Suggested (not suggestive!) Songs for Pop Up Proms

People are asking me for suggestions !!

Here's a list of the types of songs I think would work for our Pop Up Proms audiences. It's not exhaustive, it's just a list to get people started, but it gives a good idea of what's suitable. The over-reaching theme is 'WELL KNOWN' for people born in the 1920s and 30s, with a chorus or 'hook' they can join in with. You'll notice there's no Thrash Metal or Punk, for example...

Of course if you've got an idea to do a song (or indeed a poem - think Stanley Holloway) along these sort of lines and it's not on this list- that's fine.

Remember you will need to get hold of a backing track on CD for your song if you don't already have it.

Good places to get hold of backing tracks are, in the first instance, ME ! So do ask. Also you can try Martyn Shults, Michael Dann or Tracy Melton (we're all on thePop Up Proms Facebook Group so you can contact any of us that way).

In the unlikely event that between us we don't have your choice, most popular tracks can be very easily obtained from websites like Ameritz or NAP Music for literally a matter of about 79p.

Here are my suggestions, anyway:

• Gilbert & Sullivan e.g.  Modern Major General/ I've Got A Little List/ The Nightmare Song etc

• Old Time Music Hall e.g. My Old Man said Follow The Van/ Down at the Old Bull and Bush etc
• 1920s /30s e.g. Fred Astaire film music eg Top Hat/ Puttin on the Ritz etc, or Judy Garland eg Somewhere Over The Rainbow

• 1950s /60s Anything by Doris Day (Que Sera Sera?) / Cliff Richard/ Bing Crosby/ Sinatra/ Matt Monroe etc, or Flanders & Swann eg The Gnu/ The Hippo ('Mud, mud glorious mud')

• Showtunes:

Rogers & Hammerstein style rather than Kander & Ebb or Sondheim!
I suggest songs from
Oklahoma (Oh What a Beautiful Morning)
Showboat
Carousel
Annie Get Ya Gun
Calamity Jane
My Fair Lady (Danced all Night/Wouldn't it be Luvverly)
The King & I (Whistle a Happy Tune)
Oliver (Oom Pah Pah)
South Pacific (Happy Talk/ Wash That Man Right Outta My Hair)
and so on...

Picture from http://sunshinegirlnicola.blogspot.co.uk/p/sewing.html 

And then at the end we will finish with all of us singing together
Land Of Hope And Glory
Jerusalem
Rule Britannia

Thank you all once again for your enthusiasm and support- hope this list helps with finding your songs.

Here are some songs people have already told me they're doing (these are all well known but at the moment we still need more participatory stuff ) :

• A Policeman's Lot is Not a Happy One (G&S)- Gus
• This Nearly Was Mine (South Pacific)- Gus
• Born Free/Portrait of My Love (Matt Monroe)- Martyn
• Be My Love (Mario Lanza)- Martyn
• Secret Love (Calamity Jane)- Heather
• The Guinea Pig (F&S) -Selwyn
• Albert and the Lion (poem)- Selwyn
• If I Loved You- Izzy

I will just fit into the gaps...!






  

Your Pop-Up Proms Needs YOU (whether you sing or not)

My last blog posting contained a bit of detail for the volunteers wanting to sing and perform. This post is for the volunteers doing the other -equally important- stuff.

As you know, The Pop-Up Proms Project is a smiley happy voluntary thingy which I hope will bring as many positive benefits to the volunteers as it will to our audiences. The project has two main thrusts.

'"THRUST" that's a good word, isn't it? "THRUST"'(-one for the 'Miranda' fans...)

The two THRUSTS are:
1) The giving of free entertainment to elderly people in homes and day centres, and all the attached benefits to those people, such as social interaction, a bit of fun, gentle exercise, and sharing reminiscences.
2) The Audio Archive- collecting and recording the memories evoked by the music.

For those wishing to volunteer but not currently (or ever!) performing, there are various things which need to be done in order to achieve both THRUSTS of the project.

Here's a list. Please do let me know which of these you might feel comfortable doing...

• coming along and not doing a solo performance, but mingling as part of the audience and joining in to help get everyone else going in the joiny-inny bits.
• coming along to chat informally to audience members about the music, and encouraging them to think about memories and associations they may have to these, or any other, songs (ie "Is this a song you've heard before? Is it a favourite of yours? What was the first record you bought? etc).
• occasionally using a small digital audio recording device to record some of the recollections for the archive as you chat- with the permission of the participants, of course... 
• gently hassling people beforehand to donate red, white and blue stuff like bunting, flags or balloons for us to decorate the rooms with for performances.
• helping decorating the rooms before performances- nothing fancy; about ten minutes of putting up a bit of bunting and arranging some chairs.
• photocopying lyrics sheets for the audience.
• pressing 'play' on the CD player.
• mentioning The Pop-Up Proms Project to people when appropriate, to help get us a few more bookings.
• anything else helpful you can think of! 

If these things sound feasible, please let me know. And if at any point you decide you'd like to have a go at performing after all - brilliant!

As always, email me or send an FB message if you have any questions. Or, let's be radical, you could even phone me direct!

'THRUST. Ooh, its gone weird now...'