1st Night Photos: Morecambe Brings Sunshine

Entertainers including Lionel Blair, Sean Hughes and Alistair McGowan raised a glass to Eric Morecambe last week (10 December 2009) as they celebrated the transfer of Bob Golding’s one-man tribute show Morecambe to the Duchess Theatre (See News, 30 Sep 2009).

The show, which won a Fringe First when it premiered at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival back in August, is the first biographical play about Morecambe, one half of the UK’s most popular comedy double act and the man who “brought us sunshine”, since he passed away 25 years ago.

The idea for the piece was born in 1997 when director Guy Masterson and Golding were appearing together at the Edinburgh Fringe in Steven Martin’s play Wasp, in which the then 24-year-old Golding played Masterson’s son. Masterson remarked at the time on Golding’s “extraordinary likeness to a young Eric Morecambe”.

Twelve years later, Masterson commissioned Tim Whitnall – whose other credits include The Sociable Plover, revived this year at Edinburgh, this time with Masterson in the cast – to write the play. In Morecambe, Golding delivers a portrayal of the man and his life, from Morecambe Pier to ‘Andre Preview’, from tumbleweed to Glenda Jackson.

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PHOTOS BY DAN WOOLLER FOR WHATSONSTAGE.COM.