We did it our way

A poignant moment saw many a damp eye on stage and among an audience which included long-term supporters of Bexhill Old Time Music Hall Society and former members of the company.

Yet it was also a moment of artistic triumph.

Saturday's closing night of the aptly-named Final Curtain is also likely to be the last time Bexhill will laugh at, sing along with and enjoy the talents of an amateur company which has raised tens of thousands of pounds for charity.

BOTMS grew out of an old time musical staged by Round Table and the now-defunct Bexhill Ladies' Circle.

Dwindling numbers - certainly not dwindling support for a company which has always been a sell-out certainty - spelled the end.

A tough decision was taken. Better to go out on a high note than to wither into decline.

And a high note it certainly was.

Under Bob Cavendish's direction and with Ray Barry as compere, many of the best elements and choicest memories of the past three decades on the St Peter's Community Centre stage were distilled.

Final Curtain gave BOTMS' loyal supporters one last show to treasure in memory.

For one last time, Rosemary Henley was "at the pianoforte", assisted by her daughter Keira.

With Good Olde London Town, featuring numbers like Following In Father's Footsteps", as the opening routine the stage was set.

Rona Morton delivered The Rose with assurance, Josie Cavendish and Graham Forsyth milked the last drop of humour from pensioners Albert and Maisie's advanced years.

Mary Robertson's return to BOTMS' fold saw her singing Take Me In a Taxi, Joe with Jack Rist. The song dates from 1913 when fares were 8d. a mile'¦.

Old age was again the subject when Ros Wheatley's kiss-o-gram girl caused Keith Walter's nursing home patient to opt for "the soup" rather than the action!

Typically of BOTMS, the mood changed with Rosemary Henley on piano accordion and Keira on flute rousing the audience with a medley including Portsmouth, Land Of Hope And Glory and Rule Britannia.

A Wild West bar room saw Jack Rist as Red McGraw facing-down rogue sheriff Chris Metalle in The Duel. Josie Cavendish, Ros Wheatley, Amanda Donaldson, Mary and Doug Robertson, Keith Walter and Graham Forsyth added to the fun.

Final Curtain would not have been complete with David and Sue French as Charles and Fiona; hauntingly, yearningly, poignantly and yet'¦..

Close harmony doesn't come much closer when Mary Robertson, Jack Rist and Keith Stockford are a singing Menage a Trois.

Rona Morton as mother and Josie Cavendish as jilted daughter thought it a shame to waste the wedding cake in What A Pity.

Keith Stockford delved into musical history with a moral song by which Victorian London described in gruesome detail the work of Jack The Ripper.

What I Did For Love was performed impeccably by Sue French.

Alan Francis reprised his Robot Wire Walker , reducing his audience to helpless laughter. They were given no respite. "Three Little Girls Are We" sang Josie Cavendish, Sue French and Jack Rist in Triple Tribulations.

The audience soon learned What's What as Dee Barry's monologue reached the honeymoon suite.

I'll Be Your Sweetheart, Daisy Daisy, Sweet Rosie O'Grady - audience sing-along time was offered by Chris Metalle, Amanda Donaldson, Graham Forsyth, Ros Wheatley and Mary and Doug Robertson.

Deadpan behind bottle-lens glasses, Josie Cavendish excelled in the title role as Sue and David French, Alan Francis, Keith Stockford and chairman Ray Barry whizzed through Cinderella in four ultra-sparse hilarious acts.

The English social system was held up for critical examination by Rosemary Henley, Amanda Donaldson and Dee Barry in A Class Act.

Brief Encounter saw Josie Cavendish and Batt Willshire just happening to meet in ever more compromising circumstances.

I'll See You In My Dreams sang Rona Morton and Jack Rist, changing the mood before The Return Of The Magnificent/Incontinent Two - Batt Willshire interrupted by Alan Francis' horrible little boy.

With no time to recover, the audience was plunged into Lilacs. How Sue French could continue to sing while husband David and director Bob were pulling such stunts is a secret known only to her.

Humour and song, the give-them-what-they-love formula that has made BOTMS much-loved for three decades, saw the final moments of their last show pass in a blur.

Alan Francis donned his Cheekie Chappie suit for one last time; tickled the ribs with one last stand-up routine and we were into that final finale.

They bowed out, as they always did, to Goodbyee.

It could justifiably have been Thanks For The Memory.

Thanks, BOTMS. Loved every minute of your three decades.