Having already performed his self-penned play, “Rock Off, Tommy!” at the start of the year, Bobby Ball is returning to the Lowther Pavilion in Lytham with his newly written production which is two shows for the price of one.
Bobby Ball is a busy man. Still very much loved by an adoring public, both he and Tommy Cannon have kept audiences laughing for years and when they returned on tour last year to perform their “Audience With” show they gained new followings and new laughs galore. Bobby Ball’s popularity has even seen him back on our screens and, since he was last at the Lowther Pavilion in Lytham, he has been very busy filming the new series of the Sky comedy drama “Mount Pleasant” and is also due to travel down to London to film the Christmas special of “Not Going Out” with Lancashire born comedian Lee Mack.
It is his experience on the stage, though, that inspired him to write “The Dressing Room” his new play which he is bringing to Lancashire. The idea of the show came to him from his many years of being on stage performing, but also focussing the story on the backstage scenes that you don’t see, the dressing room in this instance. Bobby spoke fondly about how it all came about. “I’ve got two very close friends, other than Tommy, who are Stu Francis and Johnnie Casson. Johnnie is quite the unsung hero, he’s a fantastic comic. I told them I’d written this play and would they like to have a go at it and they said they would. Then my wife booked up some local theatres in the area and that’s how it all started.”
The beauty behind the play is that it has been split in half offering the audiences two performances at once. “We split the stage down the middle. One half is the stage and one half is the dressing room. So, there’s a play going on in the dressing room and the compere (Stu Francis) will introduce one of the acts and they’ll go on and do twenty minutes and then come back into the dressing room and back into the play. We’ve made up a new word for it as it’s a variety show and a play, so we’ve called it a ‘playreity’”
After the show visits select theatres in the North West, Bobby is hoping to tour it next year and to also tour his previous show, “Rock Off, Tommy” which proved very successful. He would have liked to have toured it at the time, but due to work schedules he was unable to do so. With Christmas around the corner, the panto season will also be starting again soon, so the much loved comedy duo will still be back on top for many years to come.
Right where they deserve to be.
You can book tickets to see “The Dressing Room” at one of the following venues:
September 2nd & 3rd – Lowther Pavilion, Lytham (plus matinee performance on September 3rd)
September 10th – Lancaster Grand Theatre
September 24th – Burnley Mechanics Theatre
October 23rd – Fleetwood Marine Hall
October 27th & 28th – Chorley Little Theatre
October 29th – Thwaites Empire Theatre, Blackburn
