going well.

A String of Pearls 2006 - David Olima was a minute or two late arriving on stage for the Box Sketch. Why?  Because he had gone to the toilet.  Mick Reeve and Ian Payne, duly relayed this information to a bewildered audienice !!!

Up The Temp 2005 - During the "End of the Road" song, Ian Payne turned completely the wrong way and came face to face with Nathan Baron.  This would not have been so bad, except the line they were singing was "Could you love me again, like you loved me before" !!!!

Up The Temp 2005 -  It's has been said that you should never work with children or animals on stage, well the same goes for pint's of beer.  Ian Curtis took to using one during the boozy nights sketch, only to have the whole thing spilt all over stage when David Olima knocked it flying out of his hands at the end of the song.  The stage was soaked, but due to quick work between Alan Munford and Ian Payne, the stage was almost dry for the rest of the show.  Shame really, could have had another cock up with some slipping over in it !!

Guys & Dolly Mixtures 2005 - Not so much as a "Cock Up", more of a .....well, during the "Night Boat To Cairo" routine, Ian Curtis was wearing an Egyptian robe that was slightly too small for him.  On bending over with his backside to the audience, he showed them more than surely any of them could ever have wanted to see !!! and to think, they had only just had supper !!

Hollywood Greats 2004 - In the "If I Were Not Upon The Stage" routine, Debbie Cook, as a tennis player, managed to whack an overhead mike very hard with her tennis racquet obviously not realising that the sound crew had put it there.  The microphone has now made a full recovery.

This Is The Show 2004 - When the men came walking on singing "How The Money Rolls In", the strap on Ian Payne's guitar fell loose.  As they had already started the song, Ian caught hold of the guitar, dropped to one knee and played the whole song kneeling down.  Not very comfortable !!!

This Is The Show 2004 - During the Annie section after singing The Hard Knock Life, Evie Bowden left the stage.  Nothing unusual about this, except the girls had 2 more songs to do, one of which was split into solo parts.  Watching the looks on the faces of the others as they realised they were one short was a sight to behold.  They managed to cover Evie's part, so all was not lost.

A Step In Time 2003 - No question Bohemian Rhapsody was one of the tougher songs that the Players had taken on. It went very well for the first three nights, but in the final performance during a rare lapse of concentration Ian Payne came in with a completely wrong line halfway through the song. This totally threw the other 5 singers, but after a panicky half minute or so, the song was recovered and finished to rapturous applause. It would appear that most of the audience didn't even notice the blunder. Pheeew!!

Back In The Old Routine 2002 - During the opening night performance of the Hand Slapping routine, the rather unsturdy box that the cast were sitting on gave way sending 2 of them to the floor. Matthew Scott who was making his Players' debut that night had to be given credit for the way he carried on regardless of the fact that he and Kathy Willingale had to perform the rest of the routine standing up, no mean feat. Look out for the video making it's way to Kirsty's Home Videos some time in the future.

Let Us Entertain You 1999 - Entertain us indeed Joan Stevens did when she slipped over during a chorus number and had to be taken down to hospital. She returned for the following night with her arm in plaster.

- Dave Reeve was due to be performing the song "She's The One" by Robbie Williams on his guitar. During his act it was noted by the men under the stage that he was in fact playing "Angels" instead. This would not have been an issue had it not been for the fact that he had never played it on the guitar before, it was not really in a suitable key and mainly, much to her annoyance, that he was due to be singing it as a duet with Lisa Richardson later in the same show !!!

Showtime 1991 - The top of a dress slipped down revealing very briefly to the audience that a certain young lady, who shall remain nameless, was not wearing a bra !!! Okay, so it was Vicki Willingale. Allegedly she had simply forgotten to put one on. Like we believe that !!!

That's Entertainment 1985 - Bill Austin, acting as Oliver Hardy, had to hit John Lowe, who oddly enough was acting as Stan Laurel believe it or not, on the head with a large mallet during the song "Trail Of The Lonesome Pine". The handle was made of wood but the mallet head was soft. For some reason, accidental or otherwise, Bill managed to hit him on the head with the hard end of the mallet!!!

Cockney Revue Some Old Some New 1985 - Roy Payne, as compere, introduced a musical comedy routine. Mick Reeve (on sound) started the tape which was to be a specially prepared piano piece. Unfortunately up popped Rod Stewart's "Do You Think I'm Sexy". Roy quickly stepped in with an impromptu gag to cover up. Mick on the balcony had to get Roy to keep going whilst he searched for the correct music. This went on for some time with the audience lapping up the situation. Even when Mick had got the right music all Roy could hear was the audience telling him to carry on. Some minutes later the act eventually got under way.

The Last Resort 1981 - Some of the cast were nearly pole-axed when Alan French knocked over a large piece of scenery on the stage. Luckily the back stage crew were on hand to stop it before it toppled right over.

The Last Resort 1981 - During a rendition of "Mull Of Kintyre" a smoke machine was used. On one of the nights the machine was replaced by smoke pellets. This was to create the impression of a Scottish mist, but ended up looking more like a London smog. The smoke filled the stage and then moved across to the audience. Eventually the whole hall was filled up with the smog right up to the balcony. A member of the cast waiting for the next act saw what was happening and opened an emergency exit door, only to be greeted by a voice behind him saying "Don't do that you are spoiling the effect" !!!!

Apple Sauce 1980 - The front curtain was prematurely pulled, concealing Joan Fisher from the audience. She was at the time leading the cast singing "Cabaret".

- Alan French has appeared on stage with his trouser zip undone. It is believed that every man in the cast has done this as some time or another, but only Alan seems proud of the fact. Doubtless it was not a pretty sight.