With a bit of luck we'll love Stanley (From Tewkesbury Admag)

With a bit of luck we'll love Stanley

HE was a star in the Ealing comedies, he played dustman Alfred Doolittle in the film of My Fair Lady and was an old-style entertainer of the highest calibre.

And he was arguably one of Britain's greatest stars, say promoters of a new show about the life and times of Stanley Holloway, being staged at an Inkberrow pub.

Stanley's career is charted in the show With A Little Bit O'Luck, which is being performed at The Bull's Head in Inkberrow on April 15 and 16.

It stars Dave Sealey, the 1960s rock and ballad singer who, with his brother, Al, formed the group Cosmotheka. They took the name from an old London Music Hall and specialised in that style of comedy which proved so popular they performed all over the world and made many radio and television appearances, including six Radio 2 series and slots on shows with the likes of Roy Hudd, Bob Monkhouse and Chas and Dave and on The Good Old Days.

After Al died in 1999, Dave formed his own production company and worked in various collaborations, including Pop Goes the Century and Back to Back with Malcolm Stent and Don McLean.

The show is split into two. The first deals with Stanley Holloway's early years, featuring songs from the Co-Optimists, including the Wheeltappers Song and numbers from his first West End success, Hit the Deck, like Sometimes I'm Happy and Fancy Me Just Meeting You.

Stanley's friends and their adventures will lead through the world of the Ealing comedies and his work in Shakespeare plays, as well as his eccentric journey in to the world of Gilbert and Sullivan where he joined forces with Groucho Marx.

Brahn Boots, one of Stan's musical monologues, opens the second half which also includes classics like My Word You Do Look Queer and With Her Head Tucked Underneath Her Arm. He reminisces from his armchair about his successes and regrets until he reaches his My Fair Lady experience at the end.

With A Little Bit O' Luck is on at The Bull's Head, Inkberrow, on Friday, April 15 and Saturday, April 16 at 8pm. Call the box office for tickets on 01386 792233.