Khaotic

The Fred Karno Story

The Old Rep, Birmingham.

6th - 9th October 2010

Ticket prices are £12.50 and £10 concession (concessions all week).

Our next show will be a world premier of a brand new musical, ‘Fred Karno’s Army’. This show tells the true story of Fred Karno, one of the greatest showmen of the British music hall age.

Fred was a national phenomenon, his shows toured for thirty years all over the world. A master of slapstick comedy with a natural flair for publicity, he was also a hard task master who had a turbulent private life.

He discovered Charlie Chaplin and Stan Laurel who both first went to America touring with Karno, only to be wooed by Hollywood, never to return. He also gave greats such as Sandy Powell, Will Hay, and Fred Kitchen their first breaks.

The story spans nearly seventy years from the late Victorian age of Empire, through the first world war and into the golden age of Hollywood. Fred’s personal story is a stormy, dramatic and often sad tale, but he was the undoubted King of Comedy in Britain for nearly forty years and he left a comedy legacy which is still pertinent today.

The show is a rollercoaster contrasting the ups and downs of life on the road with the hilarity of the great comics of the time including Chaplin, Laurel and Hardy, the Crazy Gang and Flannagan and Allen. Songs include some of the best known music hall songs of the day along with some less well known gems.